The Robber Knight's Love (The Robber Knight Saga #2)(67)

Reuben shook his head in wonder. The guards here really were loyal to Ayla. In the castles he had stayed in during the earlier years of his life, that door would have caught a guard right in the head as he tried to listen at the door.

This one was just looking demurely at the ground, awaiting orders.

“You there!” Reuben shouted. The guard looked up and his eyes widened as he saw his mistress in the arms of the knight.

“Your mistress has been a bit too active recently and misplaced some of her clothing,” Reuben said. “Go to her chambers and fetch her a new pair of shoes.”

“Very well, Sir.” The guard dared to examine his mistress a bit closer, then quickly looked away. “Err…will she need anything else, Sir?”

“No,” Reuben replied with a grin. “You interrupted us, so I didn't get any farther than that, unfortunately.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Ayla's jaw drop.

“All right, Sir. I'll be back immediately, Sir!”

The guard disappeared down the corridor. Apparently he couldn't get away fast enough. Reuben turned his eyes away from him to Ayla, who was still gaping up at him, open-mouthed.

“What?” Reuben asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You…he…you practically told him we…”

“I told him you needed new shoes,” Reuben said, giving her his best lascivious smile. “That is all.”

“Reuben, you could just say to somebody that you’d like a cup of water and make it sound like one of the seven deadly sins!”

He couldn’t help laughing at that. The laughter rocked his body and jostled the girl in his arms in quite an interesting way.

Ayla, apparently fearing he would let her fall, quickly put her arms around his neck. It was an absurd notion. He'd never let anything happen to her. But still he didn't say anything. The soft touch of her hands on the back of his neck was too intoxicating.

“Why did you say that to the guard?” she admonished. “What were you thinking?”

He bent a little closer. “Well, right now, I'm thinking you had better close that mouth or I'll do it for you, with my lips.”

She closed her mouth immediately. Ah, well. Another day, perhaps.

~~*~~*

Reuben began to stride down the corridor, still holding her tightly in his arms.

“Aren't you going to wait?” she demanded.

“No.”

“But you sent the guard away to fetch a pair of shoes for me.”

“Yes. And?”

“And that means you should wait for him. Otherwise he'll have to run after us.”

“Which means I get to hold you in my arms a little longer,” Reuben pointed out to her with a salacious grin. “An excellent reason for leaving.”

Ayla's heart rate picked up. He likes to hold me in his arms?

Once more, she abruptly became aware of how close she was to him, closer even than before, in his room. Their faces were barely inches apart, her hands were around his neck. She could feel the ends of his long, tangled black hair tickling her fingertips.

It was in moments like these that something stirred inside her, a feeling she had never really experienced before. Not love—she loved Reuben, yes, insanely. But there was something else. There was a part of her that wanted to do things with him and to him that had never occurred to her before.

She blushed even to think of those things! And then, when he grinned at her again, she blushed some more, because she knew he could see her blush and must know what she was thinking about.

“Lady Ayla! Lady Ayla!”

The guard came running up behind them, holding a pair of Ayla's shoes in his right hand. Ayla heard Reuben mutter something. She didn’t catch the words, but the fact that it wasn't a compliment for the guard was pretty much evident from his tone.

“Here are your shoes, Lady Ayla.”

“Let me,” Reuben said, holding out his hand for the shoes. His tone made it clear that this was not a request. The guard hurriedly handed the shoes to him and took a step back. “I, err…had better go and tell Sir Isenbard that you are coming. Yes, I'd better do that.”

“Yes, I think too that it’s time for you to piss off,” Reuben agreed, absent-mindedly, moving the first shoe towards Ayla's left foot without even bothering to set her down. She pulled her foot back. What did he think? That she was so helpless she couldn't even put a shoe on?

“I can do that perfectly well on my own, thank you very much,” she said haughtily.

“Yes, you could. If I'd let you. Now, hold still.”

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Ayla remained motionless while he pulled the shoes over her feet. Reuben lingered with his fingers on the skin around her ankles a bit longer than was strictly necessary, but she didn't protest. The guard was gone after all, and, well, maybe this wasn't quite as terribly immoral as she had thought. It certainly felt good.

“There you are, Milady.” Carefully, Reuben set her down on the ground. He didn't let go of her arm as she stood, but steadied and supported her as she tested her feet. “And?” he asked, his voice very different from the devilish lasciviousness she was used to. It was soft and…sincere? Was something wrong with her ears? “How are you?”

“Why, you are becoming quite the gentleman, Sir Knight,” she teased.