Aleksey's Kingdom (A Royal Affair #2)(19)

I was debating returning to the camp for some reinforcement when I heard another gasp from the direction of the young woman and then a soft cry for assistance. I rose uncertainly. “What is wrong?”

“My foot is trapped. I cannot rise.”

“Are you decent?”

“Oh, sir, the current is strong here. I cannot swim.”

Fuck! I pulled some of the clothing off the bush, holding it out in front of me as I approached. I saw a figure in the water, and then it screamed, “Do not throw my gown! It will get wet, and I do not have another!”

Fuck! I pulled off my own shirt and then threw that in the direction of the white flesh. When I was sure it had been donned, I waded into the river. She had indeed got her ankle between two rocks. Quite how she had achieved this was a mystery to me, and it came free very easily when I persuaded her to try twisting it in the opposite direction to the one she had been trying. I carried her out of the water and placed her down upon the sandy bank. “Can you stand unaided?” I was such a gentleman sometimes it surprised me. She tried but collapsed against me. I was naked from the waist up and could feel the warmth of her skin through the soaking shirt she was wearing, and some alarming points of hardness brushing against my chest. I bent and retrieved her own clothes and thrust them at her. Before I could stop her, she had stripped off my shirt and was handing it shyly to me.

“Why did you…?” Aleksey’s voice faltered, as well it might. I don’t think in all the years he had known me that this was a scenario he had ever expected to encounter. I was about to laugh and explain, but Mary Wright gave a small cry of distress and began to struggle against me, which was odd, seeing as I was not holding her in any way and was only trying to get her to cover herself.

“Please, sir, Your Highness, help me. I was… and he… oh….” She sank upon the ground, sobbing, still naked, her dress bunched in her fists. I stood looking down at her, my wet shirt in my hands. For once, I was entirely speechless. I looked mutely at Aleksey, suddenly very anxious as to what he might say about this little scene.

He was looking at her distressed state very closely. He came over and crouched down by her, seeming to ignore me, which cut me to the quick, I confess. I could not see this having a good outcome. Aleksey put a hand out and very gently helped her to dress, which was a decided improvement, if you ask me. Then as he assisted her to stand, he asked quietly, “Why are you lying? I was sitting up there on the bank the whole time and saw and heard everything.”

She flicked her gaze up to him and wrenched her arm out of his hand. “Perhaps you were too focused yourself on my body, sir, to know rightly what you saw or heard.”

Aleksey nodded as if this might be an explanation but rejoined, still in his quiet voice (I had much cause to fear this tone, so was very glad it was not directed at me for once), “No, I have slept with princesses and queens, you must remember, so your body held no attraction for me at all. So, I repeat, why are you lying?” She slapped his face very hard, pushed past him, and began to run back to the camp.

We were silent for a while. I toed the ground and observed without looking at him, “You were not on the bank.”

“No. I saw nothing until I came around the bush, looking for you.”

“You found me.”

“I did.”

“And?”

He chuckled, and I looked up to find him smirking in his wickedness. “I rescued you. I think I was just in time.”

I had to laugh. “I was entirely confounded, I do admit.”

“You were lucky it was not one of the other men who discovered you so. I think her story would then have been believed more readily.”

I pursed my lips, slightly annoyed by his implication. “I could have been ravishing her. I am not… incapable.”

He laughed again. “Oh, trust me, I am very aware of that.” He sobered then. “That was very strange, though, do you not think? Why would she do that?”

I shrugged. “She tried to seduce me, and when she saw it had failed, she got angry and took her opportunity for revenge?”

“Yes, I got that. But what good wife decides to seduce a man she has known for less than a day when her husband is mere feet away?” I liked the way he added this, as if the proximity of her husband should make a difference to a good wife’s seduction plans. I smiled, despite the situation. He then added quite seriously, “I suppose you are the most beautiful of all of us, and even the most godly would not resist you.” He glanced behind to ensure we were still alone and pulled me into his arms for a kiss. He had called me beautiful, so I was very willing to indulge him for a while. But I knew Aleksey only too well and saw he would now have something else to worry at and discuss and enjoy gossiping about. Only too soon, he pulled away and asked, “Do you think we should warn the other men? Imagine if it had been Owen and not you she picked on…. What an odd woman.”

I made a noncommittal reply and began to walk back toward the camp. We were too exposed to risk more than a kiss, and if we continued, I would need a great deal more, and that is always hard to hide when you are a man. I told him we should keep our knowledge about Mrs. Mary Wright to ourselves (which I now know was a very bad error on my part). I did not do it out of any gentlemanly motives but more because I needed to think privately upon her. When she had removed my shirt, she had been completely naked. I had seen a great deal, most of which did not interest me at all. The marks of an old, severe lashing upon her back did, however. Godly wives, in my experience, did not get lashed like common whores.