Page 20 of Raul
“That was Quinn’s idea,” Raul said. “The music festival. How could I not see what a perfect job that would be for Gabri?”
She leaned across the space between them and put her hand on his forearm. “You’re not responsible for your cousin’s happiness. We all have to find our own.”
His muscles flexed under the light fabric of his shirt, and she jerked her hand back. It was borderline all right to touch the prince when checking his equipment, but not at all appropriate when attempting to comfort him.
“Ifeelresponsible.” He glanced at his arm and then at her. “Because of his sacrifice.”
“That’s a lot of weight to carry.” No wonder Raul had forgotten how to have fun. He was neck-deep in guilt. “Gabriel is in a good place now. He wouldn’t want you to torture yourself about him.”
So many platitudes, but sometimes they were true.
“I tell myself that.Carajo!Gabri has told me that.” He looked at her, his face taut with anguish. “But I can’t forget that I let it happen.”
Her heart twisted. How could she help him? She knew nothing about the pressures of being heir to the throne. Wait…that was it.
“You’re forgetting something important,” she said slowly as she thought it through. “You even said it yourself. You had a duty as the prince, and Gabriel had a dutytothe prince. He didn’t put himself at risk foryoursake. He did it forel Principe de los Lirios, the Crown Prince of Caleva. He would have done thesame thing for me if I were the princess. It’s your position he made the sacrifice for.”
“So somehow onlythe princeshould feel guilty? Iamthe prince.” His tone was almost angry. “Do you know a way to separate myself from myself?”
“Don’t they teach you that in prince school? I feel like it should be required.” She slapped her hand over her wayward mouth. Damnpitorrorum.
“Prince school? Enrollment of one?” He grimaced and shook his head. “My father has taught me a lot of things, but I don’t think even he knows how to do that.”
“Have you ever asked him?” She was going to get herself in trouble, but he was in so much pain, and she wanted to ease it. “He must have some helpful hints.”
Raul blew out a breath. “He’s the king through and through. No attempts at separation.”
“What about when he’s being your papa? Isn’t he different then?”
“Don’t get me wrong. He’s an amazing father, but sometimes there’s a blurred line between parent and king. When he ordered me to take this vacation, I wasn’t sure if he was doing it as my father or as my boss.”
Erica recalled her meeting with the queen that she wasn’t allowed to mention. “He had to be worried about your, er, incident at the medal ceremony as a parent first and foremost.”Joder,she shouldn’t have rubbed salt in that wound.
Raul winced. “May I ask you a favor?”
“Stop talking?”
He bit off a short laugh. “No. Would you put your hand on my arm again? It felt good to be connected. Like belaying.”
“I—what?” She didn’t know what to do, but her body did. A ripple of heat surged through her at the thought of his warm, hard muscles under her palm.
“You didn’t feel the connection today?” He sounded disappointed. “I did. You knew exactly when I needed help to find the next hold. You could tell when I should shift my foot a few inches to the right or left. The rope always had the perfect tension or slack.” He touched his temple. “It was like you were in my head. We were attuned to each other.”
Every ounce of her focus had been on his body, checking his position, reading his physical cues, sensing when he was hesitant and when he was confident. Admiring the way his muscles shifted under his shirt and trousers.
Attunedwas one word for it. “That means we’re a good team as climber and belayer.”
“So it’s not like that with every climber you’ve belayed?”
“No. You and I had a strong line of communication,” she said. “That doesn’t happen often, especially not the first time you work together.”
There was enough light left to see the flash of his smile. “That’s what I thought.”
Did he still want her to hold his arm? Because she had a fierce yearning to cross the space between them and lean against his side.
What the hell? They could both blame it on the rum.
She scooted across the hard dirt to loop her arm around his at the elbow. “Now we’re connected again.”
