Page 16 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
“I’m perfectly fine,” he replied as he straightened, wiping his nose as discreetly as possible with his sleeve.
The motion drew my attention to the dirty state of his sleeve. Shit, I hadn’t thought to bring him new clothes. I wassonot prepared to keep a captive for more than a few hours, and we were already on day three.
“It’s so dusty in here my allergies are acting up,” he explained.
The roomwaskind of stuffy. There were a few windows in the tower, but without a good breeze they didn’t bring in a lot of fresh air.
“If I could take a walk …” he said, his voice suspiciously casual.
“Sure.”
His head whipped around, and he stared at me, his whole body tense, totally negating any pretense at not trying to escape. “Really?”
“Yeah, but I have one condition.”
Wary now, he asked, “What’s that?”
He hadn’t agreed yet, but he hadn’t said no either. “I’ll be right back.” I jogged up the stairs to the bedroom and searched along the wall until I found the seam. Knocking on the panel, the door opened,and I pulled out a chest.
“I had no idea that was there.”
Yelping, I turned to find Brendan standing in the doorway. That was thethirdtime the bastard had snuck up on me!
“It’s uh, private,” I replied, trying to block his view with my body. My cheeks heated in embarrassment as I dug through the items in the chest until I found what I needed. With a triumphant grin, I held it up for his inspection.
Brendan looked at the red rope dubiously. “What’s that for?”
“I’ll bind your wrists with this”—I mimicked tying him up—“and hold onto one end. That way we can go for a walk.”
Jaw clenched in anger, he snarled, “I am not yourdog.”
I studiously avoided looking at the red leather collar that often accompanied the ropes. “I know, but I thought this would allow you to get some fresh air without me having to pin you down the whole time.”
“The point of the walk was toescape.”
Duh.“If you don’t want to,” I began, putting the rope away in super-slow-motion.
His eyes skated between the rope and the window, which clearly displayed the cheerful blue sky, the verdant tree leaves. A faraway call of a songbird trilled in encouragement. Sighing in defeat, he held his arms out to me. “Fine.”
Ducking my head to hide my grin, I loosely looped the rope around his wrists. “Bind.” The rope tightened, twisting and slithering over itself, binding him tightly but comfortably, avoiding the risk of accidentally cutting off circulation.
His eyebrows arched in surprise, and he leaned over to look past my shoulder. “First fairy dust, now magic ropes. How many magical items do you have?”
I closed the lid of the trunk with my foot and clasped the end of the rope firmly. “Come on. We have about an hour before I have to head back to the castle.”
The rope hung limp between us as we walked down the stairs. Halfway down, Brendan tripped, crashing against me. I planted my feet and caught him, shoving him against the wall and holding him there as my heart pounded from adrenaline. “Are you okay?” I asked.
He was short of breath, eyes unfocused. His skin was paler than usual, the brown freckles standing out in stark contrast. Eventually he nodded and said, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Since hanging out on a stairway seemed more dangerous than walking down it, I accepted his answer. We took the remaining steps at a slower pace.
Outside, he paused and lifted his face to the sun. The light played with his red hair, turning it into a beautiful, lively flame. He bathed in the sunlight, his whole face at peace. If Franny had been interested in men, she would have hit the jackpot. Sculpted jaw, straight nose, plush pink lips that had probably kissed a hundred women.
The peaceful beauty faded when he opened his eyes and remembered my existence, his mouth and eyes pinching in annoyance.
I looked away, embarrassed and miserable to have been caught staring. “Let’s get this over with.”
I couldn’t exactly parade him around town, so our only option was to walk in a circle through the surrounding forest. On the first viewing, the scenery was charming and idyllic, the perfect place for a first date—not that we were on one.
