He put his hands on his hips. “Oh, so now you want to wear your title? Now that you think you can use it to boss me around?”
I grinned. A feral laugh bubbled out of me.
A soft blush reached his cheeks, but his face remained otherwise impassive. In fact, he lowered his brow to glare at me.
“All right,Princess.” Rhoan bent and tossed me over his shoulder.
This drunk, I couldn’t jump out of the way or even bat at his hands. Rhoan plucked me from the floor as effortlessly as one lifted a bag of mostly-air potato chips.
I couldn’t lie. I was a bit offended.
Then he turned and carried me towards the exit. The bouncing world made my stomach churn. Outside, I tapped his back. He bent and released me so I could vomit again. Yeah, this washot.
But Rhoan knelt beside me and pulled my hair back. His knuckles gently grazed my cheek as he worked. “Get it out. You’ll feel better for it.”
I groaned.
He let out a soft laugh. “We’ve all been there. No shame in it.”
Something in his voice broke me. I leaned back into his open hands and felt tears fill my eyes. I wiped them away, claiming that my eyes were watering from throwing up. He didn’t need to know that his kindness tore through me at an alarming rate, leaving me completely disarmed.
“Let’s get you up,” Rhoan said, completely ignoring my tears.
I could have cried harder in relief. Somehow, I managed to keep it together as Rhoan helped me over to a motorcycle parked at the edge of the lot. I scowled at it and asked him why we couldn’t just do his funny walk-between trick.
“Where we’re going, no one can do thefunny walk-between trick.Don’t worry, Princess. I’ve got you. Nothing bad will happen while you hold onto me.”
Uncertain, I rocked back on my heels. I could totally see myself losing my grip on him as we raced down an open road. This drunk, I was going to tumble off and break more bones than I knew I had.
Rhoan didn’t give me any other option. He put a helmet over my head and helped me into a leather jacket that he seemingly summoned out of nowhere. It smelled of deep woods, a mossy place where the earth and growing things thrived on fallen logs. I inhaled deep until I caught wind of my own breath and blushed.
“This isn’t just any bike,” Rhoan assured me. “It’s a magical steed. You’re safer here than you are anywhere else.”
Rhoan threw his leg over the massive bike. I balked. How the hell was I supposed to get on that thing? I would have to climb it like a damn mountain. Somehow, I managed. Perhaps it was the magic in the motorcycle. Maybe it was my drunken determination.
I wrapped my arms around Rhoan’s middle and pressed my cheek to his back. He kicked the bike into gear. It seemed to whinny in greeting beneath us. As I drifted off behind Rhoan, I imagined we were atop a sleek black horse, galloping away into the night.
Out here, under the veil of the quiet night, I was safe with Rhoan. His broad, muscled back promised to be there for me. If anything happened, I knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to put himself in harm’s way. For once, I could breathe easy.
It was startlingly unexpected.
Before I knew it, we stopped. Rhoan helped me off the bike. Tired and drunk, I stumbled into him. He caught me and chuckled. When he touched my cheek to make sure I was okay, I tilted my head back and leaned into his touch.
He wasn’t the worst person. And he wasreallyhot. The long hair and tattoos activated something in my mind, a part of my that was suddenly starved for attention. My lips parted. I looked up at him and wondered what it would be like to lie beneath him. Then I would be able to go back to my friends and answer their expectant questions for once.
I let myself stumble into him. When he caught me with both hands on my hips, I looked up at him with what I thought to be a demure smile on my lips. I ran my hands up his chest and curled one behind his neck.
Rising onto my tiptoes, I puckered my lips. My head spun, but I kept myself steady. That was, until a finger pressed against my lips.
Blinking, I found Rhoan staring down at me with wide eyes and a single finger pushing my lips away. Dejection tore my chest in two. I flopped back flat onto my feet and flung myself away from him. With my back to Rhoan, my cheeks flamed. I realized just how dumb I’d been.
“Don’t take it personally, Princess.” Gravel crunched under his feet when he stepped closer. “I took a vow of celibacy. You might be the prettiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on in my century of life, but a vow is a vow. I can’t break it, even for a lovely little thing like yourself.”
His words shouldn’t have helped, but they did. I could hide behind the quickly crafted lie and pretend that I believed it. Of course, he wasn’t going to kiss a drunk woman. That was for the best, even if my heart still ached.
Rhoan picked me up and cradled me in his arms. “Let’s get you to bed.”
I turned my face towards his chest. The rest melted away. His presence lulled me to sleep so quickly that I almost thought he’d placed a spell over me.