“There are many other places I would rather be,” she countered firmly.
His eyes dropped to her lips before rising again. “Name them.”
That look had her so flustered that she had quite lost the thread of their conversation. Her heart beat rapidly, new warmth creeping through her. The way he examined her—it was not just scandalous. It was intoxicating too.
“As I thought,” he said, a note of smugness entering his voice.
She blinked, realizing he had soundly routed her. Eleanora tried to summon up places she would rather be.
“A boat,” she blurted.
“A boat.” He rubbed the hand from his uninjured arm slowly along his jaw. “What sort of boat?”
She hadn’t thought that one through.
“The sort that travels over the water.”
Oh heavens, this was going poorly. He had her quite flustered, the combination of his nearness and regard, coupled with the fact that she was seated on his bed and he wasn’t even wearing a shirt beneath the counterpane…
No, she mustn’t think about the shocking expanse of shoulders and chest revealed to her whenever he shifted beneath the bedclothes. He was only wearing half a dressing gown. She’d done her best not to acknowledge it, but the lateness of the hour, the intimate tone of his voice… It was all swirling together into one unending sea that was steadily rising and threatening to drown her.
“Is that not, by definition,allboats, Eleanora?” he asked, his lips twitching.
He was finding her discomfiture amusing, the scoundrel.
“Your Royal Highness is, of course, correct,” she said sweetly, forcing a smile.
“I begin to think you are finding yourself growing fond of me against your will, my dear,” he said, his mouth tipping up at one corner into a half smile that stole her breath. “You’re enjoying yourself. Admit it.”
She was. And how hideous of him not just to realize it, but give voice to it.
“I’m merely pleased to see that you’re doing so well after suffering a grievous wound and losing so much blood,” she said, which was also true.
He may have been a conscienceless seducer and the most handsome man she’d ever seen, but that didn’t mean she wanted any harm to befall him. She had been terribly worried for him.Was still worried, if she were honest with herself. There was still ample time and opportunity for an infection to set in.
“Your tender feelings for me are a balm to my heart,” he said with a courtly air.
He was ridiculous. He made her want to smile. He made her want to take him gently in her arms. He made her want to kiss him and fall under his maddening spell and cast her future aside for just one night with him.
And she hated him for that. For the way he seemed to sense her weaknesses with such ease, toying with her, charming her, flirting with her. Leading her ever closer to ruin.
“You should get some rest now, Your Royal Highness,” she said, summoning what remained of her ability to resist his potent allure as she rose. “The laudanum ought to do its work.”
His eyelids appeared to be growing heavier as the medicine took effect once more.
“I wish you wouldn’t go.”
“I must,” she forced herself to say, dipping into a curtsy.
“Eleanora?”
Her gaze tangled with his. “Yes, Your Royal Highness?”
A faint smile curved his lips as thick gold lashes swept lower over sky-blue eyes. “Thank you.”
She took her leave from the room before she was further tempted to linger.
CHAPTER 6
