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Still too open and honest for her own good, this new Ana.
Still way too inclined to look at him and let her gaze linger on his fingers and his mouth, his body and the rise and fall of his chest. It was still there, that overwhelming awareness of each other. He still wanted her with every breath he took.
And she wasn’t indifferent to him.
It was going to make negotiating a pathway forward more difficult for all of them.
What else did he want from her? That was the question. Forget the demands of the monarchy for once. Forget his father’s example when it came to dealing with women.
What else did he want from her if he could have it?
Apart from her—wholly naked and pleading—beneath him.
* * *
Five minutes later he emerged from the shower, his skin still dripping and his towel slung low around his hips. He felt a little more human, a little more alert, and no more the wiser.
Ana stood waiting for him.
‘Silas told me where to find you,’ she said.
‘Did he tell you to walk right on into my private quarters?’
‘You invited me.’
So he had. The why of it still escaped him. He was too tired for negotiation and at a disadvantage. If she pressed him for concessions he was likely to give them. Was it loneliness that had made him extend the invitation? Did he have any idea why he was doing this?
All food for thought.
‘This room is the mirror of the one I’m in. Only warmer.’ Her gaze never left his skin. ‘I was looking at it before you came in. Shouldn’t you be putting some clothes on?’
‘Perhaps if I’d known you were here…’ Although, given the hot colour stealing through her cheeks, he might have left them off just for her. ‘Nothing you haven’t seen before.’
‘You look like an Egyptian king.’
‘Well, you know. Romans, Egyptians. Relatives. All of them.’ She couldn’t seem to drag her gaze away from him and he knew that if she kept it up he’d be reaching for her within minutes. ‘Do you feel like swimming? I feel like swimming.’ He walked towards the door that led to the walkway that led to the bathhouse. She’d know where he was heading soon enough given that her rooms had the mirror image layout and bathhouse access. ‘You don’t look as angry with me as you did in the kitchen.’
‘I’m trying to be a grown-up. Also, you’ve had a hard few days. I’ll give you that.’
‘Always with the compliments,’ he said. Broken moonlight banded the stone floor and faintly lit the way. ‘Coming?’
‘You say that a lot.’
‘King,’ he said. ‘People wait on my command.’
‘Even your lovers? Even your friends? When does equal exchange happen?’
Rarely, and maybe that was part of his problem. ‘Perhaps you can show me how it’s done.’
She fell into step beside him, their shoulders brushing every so often, never mind that the walkway was comfortably wide enough for two.
‘How’s this going to work?’ she murmured. ‘You swim, I talk and if you don’t like what I have to say you disappear underwater?’
‘Well, it could work that way,’ he murmured agreeably. ‘Or you could swim too.’
‘No costume.’
‘Are you expecting me to wear one?’ Now there was a thought he hadn’t entertained.
‘Sophia wants to know if she’s a princess,’ Ana said next. ‘My mother also wants to know about Sophia’s princess status. I don’t know what to tell them.’
‘Officially, no. Unofficially, yes.’
‘Good luck explaining that to a six-year-old.’
‘My sister’s duchy lies vacant. I find it fitting that it goes to Sophia, in which case she’ll hold the title of duchess. There is a castle to go with it. A very pretty one. Will that suffice?’
The walkway chilled his skin. Talk of tiny princesses did likewise. Ana’s presence heated it. All in all, there was balance.
‘Are you really serious about making Sophia a part of the royal family?’ she asked.
‘Did you think I wouldn’t be?’
‘I thought you were offering us protection on an as-needed basis. Not…incorporation.’
