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I assessed her wardrobe and stilled.
She was still wearing my shirt.
Not the shirt I’d set out for her from her old closet.
But my fucking shirt.
Tamping down the urge to push her inside her room and against the wall, I ignored the rising bulge in my pants, working to keep my breathing even.
I was immediately jealous of all the ways my shirt rubbed against her bare skin, and wished it were my hands . . . my lips . . . my . . .
Easy, Leo. Be cool.
“I’ll have a few more items packed for you,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “We need to travel light. A week’s worth of riding is hard on even our best horses.”
She nodded, thankfully keeping her eyes on my face and not dropping them lower to the situation that was happening in my pants.
“I’ll be back in an hour to get you.”
She only nodded once more, closing the door in my face.
I looked down at my pants and sighed.
Well, this should be interesting.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BRYN
While waiting for Leo’s return, I wondered about his mother and what had happened to her.
His moment of grief had been palpable, a coldness like ice radiating off him and through me. Then it had been gone. Quickly hidden behind his attempt at charm.
When my parents had passed away, I’d inherited their beloved farmhouse. When Leo lost his mother, he had become a king.
Maybe it was wrong of me to be annoyed at Leo’s dishonesty. If he didn’t want me to know his true title, I should understand, shouldn’t I? I barely knew him, he didn’t owe me anything; yet, I still felt the tiniest bit of hurt inside me at the lie.
The small tug in my chest alerted me to his presence before I found him back at my door, filling the entire frame, his height indeed matching Adrian’s.
He leaned inside my room and smirked. “As much as I enjoyed hearing about your cat-and-mouse game with my guard, this exit from the castle will be much more discreet.”
My body pulled to be closer to him, a recurring feeling when he was near. So much so that my feet involuntarily stepped toward him, my curiosity getting the better of me. “And how do you propose we be discreet?”
Leo wordlessly extended his hand to me, silently asking for me to trust him again.
I placed my hand in his and gasped when he pulled me into him, cold air snapping around us. The scent of wind and ocean, sea salt and storms, enclosing me.
“The cold you feel is the night air,” he whispered. “It’s chilled without the sun.”
Goosebumps raised across my body as dark whorls gathered, momentarily hiding the gray stone of my room.
Leo’s breath tickled my ear. “The night sky cloaks us, protecting us from sight.”
I swallowed painfully, my throat constricting from the nerves of being pressed up against his body.
“Since it’s daytime,” he continued, “I gather the stars and lace them together to create a shroud of protection, an illusion of invisibility.”
I turned my head to find a slight glimmer surrounding us, as if we stood under a tent made of sheer fabric that sparkled like diamonds, the world still visible beyond. I caressed it gently and watched as it rippled beneath my fingertips, its texture luxurious like silk.
