Page 28 of A Touch of Charm
“But there’s a big difference between the mere skeleton and a living person.”
“Blood and flesh, as they say in English?”
“It’s not that simple.” He gently turned her hand over, and she instinctively held it at the ready to receive a kiss on the knuckles. It was an impulse she’d learned and honed over the years, almost like the habit that betrayed her mannerisms as a high-born lady.
Andre seemed unperturbed by her gesture and didn’t seem to give it as much thought as she did. He aptly guided her hand and articulated her wrist. Thea gasped at the depth of his knowledge. He ought to know every bone, muscle, vein, and fiber—and yet Thea wished he’d discover her anew as she was discovering him with a new awareness.
“Innervation is the main difference between the living and everything else. See, here?”
He trailed the index finger of his other hand over a line that started very thin and then disappeared over the back of Thea’s hand. A shiver followed the light trail of his touch, and Thea’s insides quivered with something he couldn’t quite name. He turned her hand over and bent her wrist to expose the lines. Under his expert gaze, a jolt of excitement made her break into goosebumps. He must have noticed, for he first inspected her cheek, then his gaze moved to her neck, and finally he looked ather face as a whole. Of course, a doctor would know everything about the body.
And this doctor affected every fiber of her being with only a chaste touch and scorching look.
“You can’t always see them, but the veins and arteries constantly pump blood through your body.” He showed her the branched veins of her wrist and then turned her hand back over.
Thea felt the air drain from her lungs as if her pulse had quickened under his gaze. She felt breathless in a way she had never felt before when she was near him.
A long pause followed, and she grew restless under his intent gaze. He knew everything about the human body, and she didn’t know why her response to him was so strong and how to handle the fervor building in her stomach. Her body seemed to react to Andre in a completely unfamiliar way.
“Thank you for explaining this to me,” Thea marveled.
Then he bent down and placed a kiss on her knuckle, lingering for an instant longer than she’d expected.
“I’m always at your service, Your Royal Highness,” Andre said. He didn’t quite say it the way most people, who knew who she was, would. An undercurrent of mischief made the tiny hairs on Thea’s neck prick up.
*
Andre thought shewas exquisite. He’d seen his fair share of nice girls and pretty women, and he’d had enough unchaste encounters to allow him to deepen his knowledge of female anatomy to the level of ultimate mastery. But none of them had prepared him for how Thea’s intelligent eyes met his. No, they didn’t just meet; they connected. They were linking his soul to hers so profoundly that it almost ached not to stare at her. It wasn’t nice, of course, staring… and yet, she sparkled with a curiosity about the human body that awakened his most basic urges, for he knew all too well he could show her just what her body was capable of—over and over again he wished to hold her and let her reach the peak—Stop!
Andre shook his head, hoping these ideas would leave his mind.
He was not worthy of a princess, and she’d been set aside for a Habsburg prince—not a Habsburg bastard.
He sighed and took heart, but he already knew his would break.
She was beautiful, but not because of her dark-rimmed eyes, lush curly hair, or perfect smile—Andre was fascinated by her thoughts about the world and her questions.
“How long did it take for you to learn everything about his body?” Thea asked, trying to direct his attention back to the skeleton.
“It is a she. Well, it was. This woman has been dead for more than fifty years. I don’t know where she came from, but she had a short life.”
The crinkled her forehead. “How do you know that?”
“I don’t know, but she probably never had a baby.”
“Why not?”
“Her hips are wide and open, so she was of child-bearing age, but they are still connected at the pubic symphysis, so no baby has passed through her birth canal yet. It’s not a certainty but a likelihood.”
Thea cocked her head and made a grimace that spoke volumes of her innocence.
“Her spine was very straight, and there was much cartilage to protect the vertebrae, so she was healthy and strong until her death.” Now Thea looked sad and flattened her lips into a frown, so Andre continued with what he knew: bones. “If you ask Felix, he can narrow her age further based on her teeth.”
“Because they were healthy?”
“No, because she didn’t have all of them yet.”
Thea’s eyes flew to the skeleton’s mouth, and she noticed the largest back teeth were lower than they should be. They hadn’t grown yet.
