Page 25 of The Moral Dilemma

“I don’t think so,” she answered warily. “I usually work at the house.”

“You’re very brave to come for us. You could have gotten hurt yourself,” he praised quietly.

“I couldn’t let you die…” The words were imbued with an odd feeling, one he couldn’t make sense of, but touched him deep within.

“Thank you. I’m in your debt.”

“No.” She shook her head, tendrils of her hair touched his face. “It’s what anyone would do.”

“I highly doubt that,” he muttered dryly. “You’re so small…” he trailed off as he realized his hand had brushed against the side of her breast. “I apologize,” he added immediately.

She let out a soft laugh.

“You don’t have to apologize for anything, Raf. It’s because I am small that I fit better through all these nooks.”

“You have a point there,” he chuckled.

Still, that ghost of a touch played in his mind, and he berated himself for being such a fucking pervert. Yet it was undeniable that for all her small frame, that part of her wasn’t as small…

He groaned out loud as he realized the direction of his thoughts.

This doesn’t help!

“Are you in pain?” she suddenly inquired.

Yes, but of a different kind.

“No,” he mumbled, his face flaming.

What was it with him now, that his libido had suddenly awoken to life in these dire circumstances? First he’d felt drawn to that damned witch—the wife of the master—and now he was becoming aroused from the sound of this woman’s voice alone.

Maybe he’d gone mad.

Maybe everything he’d been through in the last year had finally caught up with him and he’d gone stark mad.

Odd though, that he didn’t feel any revulsion when she touched him, considering his past with Armand. If anything, there was something extremely soothing about her touch—something that calmed his clamoring thoughts and made him feel at home.

Home.

That was what she reminded him of. With her soft touches and sweet voice, she wreaked havoc on his senses, making all these awful circumstances fade into the background.

“Tell me if it hurts,” she murmured as she went ahead and tended to those small cuts with the utmost care.

“You’re very kind, Lucero,” he praised softly, his breath fanning across her face as he leaned forward. Her hands stilled on his arm as she slowly turned her head, until he felt her own breath fluttering against his lips.

God, but what he wouldn’t give for some light to be able to see her.

“You deserve some kindness in your life, Raf,” she told him, the words searing themselves inside his heart.

How… How had she known? How the hell had she known he was starved for a kind touch instead of a bruising one?

He gulped down against a deluge of feelings that inundated his being.

Before he could help himself, he reached for her hand, cradling it in his own and bringing it to his lips for a light kiss.

“Thank you,” he told her, emotion radiating from his voice.

She froze at the contact, and for a moment Raf thought he’d committed a faux pas. But in the next moment, she was flush against his chest, giving him a light hug.

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