So, even with the small rock of embarrassment at my bumbling lodged in my belly, I still smiled as I trotted through the palace.
It wasn’t until I’d been ushered out of the Royal wing by the guards and had to lift my skirts to descend the wide staircase inthe main Palace corridor that I realized I’d left my leathersandthe book back in her rooms.
How the hell was I getting out of this damned dress?
31. A Vision
~ DONAVYN ~
“Oh, thank God. I need your help.”
The moment I stepped into the apartment I heard Bren’s voice—which was odd. She was supposed to be at training. I closed the door quickly, then scanned the room, stopping cold when avisionswept to a halt in the doorway of the bedchamber.
Bren stood, staring, her warm, brown hair swept up and twisted, though small tendrils fell around her face. Her neck and shoulders bare, collarbones in full view, along with an inch or more of quivering cleavage because her breasts had been pressed high and held in the grip of that fantastic gown.
Her muscular arms were bare, while the bodice of the dress hugged her so tightly, her waist was pinched to nothing, then flared to her hips, now wide and round with thick pleats of the heavy fabric that gleamed with the shimmer of luxury.
I was stunned, speechless. Gaping.
Clearly this was the work of the queen’s seamstress. What sorcery did these sewing women possess that agowncould so richly frame a woman’s body?
My mate cleared her throat, and I yanked my gaze up from those plump pillows, pushing away the mental image of burying my face between them.
“Sorry, uh, Bren. I was only… surprised.”
High points of color pinked her cheeks, and her lips were thin. But the light in her eyes—and the rush in the bond—reassured me that she enjoyed my bald appreciation. But her face fell.
“The queen stuffed me into this because she said I couldn’t go to court without a gown—and I met some of the noblewomen!—but then she had to go, and the maids weren’t there, and she said I should take it with me to Fyrehold. But, Donavyn, I couldn’t go to training because I can’t get myself out of the damned thing!”
I almost laughed. I thanked God profusely for the gift of seeing herlike this.Though it took a moment to align this vision with my mental image of her in leathers, hair pulled back in that severe braid and…
“Donavyn!”
“Sorry. Sorry,” I muttered, hurrying towards her.
“I have to get out there. I’m already late.”
“You’ve alreadybeentraining.”
“Ronen will wonder what happened to me, but I couldn’t go to the stables and I couldn’t walk around in the Keep like this—I think I got dirt on the hem sneaking around the back of the building. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get through the undergrowth and up three flights of stairs in this thing?”
“I told Ronen you’d been called to the palace unexpectedly. He understood you might not be released early enough to attend.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“Yes,definitely.”I reached her where she’d backed into the bedchamber in the space between the bed and the door. The light was dimmer in this room with its single window. But it only teased my eyes with further hints and shadows as she turned her back to me and tipped her head forward, revealing that slope at the back of her neck. A few, small curls falling from the twist of her hair to the sweet skin there.
Kicking the door closed, I stepped up to the folds of that thick skirt. I couldn’t resist, and reached out with two fingers, tracing that line from the nape of her hair, down that slope, to the smooth skin of her shoulder.
Bren went still, but she quivered, and when I leaned down to kiss that skin softly, she exhaled and leaned back into my chest.
“Donavyn…”
“I’ll help you,” I graveled, my voice deep and rough. It should have frightened her, but instead, a flare of heat reached me through the bond.God, help me.I cleared my throat as I reached for the tiny buttons that began between her shoulder blades, and followed the soft curve of her spine all the way down.
I cursed my thick fingers, and the tiny loops, worried I’d dirty them. The fastidious work gave me more time to enjoy the sight of her shoulder blades being slowly bared, but also revealed the angry lines of compression from the dress and buttons.
I freed a few inches of her tortured skin, but then met the top of the corset underneath, and my cock twitched.
