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Not knowing what he expected me to do, I merely looked back at it.
“Here, let me help you down from there.”
I did not answer, for I could not, but the prince didn’t seem to be waiting for me to. He reached forward and lifted me down from the rock. His animal began its barking again, and I clung to him.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry about Sebastian. He’s harmless, he wouldn’t hurt a flea—trust me, I know.”
My eyes slid up to his face, and suddenly I felt shy. It was better than I’d ever dreamed—being here with him, in his arms. Emotions I’d never felt before filled me.
I trust you. And as the thought crossed my mind, I’d never meant anything more in my life.
“Here, let me.” He stepped away from me, his eyes raking my body.
My arms were at my sides, and his gaze slid down my pert breasts with their stiffened nipples. Past my flat, pale stomach, and lower...
Then he cleared his throat and stepped forward, dropping the garment over my head and tugging it down until it covered my front and even the tops of my legs.
“Where did you come from, little one?”
I opened my mouth and went to answer, forgetting that I could not. Only a guttural sound emerged between my parted lips.
The prince’s brow furrowed. “Can you… talk?”
Sadly, I shook my head. I had not realized how difficult this might be without the ability to speak to him.
“Well, that’s all right. Let’s get you up to the palace and see if we can’t find you something… more suitable to wear, hmm?”
He was looking at me with a strange gleam in his eye that made me feel another new thing.
A strange, hot pulsing sensation between my brand-new legs.
CHAPTER 5
Damian
Nearly as soon as we arrived at the palace, a member of my staff came rushing up to tell me my father was looking for me and that there were other matters to tend to. Swallowing my wearied sigh—I had only taken Sebastian out to get some fresh air and peace and quiet, after all—I released my new charge into their care.
Surprising even myself, I’d taken her by the hand, my thumb rubbing across her pale knuckles. “I’ll be right back. I have business to see to, but then I will seek you out.” And I’d held her gaze, marveling at the glittering emerald of her eyes. “Do you understand?”
Her perfectly straight white teeth were biting down into the tender flesh of her lip and her eyes were wide and anxious. I knew without a word that she did, but I wanted to establish the dynamic here. When I asked a question, I expected an answer.
Her head bobbed, the fire-red crown of her hair dipping for a moment.
I gave her hand a squeeze and rewarded her with a brief smile. “Good. I shall return.” Then I gave instructions to the staff member to get her clothed, turned on my heel and began walking toward my father’s suite.
Even as he droned on about royal politics and duty, my mind was not able to follow his rambling. Instead, my thoughts were occupied with the waif I’d found on the beach. What an adventure I’d had, finding her stark naked like that! Not that anyone else would ever be privy to that information—not if I wanted to properly introduce her to my father. He had certain ideas of propriety that I did not share. At least, not behind closed doors, anyway.
She had a stunning body, that much could be seen even at a distance. But the fact that I had seen it in all its pale, delicious glory… I rued the fact that I’d been raised a gentleman and had forced my eyes away long before I was ready to do so.
Her face was nearly as captivating, however. She had pale, creamy skin and a natural rose hue to her cheeks that women paid obscene sums to imitate. And those eyes. They were so large in her face, and such an extraordinary color—somewhere between the first sprouts of spring and the hue of precious jade. I felt certain I could lose time gazing into them, marveling at the color. And that hair! So extraordinary that I’d never seen anything like it. Though my hands were kept carefully clasped behind my back as was proper given my father’s station, my fingers itched with longing to travel through her long, impossibly colored tresses.
I’d seen beautiful women before, of course. They were frequently paraded before me and had been for nearly eight years now in hopes that I would make a match. Most of them could not keep my interest past their tiresome chatter, and of the three that had, two of them had been scared off by my… proclivities. The one that hadn’t, Sarah, had been lost at sea three months into our courtship.
There were moments when I still yearned for her, even though two years had passed. We weren’t exceptionally well matched. She was from the right family, and she tolerated the kind of activities that excited me, though I’d always suspected she did not enjoy them herself.
My father and my personal butler were always bemoaning my lack of interest in the fairer sex. In fact, the king had probably made several references to it that I would have caught if I were of the mind to listen.
But this one… there was something… perhaps it was the look in those exquisite eyes, or the curve of her vibrant, full lips. Either way, it was something that demanded I get back to her, and as soon as possible. A woman who suddenly materialized on the beach, unclothed and unable to speak, was one that might vanish just as suddenly.
