Page 18 of Raul
“You’re being kind.” But he felt a glow from her praise. “Any success I had was due to my excellent teacher and belayer.”
“Muchas gracias.”A shadow crossed her face, and he wondered what had caused it.
“I want to climb again,” Raul said.
“Take a fifteen-minute break and drink some water,” she said, releasing herself from the rope. “I could use a drink myself.”
“It’s thirsty work,” Raul said, unclipping himself from the rope and accepting a water bottle from Dario.
When he lifted the bottle, there were smears of blood on it. He hadn’t even noticed that his fingers were covered in cuts from the climb. Now he understood Gabriel’s lack of concern when he sliced his fingers on guitar strings before his calluses formed. Being so focused on a task freed you from both mental and physical pain. He flexed his chalk-covered hands, reveling in the evidence of his profound effort.
Erica grabbed her bottle and plunked down on a boulder before taking a long guzzle of water. She looked more exhausted than he felt.
Guilt nipped at him. “I’m too heavy for you,” he said, sitting on the rock next to hers.
She shook her head. “I’ve belayed larger guys.”
Then he understood that he added extra figurative weight because he was the prince, and guilt jabbed at him. Would he ever get used to being as much a symbol as a man?
“You’ll feel lighter now that I know you can handle yourself,” she said.
Pleasure pulsed through him at her compliment. “If I swear not to do anything stupid, will it help?”
“Nobody thinks they’re doing something stupid when they do it,” she said before taking another long swallow of water.
The truth of that hit him like a punch to the gut. He and Gabriel had thought they were having some harmless fun when they shook off their bodyguards to go to a rowdy party in Barcelona. When they left the party, the kidnappers had struck, dragging Gabriel off to a van at gunpoint while Raul watched helplessly.
“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t know where that came from. Drink your water, and you can head up the rock face again.”
“Don’t apologize for being wise,” Raul said. “I will make a different promise to you. I will listen to what you tell me.”
“That’s far more useful, even if I don’t believe it.” She tossed him a wry look.
“My job requires that I not only listen, but that I actually hear what people are saying.” He returned her look. “Only occasionally do I fall asleep.”
She choked on a laugh. “Well, there’s no fear of that when you’re climbing.” For a moment, they locked gazes, and a tension built between them.
She snapped her water bottle closed. “Are you ready to go again?”
He stood. “This time, I will not fall.”
Chapter 5
After hours of belaying the heir to the throne who pushed his limits hard, Erica wanted to crawl into her tent and go to sleep, but Raul was on a high from his day of climbing. He couldn’t stop talking about it.
It didn’t help that Dario had brought a jar of Puerto Rican moonshine in his pack, making cocktails out of sports drinks andpitorrorum. He dubbed the mixture Climber’s Cocktail, and it tasted so awful that she nearly spit hers out. But once she swallowed, the highly alcoholic rum spread a warmth through her veins that began to ease the tension of her heavy responsibility.
Neither of the bodyguards drank the alcohol, of course. Ever since she had found that damned abandoned campsite, Dario and Pascal had been on high alert, constantly patrolling around the prince. Which meant that Erica had to take on being his social companion, a role she enjoyed far too much.
“You find campsites with the best views,” Raul said, settling on the ground with his back against a boulder, his second cup of Climber’s Cocktail in his hand. He stretched out his long legs and crossed them at the ankles. His thigh and calf muscles created swells and valleys in the fabric of his trousers that made her want to run her palms over them.
She closed her eyes to quell her reaction. She had been staring at his body all afternoon as he stretched and flexed and strained above her, so how was she not supposed to notice what a tight butt and sculpted shoulders he had?
“Why camp in the mountains if you’re not going to get a vista?” She opened her eyes and sat on a flat rock a couple of feet away from him. She took in the line of steep volcanic peakssweeping away in front of them. The sinking sun’s light brushed the very tips with deep gold.
“You have to know where to find them, though.” Raul pivoted his legs so he was turned partway toward her. “Is this where you and your father used to come?”
“One of the places.” It was the rock face where he had taught her to climb. “My favorite one because of the scenery.”
