“Then I am at your service, my lady.”
She turned around and Kevin could see an entire row of ties up her back with her shift underneath. There was no skin showing so it wasn’t entirely improper, although it was a bit intimate.
He’d never been asked to tie a dress before.
“Start from the bottom,” she told him. “Tie it as tightly as you can without tearing it.”
“What happens if I tear it?”
“My retribution shall be swift.”
Though he sensed humor, he lifted his eyebrows. “Then I shall endeavor not to tear it.”
As he reached out for the first tie, he realized that he was actually nervous.Nervous, like a fool!He’d never been this close to her, feeling the heat from her body against his hands as he reached out and began to carefully join the ties, twisting them more carefully than he’d ever tied anything in his life.
“Like that?” he asked when he was done.
She craned her head back, looking over her shoulder. “It feels well enough,” she said. “Please do the rest of them.”
He did. One by one, he secured the ties up the back of the dress until he came to the top, where he secured it snuggly. To be truthful, he was disappointed when it was over because he’d rather liked helping her, but he stood back a proper distance now that his job was finished.
“There,” he said. “All of the ties are fastened.”
Juliandra’s hands flew to the back of the dress again, feeling the ties. Still fingering the knots, she turned to him.
“Well done, my lord,” she said, a glimmer of mirth in her eyes. “You make a very fine maid.”
He grinned, lopsided. “If I ever fail at being a knight, then I shall consider the profession,” he said. “Do you require anything else while I am here?”
She shook her head. “Nay, but I thank you,” she said. But she paused a moment before continuing. “Are yousureyou do not have any further questions for me?”
Kevin looked at her. He’d just tied her dress, which was quite possibly the most intimate thing he’d ever done with a woman outside of an occasional prostitute and the goldsmith’s daughter he’d had a fling with in London last year, and there had been something wholly satisfying about it. Simple, unadulterated pleasure. He was reminded yet again about a wife and marriage, wondering if moments like this were commonplace between a husband and wife.
He could so easily see himself doing that to his wife, helping her dress, telling her how beautiful she was and how proud he was of her.
More and more, he liked the idea.
Perhaps he liked it more with a merchant’s daughter.
He took her question as an invitation to remain, if only to speak with her just a little longer.
“It is possible that I do have more questions,” he said. “I was thinking… the reaction the villagers of Pool had to my men… tell me what you have been told about the English Marcher lords. You realize that Iamone, do you not?”
She nodded. “The de Lara sapphire dragon,” she said softly. “I have seen it in Pool from time to time over the years.”
“Did you run from it like the villagers did?”
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “I did not have a reason to. My father was not a warlord and I have not known war. I have never even seen a battle. Although my father has no love for the English, as I told you, I think he mostly viewed them as potential customers. He is a businessman, after all. He doesn’t care abouta man’s politics as long as his money is good. Mayhap you should ask him.”
Kevin shrugged his big shoulders. “He is not here in this chamber,” he said. “You are. No offense to your father, but you are much prettier to look at. I think I would rather speak to you.”
Juliandra looked at him in surprise before breaking down into a modest grin. “That is flattering, my lord.”
“It is the truth. And in private, you may address me as Kevin.”
Her smile faded. “If you wish,” she said. “May I ask you a question, Kevin?”
“You may.”
