Free Scars Of Defiance by Lorena Angell Page B

tender gesture was new, and it surprised him
how easily it came to him.
    Sierra thanked him and looked down at the floor. Anywhere
but his eyes. All day long she had been studying him, watching every nuance of
his behavior. And all day long she had been cataloging everything about his
appearance and his actions in her mind. Like when he smiled at her, his head
would tilt back slightly and his eyelids would come down a little. When he
laughed, his eyes twinkled, and smile lines extended out at the corners.
Whenever he seemed worried, he pulled his chin a fraction of an inch closer to
his chest, and worry creases between his eyebrows gave away his concern. His
interested look had his eyebrows rising just a bit, exposing his eyelids ever
so minutely. Of course,his level of excitement
or nervousness could be measured by watching the frequency of his Adam’s apple
bobbing up and down.
    She hadn’t seen what fear looked like yet.
    One thing was for sure, she found it difficult to breathe
whenever he studied her the same way.
    “Well,” he interrupted her thoughts, “have you had enough,
or should we do it again?”
    “I think we’ll be fine together.” She started to get up
without losing her blanket off her shoulders and without putting any weight on
her foot. Paul quickly came to her aid and lifted her up to a standing
position, where she now realized he was only a few inches taller than she was
but enough that she had to look upward slightly to see his eyes.
    He had a hold of her elbows, balancing her as she stood on
one foot, and their eyes were locked on one another. His mind raced along with
his heart, and he swallowed hard in an attempt to get in control of his urges.
Like the incredible urge to kiss her.
    Instead, he turned and helped her over to the bed.
    His bobbing Adam’s apple had not gone unnoticed by Sierra.
She sensed his attraction to her. It was in the very air. His physical strength
had been displayed throughout their little practice session, along with his
weaknesses. She seemed to be his weakness.
    After she got comfortable on the bed, he sat in the armchair
in the corner, with his elbow on the armrest and his hand massaging his cheek.
“What kind of a man is Reginald’s son?”
    “Victor? Terrible.”
    “In what way?”
    “In all ways. He’s selfish, cruel, and unforgiving. He’ll
make a horrible ruler someday.”
    “Is he dangerous? You know, physically abusive?”
    “I haven’t ever seen him pushed that far. Mostly he has his
bodyguards do the threatening or fighting for him, so I guess that would make
him quite wimpy. However, his guards do what he says. If he wants someone to be
beaten to within an inch of their life, they will be. I don’t think he himself
would ever do much of the physical fighting.”
    “Why bruise a knuckle, right?”
    “Right,” she said.
    “How old are you, Sara?”
    She loved to hear the sound of his voice when he uttered her
name, well, what he thought was her name. “Eighteen. What about you?”
    “Nineteen, almost twenty.”
    “How long has your family been helping crossers?”
    “All my life,” he said on an exhale.
    “You don’t sound thrilled about it.”
    “I haven’t been given much responsibility with it. All I do
is pick up crossers after a drop and run daily errands for the family.”
    “I’d say that’s a pretty heavy responsibility. If you hadn’t
found me, I’d be …”
    Paul leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and
resting his chin in his palms. He looked at her sitting in her relaxed position
on his bed. His bed. Evening was approaching, and a sleepless night loomed
ahead. How would he be able to sleep with this stunningly beautiful girl, a
princess, lying next to him?
    “Are you wondering whether you should have pulled me out of
the ice?” she asked in a serious tone.
    “No, not at all. I pulled a stranded crosser out of the ice
because that’s what I do. I didn’t know who you were or what you were fleeing.
I