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I pulled back sharply, barely able to see her sly smile in the dwindling sunlight.
“I like how your lust feels,” she told me. “It’s so heady and intoxicating. If you ever want to put the emotion into practice, I just want you to know, I’d be most willing to—”
“No,” I cut in sharply, my voice strained. “I mean, we probably shouldn’t.”
By God, the woman had just told me she’d lie with me any time. No way could I just shrug that off. A groan rumbled from my throat merely thinking about it.
But it had to be the vilest idea imaginable.
I knew I wasn’t a particularly honest man. My morals were loose and my sense of ethics all out of whack, but this went against even my standards. I’d never been so deceitful to someone I felt didn’t deserve it. And the only thing worse than all these lies I was feeding her would be to take her virtue as well.
So I absolutely could not sleep with her.
“Princess—Nicolette.” I shook my head in an effort to get myself under control. “Time is of the essence here. My mother…”
Damnation. Lying about my mother made the whole thing even shoddier. But we honestly didn’t have a moment to spare for a dalliance right now. Besides, taking her innocence by deceit would be the worst, the most horrendous action imaginable.
“You’re right,” Nicolette said. Thank God. “I’m sorry. We’ll have all the time in the world for that when we make it to your home and save your mother.”
Her words made the guilt swell, but I hid the expression with thoughts of my mother to mask it. “Right,” I rasped, the word strained as I agreed. “After we save my mother.”
Damn, she was going to hate me when she learned the truth.
Even though we’d rested the entire—er, at least a portion—of the day, traveling seemed to wear heavily on Nicolette that night.
I could tell by the way she yawned every time she tried to speak, only to give up the effort after a spell and fall completely silent barely two hours into our journey.
When she nearly spilled out of her saddle after nodding off, she apologized profusely. “I’m so sorry. I guess it’s taking me a bit to adjust to this ‘riding at night and sleeping during the day’ business.”
“Think nothing of it,” I assured her. “I suffered from the same affliction on the trip out here.”
That was a lie, but it seemed to make the princess feel better. I could barely sleep at any time—night or day. Nightmares of Sable’s well-being haunted me whenever I tried; it was far easier to just stay awake and ride through the worry and fear.
But now, I had Nicolette to worry about as well. I didn’t want to care about her discomfort, and yet I found myself calling a halt to our travels a good hour before dawn.
“I’m fine,” she tried to reassure me, even as she practically tumbled out of her saddle when she disembarked and then had to grasp the reins to keep herself upright when her knees buckled as soon as her feet hit the sand.
I rushed over and caught her waist as she slurred, “We don’t have to stop early because of me. I can keep riding.”
I didn’t bother to answer, merely guided her the rest of the way to the ground, where she collapsed with a sigh of relief.
“Stay,” I said softly. “I’ll prepare the bedding.”
It wasn’t easy to set up the camp in nothing but moonlight, but I managed to get the job done with a lot of cursing and catching my fingers in bad spots that would surely leave my knuckles bruised.
“Princess,” I murmured, returning to her when I was finally finished. “Your bed awaits.”
But she was past hearing me, already dead asleep as she lay slumped on the sand, breathing heavily.
With a sigh, I brushed her hair from her cheeks and tucked it behind her ear so I could see her face in the moonlight.
“What a trooper you are,” I whispered.
Emotion wrapped itself tight around my rib cage until I could barely draw air. What the hell was I going to do with this girl?
I couldn’t hand her over to my father; I’d never be able to live with myself if I did.
But there was no time to return her to Donnelly, either, and then hurry back to save Sable. She’d have to ride on to Far Shore with me. It was too bad I didn’t have a friend or ally I could leave her with as I continued on toward the castle. I only trusted myself with seeing to her safety.
