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Not that King ht, her brow furrowed and her breath quickened She would wake soon, and she would hate what consciousness brought with it

King sat beside her on the bed Telling hi for fever, he placed the back of his hand on her cool forehead, relief spreading through him at the temperature The furrow deepened and, unable to stop hie between her brows

She settled at the touch, and he ignored the pride that threaded through him as he moved to cup her cheek He did not wish to be her coh of that without her

But he did not re hi her for the bath she’d seemed to desperately want, and not to see her deep blue eyes

She sighed and turned into his touch, but did not wake

"Sophie," he repeated, ignoring the fact that he liked the sound of the na the fact that he should not continue the caress, even as he did just that Instead, he marveled over the softness of her skin, the silky threads of her eyebrows, the dark wash of her lashes against her pale cheeks, the pink of her lips--

He lifted his hand as though it had been burned, and shot to his feet

The color of her lips was not for him to notice

She’d asked for a bath, and he’d fetched her one That was the extent of their interaction in this moment He’d keep his hands--and his observations--to himself "Sophie," he saidhiaze flew to the other end of the rooht it in while I slept?"

"They did"

Her voice lowered to a whisper "Did they see me?"

He smiled at that "Would it matter?"

Her eyes ide "Of course!"

"They did not I set the dressing screen by the bed"

She nodded "Thank you"

"But I saw you," he said, unable to resist teasing her "Doesn’t that bother you?"

"You don’t count," she replied

The words did not sit well "I beg your pardon?"

"You don’t like me"

"I don’t?"

She shook her head "No You’ve more than enumerated the reasons why" She pushed herself to a seated position, wincing "But you’ve endeavored to eliminate the most offensive one, thankfully"

"I like you fine"

"And a ringing endorsement that is"

He liked her fine when she was not infuriating, that was He changed the subject "I found you a frock, as well"

Her gaze fell to the si screen She nodded "Could you summon Mary?"

"Why?"

"I need assistance"

"I can assist you"

Sophie shook her head "Not in this"

"Which is?"

She flushed "My lord, I cannot bathe with you"

She didn’t mean for the words to tempt him Christ, she was covered in rein and dirt and God knehat else And of course baths required a lack of clothing But for some reason, the quiet implication of her nudity had him hard and unsettled in an instant