Page 48 of Cursed

She reached out, touched Vince’s leg. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

He looked at her with surprise. “For what?”

She shook her head. She couldn’t say more for fear of saying or doing something inappropriate. The driver worked for the queen, but no one’s allegiances were fully set. She had to be careful. She contented herself with the briefest response she could summon. “For being you.”

Vince reached down and squeezed her hand, below the eyesight of the driver. And he didn’t let go.

The day’s visits were . . . not an unqualified success, Edeena thought hours later, but at least a step in the right direction. She’d met cousins she hadn’t seen in years, sharing an invitation with each of them to come to her engagement ball. She’d left extras as well. Some of the families she spoke with no doubt knew about the curse, some didn’t, still others didn’t realize that Edeena and her sisters were even part of their family tree, or why they should care. Only a few refused to see her, for one reason or another. And every time, Vince asked her why, gently compelling her to explain how fierce the Saleri pride was, and then reassuring her that pride so fierce would eventually prove stronger than any curse the ancients could throw at him.

Now she looked at him, weariness gnawing her bones as they drove back through the countryside. “Probably not what you expected when you agreed to provide security for me on this trip, eh? Countless visits to cousins and aunts?”

“Don’t forget uncles, grand matrons and more children than I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Vince laughed. His head rested back against the seat cushion, and his eyes were shut. But once more he grasped her hand with his, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to hold hands for no reason. “But they were good people, and their love runs deep. You should be proud of your family, Edeena. Even those who don’t know you.”

She sighed and glanced out the window. “I only hope I make them proud of me.”

Vince felt like he’d run a marathon backwards by the time he and Edeena bid farewell to their driver and turned into the palace. It was quiet and dark, and even the doorman was hushed. A light dinner would be sent to Edeena’s sitting room for both of them, they were informed, and the queen would content herself with getting the details of their journey in the morning.

Dinner was waiting for them, enough to feed a family of six—dates and fruit and cheese and cold meats and bread, with enough wine and a clear liqueur Edeena called tsipouro to wash it all down. It took a moment for Vince to realize what was happening, but as he looked up to meet Edeena’s gaze, he understood she was way ahead of him.

She stared from him, to the closed door, back to him.

“We’re . . . alone,” she said.

He grinned, thoughts of food momentarily forgotten. “You noticed that, huh?”

She pursed her lips, her gaze drifting to the clock on the wall. “I wonder if anyone will notice that you’re here . . .”

“Probably,” he said, stepping closer to her, “but we do have dinner to consume. And we’re both, undoubtedly, extremely hungry. I suspect we have maybe an hour before a staffer will discreetly knock on the door, asking us if, I don’t know, we want port or tea or something.”

“Port?” she asked, a smile teasing her mouth as he reached her. She gazed up at him and his arms went around her, cradling her close. “We aren’t really much for port in Garronia. We are much more a tsipouro drinking country.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you people.”

Vince leaned forward and kissed Edeena, feeling the weight of her, solid and sure in his arms, as if she was meant to be there. Two days, three—he didn’t know how long he had with her, and in this minute, he couldn’t think that far ahead. He could only think the forty or fifty minutes they had separate and safe in this room, away and somewhere else from where everyone expected them to be.

“How hungry are you?”

In response her arms came up around him, her body arching up into his. “Not so hungry that I want to miss a moment of this,” she whispered. She pulled away from him, unslinging her bag and rummaging through it for a moment before she plucked free a foil package. Vince’s eyes went wide.

“You were carrying around a condom in your purse?” he protested, half-laughing as she pulled him deeper into the room, through a door that led to a shadowed chamber. “What exactly were you expecting to happen in the countryside of Garronia?”

“I didn’t know.” In the darkness, Edeena’s voice suddenly sounded small, and Vince moved quickly toward her. She was standing several feet away from her bed, and he realized she was shaking there in the shadows, as if she could maintain all her strength and good cheer for the rest of the world when the lights were on, but once the brightness dimmed, she could only bow under the weight of her own charade.

Vince wrapped his arms around her, her back to his chest, and they stood there for a long moment in the darkness. Then he sighed ponderously, plucking the foil package from her fingers. “Well, it seems as if it would be a crime not to reward your practical preparedness,” he said, his words met by Edeena’s half laugh, half sob. He tucked the package into his watchband, then drifted a kiss over her hair. “If only you were so resourceful as to also secure us a bed . . . hey, wait a minute.”

He stepped back and turned Edeena around to face him, resolutely ignoring the tears shining in her eyes. He didn’t want Edeena to have reason to cry. Not today, not ever. But there was only so much he could control.

He could control the next few minutes, however.

He lifted his hands to either side of her face, cradling it with his palms, and leaned forward, kissing her lips softly. “I don’t usually make women cry until after I take off my clothes, you know,” he whispered, and she coughed a short, hiccupping laugh.

“I guess there’s always a first time.”

“Not for this,” he said. “But let me see if I can recover my dignity.” He stepped back from her and pulled his shirt off in one smooth move, his body tightening as her expression changed from one of wistful sadness to distinct desire. Edeena stared as he made short work of the rest of his clothes, until he stood in front of her, fully naked.

“Better?” he rumbled, and a smile tilted her lips as her hands drifted up, her fingers spreading wide on his chest. As always, her touch galvanized him, and his abs knotted under her gentle touch.

“Better,” she said. She took another step forward, then lifted up on her toes and kissed him, the pressure whisper soft. “But now I feel out of place.”

---