A princess on the run, Briar Aldrich has no choice but to take on the role of scullery maid when Lord Sterling Huntington stumbles upon her in the woods and doesn't recognize her. But how safe is she actually in his home? And how safe is her heart?
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Sterling woke from a night of restless sleep to a growling stomach and the faint hints of dawn. He glanced over to where the princess lay huddled near the fire and sighed. He should have kept her warm. Body heat was an asset when sleeping outdoors, he knew that, but embarrassingly, he had to admit even to himself that he was not so sure he could trust himself to be so close to her.
So he decided to go for another hunt. They would need breakfast and he had seen an apple tree not far away during his stumblings of the day before. He set off for it. Not long later, he was gathering ripe juicy apples from a tree and thinking of the events of the night before.
It had been a mistake, hadn't it? She was his princess but he felt no regret. He must respect her but she had kissed him. He hadn't made the first move, she had. And when his excitement had become known, she hadn't stopped. Would she have stopped? His mind strayed to subjects that he quickly admonished himself for and tried to focus on the apples instead.
He knew his feelings were impossibilities but he could not deny them and she had never before given so strong an indication that she felt the same way. At least, in the physical aspect of it.
He saw a squirrel hunting for nuts a few feet away and he pulled back an arrow and shot it. With a sack full of apples and a squirrel hung from it, he made his way back to camp. She was waiting for him there, having restarted the fire with some hidden skill of hers that it didn't seem to him a princess should have to have.
They got to work in silence, her peeling the apples and him skinning the squirrel. Even as the meat began to sear and pop in the fire, they stared into the flames quietly. He wanted, more than anything, to know what she was thinking, to know what she thought about that which had occurred between them the night before but he felt that it was somehow improper to ask considering how he had conducted himself. Whether she was offended by his actions or not, he hadn't reacted to their kiss in a flattering way.
"Are you afraid of me?" she asked suddenly. He stopped chewing to look at her.
Yes, he thought. But he answered, "No."
"Then why did you run from me?"
He hesitated, considering her question as it was one he had been asking himself as well.
"You're my princess," he said finally.
"Loyal to a fault," she mused.
"Control has never been my specialty," he admitted, cheeks blazing. She smiled.
"Mine neither."
They shared a knowing look and returned to their breakfasts. Sterling felt confident, for the first time, that perhaps what he was feeling had at least a chance of being reciprocated, even if she was a princess and he was a mere lord. Perhaps they couldn't do anything about their attraction but at least it was mutual.
Briar demanded he allow her to redress his wound before they rode and he had no choice but to comply as her statement had come as a command. As she worked, he tried not to appear as mesmerized by her touch as he was and failed miserably. But she smiled her intoxicating smile at him and he was lost.
Once his wound was bandaged and they had put out their fire and hidden any sign that they had stopped here as well as they could, Sterling busied himself with readying the horse for their departure. The princess approached him, yawning, and he thought that perhaps she had just as restless a night of sleep as he did. He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse.
They mounted the horse and rode off for Corinth as soon as they were able. Briar fell asleep leaning against Sterling's back along the way. He used some of his binding to tie her arms around him so that she wouldn't fall off and kept riding, keeping an eye out for any rebels along the way.
But they were lucky and encountered no one in the woods that Sterling knew so well. They reached Corinth by midday, approaching his cousin's estate just as Briar was waking from her deep slumber. He pulled the tie to unbind her and she muttered her gratitude that he had taken such steps to ensure her safety. He only nodded as the horse reared up in front of the house.
Sterling had seen Adelaide working in the gardens upon their approach. Now, she threw down her tools and hitched up her skirts, running to meet them at the door. Her eyes found Sterling's wound, bound tightly in strips from his destroyed shirt, just as he and Briar leapt from the horse.
"Sterling?" the Duke's voice rang out as he came from his house, running down the steps to meet them, eyes wide in surprise. "Princess!"
Adelaide wiped her hands on her gown, soil staining the elegant sage, and met her cousin's eyes.
"Forgive us for intruding," Sterling began with as much hasty politeness as he could manage. "We had nowhere else to go."
The Duke stood, staring at them, jaw slack and dumbfounded but only momentarily before he regained his composure. He glanced behind them as if to check if they'd been followed and then turned and strode back to the door, gesturing for them to follow and encouraging them to, "Come on then."
They did as they were bid, anxious to get out of the open and into the safety of the grand estate. Adelaide found Sterling as they entered the narrow hall beyond and lowered her voice so that only he could hear.
"Who?" she asked.
"Lord Morgan," he replied.
Her jaw set then. The only indication that she had even heard him was the slight, almost imperceptible nod she gave in return.
