Summer whirled to glare at the glass-paned doors leading to her balcony. She’d been so seduced by the beauty and fragrance of the flowers, she hadn’t even stopped to wonder how they had gotten there.
Dilys Merimydion had been on her balcony.
In the middle of the night.
While she was sleeping!
She clutched the lapels of her robe. Had he peered through the glass? Had he come inside her room? Maybe stood beside her, watching her as she slept? Maybe even touched her. Cupped her breasts? Put his mouth on her while she, caught deep in the erotic wanderings of her dream, had slept on without waking?
Helos damn her for her depravity, but the thought made every intimate part of her flush and throb in heated response.
Angry at her arousal, she shoved the thoughts out of her mind and scowled at her maid. “It doesn’t matter who sent them or when they arrived, Amaryllis. After you finish helping me dress, I want you to dispose of them.”
“Oh, but—”
“All of them!” Summer snapped. “I don’t care how. I don’t want a single flower in this room when I return.”
Amaryllis’s friendly open face went blank with shock, then after a long moment turned wooden. She swallowed the rest of her objections and bobbed a stiff, obedient curtsy. “Yes, ma’am. As you wish.”
“Good. And here.” Summer swept the shreds of Dilys’s notes off her dressing table and handed them to Amaryllis. “Dispose of these as well.”
The shreds of notes disappeared into Amaryllis’s apron pocket. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Amaryllis. I think I’ll wear the white linen today.” She poured herself a cup of tea while Amaryllis disappeared into the wardrobe.
White was cool and icy, untouched and untouchable. Hopefully, Dilys Merimydion would get the message.
Apparently, Calbernans didn’t understand the language of colors.
Dilys Merimydion, who was waiting for her at the bottom of stairs as she headed down to breakfast, took one look at her snowy-white gown and, instead of keeping his distance, made a beeline for her. His gaze was fixed on her in a way that might have made her blood heat up all over again had she not been busy gaping at him in horror.
“Did I do that to you?”
His light blueshumaand silver torque did nothing to hide the mass of cuts, scrapes, and purple bruises that covered his body and made his iridescent tattoos practically glow by contrast. He had a dark bruise under one eye that ran all the way down to theulumi-liatattoo on his cheekbone, and another on his jaw.
“This?” He gestured to his battered frame. “Ono, moa halea.I was invited to partake in a wrestling match yesterday afternoon.”
“A wrestling match with whom? Kukuna the Stone God?”
His grin flashed, then faltered as the gesture tugged at his split lip. “It was a very intense match. And you have been reading the legends of my people. You are curious about Calberna. This is good.”
She grimaced. “Don’t jump to conclusions. I read most of those legendsbeforeI met you so I could teach the children at the school about Calberna.” Then, because curiosity got the best of her, she asked, “So which one of Wynter’s men beat you to a pulp?”
His brows rose. “I am unpulped.”
“Not from where I’m standing. Or are you saying the other fellow looks worse?”
He cocked his head to one side, as if considering, then gave that charming half grin again and said, “About the same. We declared it equal contest.”
“Who did you leave unpulped then?”
“It is of no concern. We had our match. We tested each other’s skill and resolve, and came away with a new understanding of each other.” His easy expression sobered to something much more serious. “Gabriella—”
“Don’t call me that.”
He continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “I have been waiting for you here this last hour. I came to apologize to you yet again.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “It seems that I am forever putting my feet wrong with you. I rushed you yesterday. I pushed when I should have been patient.”
She could feel her cheeks growing hotter by the second. He was too close. His warm, tropical, masculine scent was enveloping her. She swallowed and stepped back. “Look, Sealord Merimydion—”
