Page 20 of Enamored
Suddenly I was conscious of her warm breath upon my cheek, the soft cadence of her voice near my ear, and her fingers in my hair, combing by my wound. The touch was beyond exquisite, making me forget entirely about the stinging cut.
As her chest rose and fell against mine, my body awakened to the realization that she was pressed against me. Every single beautiful inch of her.
My arms were still wrapped around her waist, holding her in place. Strands of her hair that had come loose during the mad dash to escape the fire and fury of the draco dangled across my face. I caught a whiff of jasmine, the unique scent I remembered from our childhood, from after her baths, when she’d snuggle on the queen’s lap next to me with damp hair laden with the exotic flowery smell.
“I shall attempt to rip a piece of my shift to staunch the flow.” Before I could caution her against moving, she hoisted up her skirt.
Though the rocky enclave prevented me from observing her, everything about our predicament was indecent. I’d only meant to shield her and keep her from harm, but now I was quite possibly staining her reputation, and I urgently needed to put proper distance between us.
Even as I released my hold, Rasmus’s voice echoed in the corners of my mind, his order to become close to the princess. What better way to do that than to leverage the situation in which we found ourselves?
No. I couldn’t.
As she stretched lower to gather her shift, her head rested against my shoulder. I was tempted to slip my arms around her once more. This time, not because Rasmus wanted me to but because I wanted her close, just like I always had.
Fondness swelled up from deep inside, a fondness I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in so many years, one I’d closed away, one I’d forced myself to forget.
But in this moment, with my defenses crumbling more with every passing moment, I wanted to recapture the friendship that a ten-year-old boy once had with an eight-year-old girl. Was that even possible when she’d turned into an alluring woman who had the power to make a man forget to breathe?
Chapter
7
Elinor
I jerked atthe linen beneath my skirt and tried to rip it, but I could hardly move, even though Maxim had loosened his arms from around me.
“I’m fine, Elinor. Truly.” His labored breathing brushed my forehead.
“Regardless, you need a bandage.” I slipped my knife from the sheath on my belt and sliced through the material.
“I do believe the space is large enough to accommodate both of us lying side by side.” As he rattled off his calculation of the convex quadrilateral space, he shifted, as though preparing to lift me away.
When his hands settled against my hips, tingles shimmied around my middle. He had strong hands, long fingers, and a grip that seemed to perfectly fit my waist.
Maxim was grown up. The thought pummeled into me as it had yesterday when I’d first seen him and earlier this afternoon when he’d ridden next to the queen. Upon his steed in his tight-fitting cotehardie, his handsome physique had been distracting, and I’d become enamored with how different he looked.
Now with him so close, my free hand had a will of its own. In the next instant, my fingers glided over the ridge of muscles on his bicep.
He abruptly ended his complex mathematic problem and lapsed into silence.
Did my touch affect him?
I traced a line to his shoulder.
His body stilled, and his breathing halted.
Yes, my nearness was affecting him.
Fascinating.
My intuition was telling me Maxim was hiding something beneath the attentive façade he’d donned for the queen. Though I’d been away from him for years, I could still discern his inner workings. His words and actions were too calculated.
Should I use this moment and my proximity to entice him into revealing his true motives?
He slipped his hands to my arms. The movement sent heat along my nerve endings.
His face was so near—had it been so near before? His cheek brushed against mine, the slight stubble tantalizing. He needed only to lean in and his lips would be against my ear. Did I want his mouth there? Just the prospect sent my heart into a dizzying tumble.
