Araceli leaned against me. “Bora, if I find you devastatingly attractive in the body of my worst enemy, I guarantee I will like you no matter what your real body looks like. It’s the person you are inside that I’m attracted to.”
When she put it like that, it made me feel much better. For the first time, I was able to relax against her.
“I’d still be willing to try again with you like this. Honestly, if you got a haircut, it might make a big difference.”
“I could get a tattoo,” I half joked. The notion was intriguing, after seeing how good tattoos looked on Araceli. My mother would freak out, but I wanted to be past the point of caring about that. Looking at Araceli’s messy locks, I longed to brush back her hair but feared taking the initiative to touch her. “Seriously, you don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I’ll get my real body back, then this won’t be a problem.”
Leaning in, Araceli touched our foreheads together. “I’m grateful that you’re willing to give me another chance.”
“After the way you rocked my world? I’d beg you for it,” I insisted.
“That would make you look nothing like the duchess.” Araceli smiled and held out her arms. “Want to cuddle?”
I was quick to take her up on that offer. We fell asleep together, intertwined.
A high-pitched voice cried, “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraceli! Where are you?”
I rolled over and tried to put my head under my pillow. But someone else was already using it. A beautiful face with waves of red hair. This must be what sailors felt like, glimpsing a mermaid rising out of the waves. I smiled.
“Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrri!”
Groaning, I sat up. My doorknob rattled. I had no time to stop it from opening. All I could do was drag my sheet up over my naked chest.
Queen Antonia bounded into the room. “There you are!”
“Huh?” Next to me, Araceli finally stirred.
As she sat up, I hastily tugged up the sheet to make sure it covered both of us.
Antonia put her hands on her hips. “You promised to take me out for a walk this morning.”
“Yes, I did,” Araceli admitted. “I thought I still had time.” Her gaze fell on the rays of sunlight coming through the window. “I’m sorry. I’ll get dressed as quickly as I can, then come over. In the future, you need to knock before entering people’s bedrooms.”
“Sorry.” Antonia pouted. “You weren’t in your room.”
“Why would you look for Araceli in my bedroom?” I asked, holding the sheet close.
“Because I’m not stupid.” With a withering glare, Antonia strode out.
As soon as the door closed, I groaned and collapsed backward onto my bed. “I feel responsible for traumatizing a child.”
“She’s not traumatized.” Araceli pecked my lips. “I watched my whole family die; that was trauma. Children are robust—and should know better than to burst into bedrooms. I’ll teach her not to do that before she walks in on something more explicit.” She picked up her clothes off the floor.
I cleared my throat. Unfortunately, this made Araceli turn around to look at me before I’d thought of what I wanted to say. I knew I ought to say something. I couldn’t just let the bod that had rocked my world stroll off without a single word. My voice came out rather small as I admitted, “I had a great time last night. Um, in spite of how it ended.”
“Me too.” Araceli smiled. Her hand reached out to brush a lock of hair off my face. “And as far as I’m concerned, ending on cuddling was a great note. Next time, I’m not going to rush into anything physical without getting a handle on my thoughts. However, I’ll cuddle you some more tonight if you want.”
“If?Of course I want to!” Whoops, had I said that last part out loud? Judging from the smirk on Araceli’s face, I had. I flushed. “We can talk after you get back from your walk. Maybe over a private dinner tonight.” That would give me some time to compose my mind from the puddle it had melted into.
“I’d love that.” Araceli gave me another smoldering smile, then regrettably started covering up that sexy body with clothes.
Later that day, I sat at my desk going over all the palace financials, looking for errors or signs of embezzlement. I lacked the skills to help with official paperwork. I knew it and acknowledged it. But I still wanted to do something more to help my sister than just stamp whatever she gave me with the royal seal. It was hard, boring work. My bedroom desk was a bit too small for me. The thin seat cushion was insignificant for sitting for a long period of time. As I rubbed my aching forehead, I reminded myself that I’d asked for this. Ysabel had been content to let me spend the day lazing and eating chocolate. But no, I wanted to be useful.
I had to admit, I’d been hoping to help more with getting my body back. That goal had just taken on a new urgency. However, we’d yet to hear from Ma’qas. Ysabel said she was speaking to her own contacts, but apparently most of them only trusted her, so I couldn’t help with the search. So far my sister’s information network in Arahasnor had come up worryingly blank. It was looking more likely the duchess had left the kingdom the longer we couldn’t find her.
What if the Blood Duchess had gotten mugged on the road, died, and been buried in a shallow grave? I might never find out. Then what would I do?
A knock interrupted my fretting. “I knocked this time!” Antonia said unnecessarily.
