Page 6 of Cruel Pawn
She ducked her head, the colour deepening on her cheeks as she smiled. She did that a lot—looked down as she laughed or smiled. I wanted to coax her out of her shyness, to make her feel safe and comfortable with me so she never tried to hide. “Pretty sure I could be,” she replied, her voice like a shot of warmth to my chest. “It’s not like I can put the bins out or go shopping dressed like this.”
I shrugged, linking our elbows and guiding her up the short stairs and into the library courtyard. “Invite me to your place, and I’ll do all those boring chores while you stay in and look gorgeous.” Ah. I winced. “Sorry, that was too forward. I promise I’m not making any assumptions; this is just one date—”
She gave me a smile edged with a little slyness. “I like it.”
My smile matched hers as I slid a little closer, guiding her across the courtyard towards the library building. “Miss Ali, are you inviting me back to your place?”
She gave me a wide-eyed look, and I was so sure I’d overstepped, but then she said, “We’ll see how well the date goes.”
A giddy thrill went through my belly. It died when a cloud rolled over the setting sun.Don’t you dare fucking rain,I mentally growled at the sky.My date is the most beautiful woman in the known universe, and I will not survive seeing that dress cling to her body. If you rain, it will kill me.
We passed sculptures that turned a shade darker under the clouds and a cute little café I should have had the oversightof paying to stay open late. Oh, well. I could take Carmen somewhere better when we were ready to leave the library. Because I knew even now a few hours with her wouldn’t be enough. A single night wouldn’t be enough. With her dark floral perfume in my lungs, the warmth of her body against mine, and her smile aimed in my direction, a singlelifetimewouldn’t be enough.
“How do you know my last name?” she asked as we crossed the library threshold, the bright light and openness like being welcomed into heaven. Art and sculptures sat all around us, study tables abandoned for the night. The fact that this heaven contained books only made it better. I was a little too busy appreciating the space, so it took a moment for her words to register.
“Ah.” I pulled at the collar of my white shirt, wishing I hadn’t fastened the top button. “Well.”
“You cyberstalked me,” she guessed, peering up at me with an unreadable look.
“If I say yes, will you knee me in the balls?”
“No,” she laughed, a soft expulsion of air that made me giddy again. “If I admit I did the same, will you judge me, Arden McFadyen?”
She’d gone home and searched me? She knew my surname? Giddiness turned to butterflies, and a grin crossed my face. I indulged the desire to pull her closer and curved my arm around her waist, guiding her into my side. The feel of her warmth bleeding into me was like a drug, and my eyelids dropped.
“You knowmysurname,” I said, amused at the quick way she glanced away when I tried to meet her eyes. I splayed my hand across her hip, far too possessive, but she’d looked me up, wanted to know more about me, and she washereon a date with me. And sure, it was only one date, but she’d dressed up like a goddess for me, and my mind was already racing ahead.
“I know your surname,” she agreed, glancing across as I guided her through the library, past the towering glass panes that held the king’s library, watching the way her eyes tracked every shelf and spine with covetous greed.
“Say the word and it can be your name, too.” The words flew out before I could caution myself.
Carmen laughed, the bright sound travelling through the high-ceilinged room. She thought I was joking; perfect. She didn’t need to know I was deadly serious.
No one moved to stop us as we passed through the building, to question who we were and what we were doing here. And they damn well better not; I’d dropped a ridiculous sum on getting this building to ourselves for the night.
“Why a library?” she asked after a moment, peering around at our surroundings as I guided her towards the reading room. Tiffany-blue carpet softened our steps as we walked inside, my arm refusing to move from where it wrapped around her. It just feltrightholding Carmen, like she was always supposed to be at my side. “Of all the places you could have brought me, why here?”
“Notalibrary. The biggest in the world.” My correction earned a dry look that I was dying to see over and over again. It was quickly swept behind a pleasant smile, but Iachedfor that glimmer of attitude. I was greedy to climb over her walls, to get through her shields, to see what lay on the other side. “I might have noticed you carry a copy of Alice in Wonderland when you got your phone from your bag.”
The look she fired my way was difficult to read. Surprised definitely, maybe a little guarded. Or was she irritated? Her eyes had narrowed, but the amber turned to rich caramel.
“Always,” she answered after a moment. The amusement that crossed her face then seemed forced, but I didn’t point that out. I was honoured she’d gifted me a moment of vulnerability,so I just tucked her closer to me and led her deeper into the room.
The reading room was a circular study room beneath a perfectly domed ceiling in duck-egg blue and gold, an oculus of glass allowing just a glimpse of starlight. Just seeing that duck-egg blue made me want to grind my teeth, memories of my mother pricking my soft brain, but I looked at the beautiful woman beside me and shut them out.
Carmen’s eyes were wide as she turned in place—I followed her, refusing to let her move even an inch away from me—and stared at the ceiling, the bookshelves that ringed the room in a complete three-sixty, the reading desks that were arranged like the spokes of a great wheel, always leading back to the centre of the room.
“This place is incredible,” she murmured, something so aching and real in her voice. “How many books are there here?”
“Too many to count,” I answered, my eyes on her face, tracking every single play of emotion—the brightness of her eyes, the way her smile softened, her features melting with awe. “But I had one book in particular pulled out for you,” I added, stroking my thumb over the arch of her waist as I led her towards the central table, where a librarian had left a manuscript for us as requested.
Carmen’s breath caught as she made the connections, and her stare shot to me, remaining on my face even as we came to a stop before the table and the original manuscript of Alice in Wonderland.
“I thought you might like to see the original,” I said, my heartbeat frantic at the way she stared at me, something intent and rare in those sumptuous amber eyes of hers. “It was originally written for Alice—”
“Lidell, I know,” she interrupted, staring at me like she’d been expecting a thunderstorm and I’d shown her a clearsky and a bright sunrise. She tore her gaze away and stared reverently at the manuscript set on the desk, sliding slowly, carefully into the seat I pulled out for her. She barely breathed, as if oxygen alone might take the pages away from her.
“Shouldn’t someone be here to watch us? What if we damage the pages?” she demanded, but quietly, even her voice a lilting whisper.
