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Tawny crossed her arms. “Yes, she will, but that’s not nearly as entertaining as witnessing it.”

Penellaphe sighed. “It’s okay, Tawny. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Seriously?” Tawny cried.

“Seriously,” she confirmed. “I have a feeling that if you don’t leave, he’s just going to stand there and drain precious air from my room—”

“While looking exceptionally handsome,” I added, just to get a rise out of her. It worked. Her brows slammed down. “You forgot to add that.”

Tawny giggled.

“And I would like to get some rest before the sun rises,” Penellaphe said.

Tawny exhaled loudly. “Fine.” She glanced at me. “Princess.”

“Oh, my gods,” Penellaphe muttered.

I watched Tawny leave. “I like her.”

“Good to know,” she said. “What is it you wish to talk about that couldn’t wait until the morning?”

Turning back to her, I allowed myself to look at her—to really see her. The remaining braid had unraveled. She had…a lot of hair. I hadn’t really noticed that at the Red Pearl, and any other time I’d seen her, it had been bound. “You have beautiful hair.”

She blinked, seeming caught off guard. Fuck, I caught myself off guard. She recovered quickly, though. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“Not exactly.” I lowered my gaze then, my attention not straying very far from her face until then.

I shouldn’t have allowed myself to do so because courtesy of the flickering light from the fireplace and the lamps, I saw a lot.

She wore a thin, white sleeping gown that left only the most hidden parts of her to my imagination. And the gods knew I had a vast imagination. But what I saw…

Was perfection.

From the slope of her shoulders to the very tips of her toes curled against stone was utter perfection, especially everything in between. The gown was loose, but the ample curves of her body were visible beneath it. The swells of her full breasts. The slight inward curve of her waist, the flare of her hips, and those lush thighs.

Godsdamn.

I dragged my gaze back to hers. A pretty flush had appeared on her cheeks as she started for the robe lying at the foot of the bed.

One side of my lips curved up.

She stopped, lifting her gaze to mine. That chin rose a notch as I waited for her to cover herself, half of me hoping she would.

The other half silently begging her not to.

She didn’t. She held herself still in an odd, intriguing mix of shyness and boldness that was…just devastating. I needed to leave this chamber and clear my head. Center myself.

I didn’t.

“Was that all you were wearing under the cloak?” I asked.

“That’s none of your concern,” she responded.

She had been. For fuck’s sake, she’d been fighting me practically nude beneath the cloak. That realization got my blood pumping even hotter, which was the last thing I needed. “Feels like it should be,” I said.

Her chest rose sharply. “That sounds like your problem, not mine.”

A laugh crawled up my throat as I stared at her, completely bemused. And aroused. Wholly intrigued. And, gods, I couldn’t remember the last thing that truly intrigued me. Honestly, I shouldn’t enjoy this side of her. A submissive, frightened Maiden would be easier to deal with.

Nothing about her would be easy.

“You’re…you’re nothing like I expected.”

She stared at me for a long moment. “Was it my skill with an arrow or the blade? Or was it the fact that I took you to the ground?”

“Barely took me to the ground,” I corrected. “All of those things. But you forgot to add in the Red Pearl. I never expected to find the Maiden there.”

She snorted. “I imagine not.” Holding my stare for a moment more, she turned. The way she walked was completely different than I had seen from her before. Her steps were graceful and measured as the bare length of her leg peeked through the slit in her gown. Was it because she wasn’t weighed down, literally or figuratively, by the chains of her veil?

“That was the first time I was in the Red Pearl.” She sat, hands falling to her lap. I’d seen her sit like that as the Maiden, but it was different now. “And the reason I was on the second floor was because Vikter came in.” Her nose wrinkled. “He would’ve recognized me, mask or not. I went upstairs because a woman told me the room was empty. I’m not telling you this because I feel like I need to explain myself, I’m just…telling the truth. I didn’t know you were in the room.”

“But you knew who I was,” I said.

“Of course.” Her attention turned to the fire. Flames rippled over the thick log. “Your arrival had already stirred up quite a bit of…talk.”

“Flattered,” I murmured.

Her lips curved up slightly. “Why I decided to stay in the room isn’t up for discussion.”

Discussion of that wasn’t exactly necessary. “I know why you stayed in the room.”