Page 118 of Esperance

He was far too thrilled to note that her hands had settled to grip his waist.

He made a cursory scan of her body, then cupped her face in both hands and tipped her head back, searching every visible inch of her pale face. The freckles on her cheeks were smudged with dirt, and there were some shallow cuts marring her skin. There was even a bruise on her cheekbone. He thumbed the edge of it, his throat too tight for words.

“I’m all right,” she whispered. Hearing the soft caress of her voice sent another wave of relief through him. Her cheeks pinkened slightly under his stare. “I, ah, fell.”

“You fainted,” Ivan said.

Carver’s heart stopped. “What?”

Amryn sighed, her head still framed in his palms. “I’m fine. I just don’t do well with blood, and Ivan was bleeding out.” Her eyes widened. “Saints, he needs a physician.”

“Argent and I will take him,” Jayveh said from beside them. The princess set a hand on Amryn’s arm, her eyes watering even as she smiled. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

Moisture shone in Amryn’s eyes, and then she shifted, giving Carver no choice but to drop his hold so she could embrace her friend.

His hands felt empty as he watched them.

The princess groaned as she squeezed Amryn. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

“I’m sure. Just don’t make me tend any injuries again.”

Carver remembered the way Amryn had reacted to the violence at the wedding feast; he’d felt bad for the servant who’d had to scrub his boots clean. He hadn’t made the connection before, but now that he knew she’d witnessed her mother’s murder, he wondered if that’s where her aversion to blood came from.

He probably should have stepped back to give the two women more space, but he couldn’t make himself move away from Amryn.

Argent seemed to notice his need, because he cleared his throat. “Jayveh, let’s get Ivan to the physician.” As the princess pulled back from Amryn, Argent looked to the High Cleric. “Tell the guards to shore up the camp’s defenses, and prepare to leave at dawn.”

Zacharias bowed his head, already giving orders to the nearby guards as he strode for the wide flap of the tent door.

In moments, Carver and Amryn were alone. Lanterns glowed in the tent, softening her expression as she looked at him.

“Areyouall right?” she asked.

He didn’t have a voice to answer her, and he couldn’t stop his fingers from lifting to touch her again. Her round cheek. The soft skin of her jaw. His eyes drifted down to her mouth.

A slight tremble ran through Amryn and her lips parted, but she didn’t pull away. His heart pounded in his chest, his pulse racing as the pad of one thumb whispered over her lower lip.

Her breath caught on a sharp inhale.

Tension filled the small space between them, a thread stretched to the breaking point.

Something had shifted inside him. Maybe it had been shifting for a while. But this woman had him. Completely. Forget the suspicions, fears, and consequences. He might not understand everything about her, but in this moment, it didn’t matter.

She had given him comfort when he didn’t deserve it. She had given him beauty in every smile, when all he’d seen for too long was horror. She had trusted him with her darkest memories when he was drowning in his own.

Amryn Lukis was the light he hadn’t known he needed.

She peered up at him, her pulse fluttering in her neck.

Carver gently tilted her chin up as he bent his head, leaning in.

Before their lips touched, she stiffened and jerked away.

Hurt slashed him a second before she sneezed. Violently.

Three times.

When she finally looked up, her eyes watered. “Sorry.” A blush darkened her cheeks.