The Prince With No Heart by Emma Holly

Author:Emma Holly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: hot fairytale romance
Publisher: Emma Holly
Published: 2011-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

They’d already crossed the border into Arnwall. The prince slipped out of the woods alone, returning a short while later with suitable if not fancy garments for her. Violet dragged the shirt and kirtle on gratefully, possibly a bit too conscious of Augustin watching.

“Stole them off a clothes line,” he said. “You owe one of your tenants.”

His tone was brusque, as if acceding to her wishes irritated him. Unsure of his mood and not wanting to say something to change his mind, Violet kept her mouth shut as they tramped side by side up the coastal road. A dull sweet ache pulsed in her back passage, but she did her best not to dwell on those sensations. Wallowing in arousal wouldn’t sharpen her wits.

She knew the prince was taking in his surroundings: the newly turned fields, the tidy but weathered dwellings, the occasional peasant clopping by in a cart. An hour into their journey, they stopped at a rocky overlook by the beach. A boat lay overturned on the sand below, its silvered hull awaiting repair.

Augustin’s deep blue eyes squinted out to sea, his hands clasped calmly behind him. He hadn’t stolen a shirt for himself, and the smoothly hewn expanse of his back was bare. Whatever had inspired his earlier anger, he’d released it. Together they watched the sun sparkle off the waves.

Violet couldn’t help remembering the naked seal king with her pretty mother slung over his huge shoulder, his big male hand caressing her bottom as he held her in place. Worse, she remembered how her father - who’d been dragged off first and was farther out in the water - had ceased struggling in his captors’ grip as the king approached. Her father’s handsome face had gone flushed and dazed, his lips slack with shock. At the time, Violet hadn’t recognized the expression. Now she wished she could erase her knowledge of what it was. Her father, the King of Arnwall, had been aroused at his kidnapping.

Violet jerked as Augustin cleared his throat, pulling her from her reverie. She hoped her thoughts weren’t showing. She’d told no one of her suspicions, and had no intention of changing that.

“Fishing is good here?” Augustin asked.

“It’s better than some places. Most years our fishermen make a good living.”

He nodded, his profile so finely carved his face could have graced a coin. “They may be alive,” he said, his compatible turn of thought causing her to blink in surprise. “You shouldn’t give up hope. Stranger things have happened.”

“Wherever they are, I pray they’re together. They loved each other very much.”

He turned to her, and her stomach dipped, the ground beneath her seeming to drop a foot. She realized she could love this man. With his gaze so quiet and steady, he seemed a rock in an upheaved world. It didn’t matter to her heart that he helped her reluctantly. She knew then that what he promised, he would fulfill. His word would be his bond.

She looked away before the sting behind her eyes rose to their surface.

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