Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(31)

“Let’s go out again today,” he said. “Since you’re not sick, we can go in the opposite direction and explore together. And tomorrow, I’ll leave you one last time, and when I come back, you and I will leave here forever. Are you okay with leaving after your mother’s next visit? It will give us time enough to get away without her returning too soon.”

Rapunzel thought about it for a moment. “I think it will be enough time. I will spend one more night with my mother and then you and I will leave together and explore the world.”





Chapter 14 – A Big Mistake


Rapunzel had never had to impress someone before. It hadn’t occurred to her that she should be trying to impress anyone until Bradyn had said, “I’m sure my parents will adore you.” Then she realized the opposite could be true; that they might not adore her. That they might think poorly of her. The sudden prospect that she would meet Bradyn’s family had hit her with shocking force the previous evening, and she’d undertook something now that she realized was truly stupid, given how little time they had.

She’d insisted on washing her hair. Bradyn, not knowing any better and wanting to please her, had agreed to help. It was a two-person task, and usually, Mother Gothel did the bulk of it. Normally, they started in the morning so it could dry all day.

But she and Bradyn had started in the evening, and he’d been a trooper, easily following her instructions with unbraiding it, helping her wash it, and bringing her the drying towels. She’d parted it into two sections and Bradyn had laid it out along the perimeter of the room to dry. But it was now near morning, and Rapunzel awoke to find she’d tossed and turned too much in the evening and the hair was no longer neatly lining the perimeter of the tower. It was unkempt and everywhere.

She sat up, hair covering her body, and frowned. This was a mess. Looking out the window across from her, she could see a sliver of orange glow on the horizon. The sun would rise soon and her mother would be home this afternoon. She’d have no explanation for why she decided on the foolishness of washing her hair without her mother’s assistance. She couldn’t think of a way this day could possibly get worse.

Bradyn rolled over next to her, and then patted his chest, where a long section of her hair lay across it. He felt the silky strands and opened his eyes. He looked up at her, and then around at her hair, which, despite their efforts to keep it tame, had gone wild overnight.

“What happened?” he asked sitting up.

“I guess I tossed a bit in my sleep.”

He chuckled. “You’ve got a lot of hair.”

“I think those are the very first words you ever said to me,” she said with a grin

He shook his head. “No, I’m pretty certain the first words I said to you were--” He grabbed her suddenly. “Got you.”

She laughed as she remembered him barreling through the woods. “That’s right. You thought I was your brother.”

He shrugged as he leaned in, brushed away some hair, and kissed the nape of her neck. “I could never confuse you with Garrett. But I do think the words were fitting, seeing as ever since I’ve met you, I’ve spent all my time trying to make those words be true.”

Rapunzel laughed and patted his arm. “You do have me. Don’t you? And you’d won me over before the day had ended.”

“Had I?” he said, his voice uncertain

“Of course. You were kind and charming.”

“You flatter me,” he said. “I knew there was a reason I spent a decade searching for you.”

“Closer to a half-decade,” she corrected.

“It felt an eternity,” he said sincerely.

She smiled and kissed him again. “Will you hate me if we wake up now, so very early, and try to fix my hair? It’s gotten tangled, and mother will know something is wrong if I look this disheveled when she arrives.”

He sat up, too, and put a hand to his chin. “I will get up in half an hour and assist you, if you do something for me first.”

Curious, Rapunzel raised an eyebrow. “What?”

He eyed her hair covering her naked body, and he took a hand and gently parted the hair covering her nipples. “I want to make love to you right now, like this.”

“But there’s hair ...” she started.

“I see,” he said, a lascivious grin on his face.

“It will get in the way.”

He chuckled low and seductively. “I don’t think it will.” He leaned in and kissed her, slipping his hand through her curtain of hair and pulling her close to him. He laid her back on the bed, her hair fanned out around her. “You look beautiful this way, you know?”

She shook her head. She hadn’t ever considered it. Her hair, long as it was, had been more functional than a symbol of beauty. Used to allow her mother, and then Bradyn, admission into the tower. He brushed the hair from her chest, exposing her naked body, and smiled as he took her in.

“Be still and close your eyes,” he whispered in Rapunzel’s ear. She followed his instructions, and then she felt him lift a section of her hair. A moment later, he felt the feather light touch of silky hair as it brushed across her nipples, a surprisingly delightful sensation. She let out a soft coo as Bradyn fondled her sensuously with her hair. It was so delicate and soft, and each stroke felt like a perfect massage of every inch of skin it caressed.