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But Leanna was talking to herself.
Cam had already stormed from the room.
Go take your bath? Was that really what he’d said?
Cameron Knight couldn’t speak a sentence without turning it into an order.
Besides, she’d sooner have stayed sweaty and dirty than climb into that obscene tub. The basin, hot water, soap and a washcloth would do just fine.
Clean, skin almost raw from all the scrubbing—as if it were possible to scrub away the unseen imprint of a man’s hands—Leanna opened a closet in the bathroom and found it filled with silky gowns—caftans, she supposed—in a rainbow of colors. She chose one blindly and slipped it over her bare skin, buttoning it from her throat to her toes. There were matching slippers, too, but when she tried putting her feet into them, she winced. The toes on her left foot were tender.
Better to go barefoot than risk an injury that might affect her dancing, she thought…and almost laughed. Dancing again was the least of her worries. First, she’d have to get out of this place alive. It killed her to admit, but she knew she’d never be able to do it alone.
If Cam had abandoned her…
No. She wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. Wasn’t there some old saying about not borrowing trouble ahead of time?
A small lacquered box held ivory hairpins. Leanna pulled her hair into a loose topknot and pinned it in place.
The bathroom door was still on its hinges, though it hung drunkenly in its frame. She opened it cautiously. The bedroom was empty. So was the sitting room. Someone had been here, though. The room was bright with candlelight; a long table held an assortment of food and drink.
Leanna filled a crystal goblet with water and sipped at it as she stepped through a pair of French doors onto a wide stone balcony.
The moon hung like a cameo against a black velvet sky that blazed with the fire of a billion stars. Gardens stretched in every direction, their flowers delicately scenting the night. Below the terrace, torches illuminated a curving azure pool.
The setting was blissful but even the set for a ballet was more real than this. Cameron Knight wasn’t a prince any more than she was a princess, waiting to be awakened by his kiss. The things that had made him seem so attractive here, where survival depended on his testosterone levels, would be a turnoff anywhere else.
She was embarrassed even thinking it, because she wasn’t proud of it, but the truth was, sleeping with him would have been—it would have been the equivalent of going slumming.
Cam had none of the qualities she’d ever wanted in a man. He’d dented her pride but she’d—but she’d—
Leanna caught her breath. She stepped back into the shadows. Cam was heading toward the pool, strolling along as if he owned the world.
What was he doing?
Unhurriedly he stripped off his T-shirt. Didn’t it occur to him that someone might be watching? That she—
Her mouth went dry as he s
tepped out of his jeans.
God, he was beautiful! The hard, dangerous face. The black hair, long and curling lightly at his nape. The wide shoulders and broad chest, taut abdomen…
Her eyes danced lower.
He was still aroused. Incredibly aroused.
Desire flooded her senses. There was no point in lying to herself. She’d never admit it to him—she’d never have to—but how could a woman see this man and not want him?
He stepped to the edge of the pool, then dived in. The water hardly rippled. A second passed. Then his head broke the surface. He swam the pool’s length, jackknifed and swam it again, over and over until she lost count.
At last, he hoisted himself out of the water. As he did, he looked up at the terrace. Leanna’s heart stopped. Then she remembered that he couldn’t see her.
But she could see him.
All that exercise hadn’t done a thing to lessen his frustration.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if she could find a way to make it worse? He’d accused her of deliberately teasing him, but she hadn’t.
