Before She Ruled (Before Series, Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Four

She should look away, but she couldn't help but stare. Before she knew it, he was less than a few inches from her, and she jerked her head up to face him.

"Would you like a moment to compose yourself?" she asked, hating her voice for shaking slightly as she did so.

Theo smiled darkly. "No, princess. You are the one who invited yourself in. If my indecency offends you, you are welcome to leave at any point." He paused and when she didn't move to leave, continued, closing the final distance between them by drawing her close with an arm around the small of her back as he did so.

"First of all, let us get one thing straight here. If you think you are the only one who has been worrying this week, let me clarify that for you. I have spent all week wracking my brain for a solution to this mess of a country that doesn't endanger you, marry you off or ship you away. I've stayed up to the darkest hours of the morning, just before dawn, searching for a way to keep you here." He lifted a hand to play with a loose curl of her brown wig. "Right here, Addie. Just as we are right now, that is where I want you."

Addie couldn't help but lean into him, pushing her clothed body into his bare one. The heat of his skin burning through her clothes to scorch the very core of her. Her mouth ran dry, and she wet her lips. His eyes darted to her mouth, and she leaned in further, daring him to kiss her. Addie was sure he would when he swiftly tore himself away and walked to the other side of the room. By the time Addie circled around to follow him with her eyes, he was already wrapping a dressing robe around his lean, taut body.

Addie found herself twinge with disappointment. And by the smirk on Theo's face, he knew it. Addie was just grateful he kept his mouth shut.

"You've been avoiding me," she said, the statement coming out as an accusation.

Theo walked to the wash basin and busied himself with washing his face and scrubbing away the sleep. Addie couldn't help but watch as the muscles in his back and shoulders altered against the fabric of his dressing robe as he bent ever-so-slightly over the basin. In a man as fit as him, even the smallest movement changed everything.

Despite her awe, Addie shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. This was really no time for analyzing muscles.

"I have," came Theo's deep timbre in response.

"Why?" Addie started, surprised he admitted it.

He turned to face her now, toweling off his face and hands, catching the little water droplets that were making their own path down his chest where his robe gaped open. He stepped toward her, directly into the light of the sun streaming through the curtains, and Addie instantly understood why women swooned.

He was positively god-like. No, he was Apollo himself, god of light, braced against the backdrop of a harsh, mortal world. His blonde hair mussed and his green eyes bright. He radiated heat toward her.

And he had no idea. Confusion filtered through his expression.

"I thought we are supposed to be avoiding each other. You are still a princess in disguise, are you not?"

"Yes," Addie said, unsure of what else to say. He was right, after all. This was what they had agreed upon. Really, she had been foolish to expect anything else.

Theo leaned against the bedpost, still draped in the light of the sun. Addie took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I would have come to you if I had found another option. But I couldn't face you simply to say that I have no plan, no alternative, nothing helpful at all. I am failing to protect you from this."

He bared his palms to show that he had nothing to give, perhaps willing for something to appear in his empty hands. So he wasn't a god, after all, Addie thought. At least this was evidence of his humanity, of his lack of perfection.