Page 65 of North Queen
She leaned in, tipping her head slightly and bringing her cheek to his. They were so close. Not touching, but so close.
His breath dusted heat over her ear. She dropped her lips to his neck, not with a kiss—just the feather of a touch. The muscle across his shoulders tightened under her hand, and his breaths came faster now. So did hers. She trailed her lips up, still not kissing him, although she desperately wanted to. She traveled along his jaw and over his chin and paused a whisper away from his mouth.
They shouldn’t be here, like this. Yet they lingered. He smelled like he was hers, and she breathed him in.
He ran his hand up the back of her neck and into her hair, and he parted his lips. His body pressed closer, and her breasts brushed against his chest through her chemise. She wanted him closer, still. His fingers gripped her tighter.
They couldn’t be here.
He closed his eyes. An eternity passed in the quiet of their breaths. He swallowed. “We should go,” he said, before opening his eyes again.
His words found the sanity of her mind, and she pushed back from him.
His face sobered. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have brought you here.” There was a sadness to his tone, a disappointment in himself. “We should go,” he said again. He pulled back and away.
But it was as much her fault as it was his. “Alexander,” she said.
He floated back the way they’d come, moving slowly to keep from splashing.
She sighed and followed.
They reached the point at which they’d started, and Norah found her footing in the shallows. Alexander had already exited the pool. He picked up his breeches and pulled them on.
Norah stepped out of the water and found her dress. And as if putting on undergarments with damp skin wasn’t enough of a struggle, she found the back lacing was just beyond her grasp. Heat flushed across her cheeks. She hadn’t thought things through when she’d stripped it off.
She glanced back to where he stood waiting for her. “Will you?” she called to him, and turned her back for him to help with the ties.
Her ask was met with silence, and she thought he might refuse. Then he stepped behind her. He was still for a moment before he reached out and pulled the lacing tight, closing the back of her dress and skillfully looping each fix.
Alexander shifted closer, and the warmth of his breath tickled her shoulder. A wave of familiarity rippled through her.The dream. It hadn’t been just a dream.
She risked pushing him further away, but she couldn’t help herself. “You’ve done this before,” she said. “For me.”
He didn’t answer. But she knew. He was quick to put up walls, quick to put distance between them, but he seemed to forget sometimes, lapsing into a life that still called to her, a life she desperately wanted back.
“Are you ready?” he asked when he finished, stepping them back into the coldness of normalcy.
She gave a nod.
Alexander offered his hand, with his fingers politely together, for the walk back through the cave. She took it. He moved to start, but she pulled him to pause.
“Alexander. Thank you for giving this back to me. It did take my mind off things for a while.”
His eyes gave a sad smile, and he nodded. Then he led her into the darkness, toward the castle and the pressures that waited.
Chapter nineteen
Theskirtswereheavybut still allowed ease of movement. Norah pulled them on quickly, wondering what was in store for her. Alexander had knocked on her door early, instructing her maid to have her dress for the cold. She didn’t like the cold much. Regardless, she was looking forward to whatever he had planned. Her mind drifted back to the day before, back to the cave, and a warmth pooled in her stomach. But she pushed it down. She couldn’t allow herself those feelings. Not when she knew her future.
She stepped out into the hall, where Titus was waiting.
“The lord justice is just down the stairs,” he told her.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you yesterday,” she said back over her shoulder as she walked.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
That was what he was obliged to say.
