Julian nodded, but he looked disappointed.
“How could I not?” she admitted.
His eyes alighted on her again. He was more pleased with that answer.
They rounded the corner, and Sarah continued to lead them down a spiral stairway to another corridor. Sarah paused at the hallway opening, glancing in both directions. “Quickly,” she whispered.
Elora heard distant voices as they rushed after Sarah. There was a thrill at the possibility of being discovered. Her heart pounded with excitement.
Julian suddenly grabbed Elora’s hand and pulled her into a sheltered alcove.
Startled, Elora glanced after Sarah. She opened her mouth to call after her.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were from the beginning?” he asked, staring down at her.
All thought of Sarah vanished from Elora’s mind as his thumb traced the palm of her hand. It distracted her as tremors through her body raced from his touch. “Edward doesn’t know that Sarah and I go into cities to look at the knives and daggers. I was afraid word might reach him.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly. “I am trustworthy.”
“I didn’t know that then.”
“You should have realized after I kept you safe in Gracious Hill.”
She nodded in agreement, bowing her head. “You’re right. But…”Yes.She had had many chances to tell him. In the town. In the camp. “Would you have offered me ale from your flask if you knew I was Sir Edward’s sister? Would you have asked me to stay and hear Sir Baldwin’s tales if you knew I was Lady Elora from Kingston?”
Julian winced. “No. Probably not.”
“For just a moment, I wanted to be someone other than Lady Elora. For just a moment, I wanted to be… a commoner.”
Julian shook his head. “You were always much more than a commoner. Even when I first saw you in the town.”
She eased her hand from his grasp. “You know who I am now. Edward doesn’t want me to see you again.”
Julian reached for her hand again, capturing it and holding it tightly. He pulled her closer to him and dipped his head to gaze into her eyes. His stare was so intense, so heated; she couldn’t breathe for a moment.
“Is that what you want?” he asked.
Her fingers contracted around his. Lord, no! No, it wasn’t what she wanted, but how could she tell him that? “It doesn’t matter what I want. I am supposed to find a husband of equal title. Someone to take care of me and protect me.”
“I can protect you.” Julian straightened, releasing her hand. “Is that what you want?”
“It’s what I have to want,” she whispered. “Edward is my brother. He is my family. He wants what is best for me.”
“But what doyouwant?”
Elora looked up at him. She wanted to see him every moment of every day. Torchlight played over his handsome face, casting his features in light and dark. Shadow accented his concave cheeks; flickering torchlight illuminated his straight nose and square clean-shaven jaw. Every instinct, every fiber of her being, wanted Julian. Nausea rose inside of her. She opened her mouth, knowing she had to deny him, but the words would not come.
Julian grinned. He pushed a lock of hair from her cheek, and his fingers grazed across her skin to her chin. “Baldwin thinks it would be better if I never saw you again.”
She dropped her gaze to his chest with a sigh of acceptance.
“But I can’t take my eyes off of you.”
Thrilled, she lifted her stare to him.
“I can’t get enough of you, Ellie. I can’t sleep because images of you plague my mind. I can’t concentrate on jousting because I am looking for you in the stands. I need to see you as much as I need to breathe.”
His words sent longing and desire pulsing through her with every beat of her heart. Her gaze drifted slowly over his face, memorizing the planes of his rugged complexion, the smooth skin of his jaw to the sensual slash of his lips to the strong curve of his cheeks. She looked into his confident and tormented deep sapphire-blue eyes, staring at her as though she were his world.
