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“The sun will be up sooner than we realize, but you’re not going to sleep anytime soon. You’re as tense as a bowstring.”

“Well, sleeping on the hard, cold ground of the Blood Forest, waiting for a Craven to attempt to rip my throat out, or a barrat to eat my face isn’t exactly soothing.”

I bit back a laugh. “A Craven will not get to you. Neither will a barrat.”

“I know. I have my dagger under my bag.”

“Of course, you do.” I smiled. She was genuinely afraid of the barrats, but if they came, I had a feeling she’d be the first to kill one.

In the moments of quiet that followed, what she had shared with me cycled over and over. And as I lay there, I thought about why she had gone to the Red Pearl. To live. To experience.

To experience something other than the feelings of suffocation and pain. She had gone to find pleasure.

A truly inappropriate idea came to me as I drew my teeth over my bottom lip, and that impulsive, wholly indecent side of me that reared its head when around Poppy seized control. I could give her what she’d sought that night at the Red Pearl and help her sleep.

Which she still wasn’t doing, based on the wiggling.

I grinned. “I bet I can get you relaxed enough that you sleep like you’re on a cloud, basking in the sun.”

She gave me another little snort.

“You doubt me?”

“There is nothing anyone or anything in this world could do that would make that happen.”

“There is so much you don’t know,” I said to her.

“That may be true, but that is one thing I do know.”

“You’re wrong. And I can prove it.”

“Whatever.” She sighed.

“I can, and when I’m done, right before you drift off to sleep with a smile on your face, you’re going to tell me I’m right.”

“Doubtful.”

I pressed my hand flat to her stomach.

Her head jerked around. “What are you doing?”

“Relaxing you.” I lowered my head close to hers.

“How is this relaxing me?”

“Wait,” I told her. “And I’ll show you.”

Poppy’s questions ceased as I worked my hand through what seemed like insurmountable layers of material bundled around her, finally finding the thin undershirt beneath her sweater. Listening to her breathing, I went slow, trailing my fingers in small circles while I glided my thumb back and forth, brushing against the sweet swells of the undersides of her breasts until I felt some of the stiffness leave her body, even though she was still looking at me—or at least trying to. Then I moved my fingers in larger circles, sweeping them just below her navel.

Her breathing quickened. “I don’t think this is making me relaxed.”

“It would if you’d stop trying to strain your neck.” I dipped, letting my lips brush her cheek as I said, “Lay back down, Poppy.”

She did as I requested. I was shocked.

“When you listen to me, I think the stars will fall,” I admitted quietly. “I wish I could capture this moment somehow.”

“Well, now I want to lift my head again.”

My lips curved up. “Why am I not surprised?” I inched my fingers lower, below her navel. “But if you did, then you wouldn’t find out what I have planned. And if I know anything about you, it’s that you’re curious.”

She shivered against me, and it was nothing like she had done before from the cold. “I…I don’t think this should happen.”

“What is this?” The tips of my fingers coasted over the band of her breeches. “I have a better question for you. Why did you go to the Red Pearl, Poppy? Why did you let me kiss you under the willow?” My lips brushed against her cheek once more. “You were there to live. Isn’t that what you said? You let me pull you into that empty chamber to experience life. You let me kiss you under the willow because you wanted to feel. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. Why can’t tonight be that?”

Poppy was silent.

My heart started thumping. She was only quiet when she wanted something. “Let me show you just a little of what you missed by not coming back to the Red Pearl.”

“The guards,” she whispered.

It didn’t pass me by that her concern had nothing to do with the rules imposed on her and the consequences she had been forced to believe in.

That brought a smile to my face as I shifted slightly behind her, sliding my hand between her thighs. “No one can see what I’m doing.”

Poppy gasped as I cupped her through her breeches, growing hard at that soft, breathy sound.

“But we know they’re there. They have no idea what’s going on. No clue that my hand is between the thighs of the Maiden.” I tugged her back so my hips cradled her ass. I groaned at the feel of her, reminding myself this wasn’t about me. This was about her. Her pleasure. A faint tremor ran through me. “They have no idea that I’m touching you.”