To Love a Prince (Knights of Valor Book 1)(10)

Eli couldn’t sleep as he watched Auburn tidy the already neat room. Her grace and poise made the mundane task seem sensual, and he enjoyed the domesticity.

Strange emotions flooded him, as unusual as they were dangerous. He needed to distance himself from Auburn until this insanity passed.

But he didn’t want to, and he wasn’t used to doing things he didn’t want to do.

What in the seven hells was wrong with him? How had he let himself sleep beside a woman he barely knew? A woman he shouldn’t trust? Fatigue only explained part of it.

Lust was clouding his judgment. Dangerous enough for most men, but lethal for a prince.

And why had he been honest with her about the Knights’ and their relationship with the Crown? It wasn’t a secret, but there was no need to tip his hand to the Qumarefis if they hadn’t done their research.

Prudence dictated he treat her as if she were a spy and reporting everything she learned back to the sultan. Eli should use that to his advantage and feed her misinformation. Even if he she wasn’t a spy, he could find no downside to lying to her.

But he didn’t want to lie to Auburn. Didn’t want what was between them to be built on half-truths and political machinations.

He caught himself. There was nothing between them, and there never could be.

He watched Auburn pause before a mirror, and Eli almost expected a Medusa’s reflection or none at all. At least it would explain why he felt bewitched.

No such luck.

Auburn tucked an errant strand of copper-colored hair behind her ear then slipped out of his room.

The moment she closed the door, Eli searched his suite for Sligo. He found his bodyguard concealed in the shadows of his dressing room.

“Follow Auburn and make sure she gets back here without incident.”

Sligo pursed his lips but nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“I’ll be reviewing my notes from last night. Minimal risk, but it would be an embarrassment to me and the entire delegation if something happened to the sultan’s gift.”

“I’ll post a few more guards. Palace security is lax and corrupt.”

Eli nodded, and Sligo disappeared after Auburn.

Sucking in a steadying breath, the prince told himself Sligo would protect her. She was safe with his bodyguard. His pulse quieted, and Eli sat back in one of the overstuffed chairs. Closing his eyes, he tried to formulate a compromise between the Dragon Church’s restrictions and Qumaref’s needs.

His focus kept slipping towards the woman with cornflower-blue eyes.

Opening his briefs, Prince Eli read them, but he already knew what he’d written, and images of Auburn kept intruding.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d woken up beside someone. He’d had plenty of paramours, but they didn’t want him there in the morning any more than he wanted the gossips to discover with whom he’d been.

Auburn was different.

She’d been beside him when he awoke, and she’d kissed him when he tried to pull away from her. That inexperienced kiss was almost his undoing. He’d almost given in to everything he wanted and taken everything she offered.

The intensity of his response had been unexpected, and that worried him.

He was cold and practical. Efficient. Acting on emotion was for men that didn’t have kingdoms to rule.

Yet reason still fled him when it came to Auburn.

By the gods, he wanted her, and a part of him wondered if his logic would return if he slaked his need for her. Another part feared it would only make this temporary insanity worse. Like sending the bodyguard he most trusted to protect her.

But he had to safeguard her. Another strange emotion, but that didn’t make it less true. She was his now. His attaché, he reminded himself, nothing more.

For a moment, he wished he’d have brought a Knight of Valor with him. They might be a political nightmare, but a Knight would’ve protected Auburn and not taken advantage of her.

Eli tightened his hands at his sides as he remembered the way her face had lit up when he’d mentioned the Knights of Valor. Jealousy punched him hard.

That was another new emotion, and one he’d rather not experience again.

Of course the Knights of Valor entranced Auburn. The prince had seen Tamryn ladies swoon over the Dragon God’s chosen. Why would Auburn be different? Because he wanted her to be?

That was foolish, and Eli didn’t tolerate foolishness. Especially from himself.

He snorted as he glanced over at the rumpled bed. The scent of her still lingered, an exotic mixture of jasmine and vanilla. He could almost feel the silk of her hair between his fingers. Hear her soft sighs. Taste her sweetness on his lips.

Desire swelled, and Eli turned away from the bed. Denying himself was also something new, and something he didn’t like.

All his discomfort came back to one slave girl.

Damn the sultan.

Eli would endure the jealousy, the unfulfilled need, and the political ramifications to see Auburn safely to Tamryn. To see her free. To see her happy.

Why he cared he didn’t know, but he did. So he’d see it done.





Chapter 7





Auburn slipped through the early morning shadows of the palace. Few others were awake yet, but Prince Eli was. Sloth didn’t appear to be one of her new master’s vices.

Nor did lust.

But he’d promised to take her to Tamryn, and by doing so, he’d promised her freedom.