Chapter Twelve
Protective of them.
How very strange.
He's like a pet. That was what her mother would call him. Yet that didn't describe it either. She brushed her hand along his cheek where his whiskers teased her fingers. She wanted to run her tongue along it, yet she didn't want to scare or offend him.
I don't know what it is about you, Hector ...
But she wanted to kiss his firm, parted lips. Instead, she brushed a kiss to his forehead and let the warm, masculine scent of his skin wash over her.
"Sleep well, my sweet." She'd much rather play in his soft hair than fish anyway.
* * *
Styxx came awake to the most amazing sound in the world. It was a low, gentle contralto. And someone was stroking his cheek....
Afraid it was his uncle molesting him, he shot up with a curse to find the alarmed face of beauty incarnate.
"Hector?" That sweet gasp made him feel like a complete ass that he'd startled her again.
"Bethany, I'm sorry. I forgot where I was. Did I fall asleep?"
She nodded. "For several hours now."
He looked up at the sky that confirmed what she told him. The sun was well past noon. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to keep you. I hope you're not in trouble."
Reaching out to touch his face, she smiled. "I am not in trouble at all. I was beginning to worry about you, though. I'm glad you're finally awake."
Reluctantly, Styxx pulled back from her tender touch, amazed that his head no longer hurt at all. And still the voices were silent. It was so strange to be with someone and have no idea whatsoever what they thought of him.
"And look..." She held her hand out toward the water. "Your horse has returned."
He smiled at the fact that Troian was on the opposite side of where she gestured. "So he has. Apparently, he likes to be embarrassed, after all."
"I'm sure you didn't embarrass him."
Styxx got up slowly. While his body wasn't completely healed, it was much better now than it'd been when he passed out in her lap. "I've taken up enough of your day, my lady. I won't bother you anymore."
"You were hardly a bother."
She was far too gentle and sweet.
"I don't know about that. I bled on your beautiful dress and used you for a pillow. I can't see how I'm anything but a nuisance."
"My dress will wash and it wasn't a hardship to sit with you while you slept."
"Thank you, my lady. You're very kind. Would you like for me to help you to your feet?"
"That's very gallant of you." She held her hand out in a dainty, feminine gesture.
Styxx clasped her hand in both of his and helped her rise. She was as tiny as he'd suspected. She barely reached his shoulders. Her soft hair fell against the flesh of his arm in a light caress that quickened his heartbeat. He felt a sudden desire to bury his face in those dark tresses and inhale the scent of her skin until he was drunk with it. A scent that now clung to him and his clothes, making him so hard that it was impossible to think straight with her near him.
"Would you like me to take you home?" he asked.
"It's unnecessary." She wiggled her fingers inside his hand. "And I'm on my feet now. You can let go."
Heat exploded over his cheeks as he released her hand even though he didn't want to. "Is there any way I can thank you for your kindness today?"
She frowned. "You don't have to pay me for being kind, Hector."
"You're very different from the people I've known. They all expect some form of recompense for any charitable act."
She rose up on her tiptoes to whisper to his shoulder as opposed to his ear. "I am not one of those people. But there is one thing I think I should like."
He smiled at the sweetness of her actions. "Anything."
"So long as the sun shines, I am here at the beginning and end of every week. Should your horse ever throw you again on one of those days, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing you here as you rest on your way home."
His heart pounded at those words. "Really?"
She nodded. "I'll be here tomorrow, too."
"Then I shall be here, and I promise I won't soil your gown." He took her hand one last time and placed a chaste kiss over her knuckles. "Safe journey home, my lady."
She curtsied to him. "And to you, my lord."
His heart lighter than he could ever remember it being, Styxx swung himself up on his horse and took a moment to watch her gracefully gather together her items.
She paused. "Are you watching me, Hector?"
Her abilities amazed him. "I couldn't help myself, gentle Bethany. You are too beautiful for words and I don't just mean your face. You move with such grace and assuredness that it takes my breath."
"For a blind woman, you mean?"
"For any woman. And I meant no disrespect to you, in any way."
She smiled. "None taken."
Styxx clenched his teeth as he looked about their small clearing. "I feel terrible leaving you here alone. Are you certain you don't wish for me to take you home?"
"My father would not approve. He would want to interrogate you and I don't think you're up to that today."
And if her father saw him, he might recognize him. That could be disastrous. "Very well then. I am gone now. Until the morrow."
"Until the morrow, good Hector."
Styxx sank his hands into the mane of his horse and used his hands to guide Troian home. And with every step that put distance between them, his thoughts stayed with the most beautiful, gentle creature he'd ever met. One who was as pure and innocent as he wished he was.
You barely know her.
True, yet he wanted to know her better. No one had ever made him feel like she did. Funny and welcome. Heroic and noble, even though all he'd done was bleed all over her and sleep in her lap. How stupid was that?
Somehow she'd eased the pain in his heart and made everything better. Made him smile even when he wanted to cry. How could he leave such a miracle?