Page 14 of Cadell the Dragon

Cadell was the first to break the silence that was threatening to smother them.

“I will go get someone to help you with the rest of your clothes. You still need to change.”

The meaning was clear. He had unlaced her boots but he would not dare do more and help her with her dress. So he had picked up on the tension between them and was doing the right thing… Either that or she was the only one affected by the suggestiveness of the moment. What a fool she really was. Hadn’t she thought the other day that a man like him would likely be attracted to someone younger, someone who had not been married already and looking the worse for it?

Yes, but…

But he had told her only earlier that she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. So perhaps he was affected.

“Thank you.”

Johanna stood up in turn. Because they were closer than they should have been, she realized that the top of her head barely reached Cadell’s chin. He was also more muscular than she’d thought the night of the banquet, when they had spent most of their time sitting side by side. This only added to her turmoil because she had always been attracted to tall, strong men. It was one of the things she had liked about Rhun. From the moment she had seen him ride into Castell y Ddraig she had been drawn to his impressive physique and dark, brooding looks.

It had been impossible to resist him when he had stolen a kiss one day in the herb garden, and then another the following night. His masculine presence had overwhelmed her senses, stealing her reason. And when he had slipped his hand under her skirts and asked if she wanted more, she had confused desire for something more potent.

Something like love.

The memory of that night brought Johanna back to her senses and she took a step back, then another. She had once fallen for a man because of his physique and the feelings he provoked in her body, and it had proven to be a mistake, as, in every other way, he had been unsuited to her. She would not make that same mistake twice, not when the potential for hurt was so great.

She would get to know Cadell better before she allowed her senses to sway her.

“Will you be all right on your own while I go find someone?” he asked, taking a step back himself.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Cadell was loath to leave the room, but he had to. It was the only sensible thing to do. Taking Johanna’s boots off, such an intimate thing to do, had tested his control to the limit. Then standing so close to her, seeing how fragile she was compared to him, had overwhelmed him. It had made him think of all sorts of illicit things. A woman who could easily be lifted and carried would allow his most scandalous fantasies to come to life.

But it was too soon to be thinking of all that, nevermind act on such desires. He had come to get to know her, not ravish her. He meant to woo her, not scare her away with his urgency. He needed to make her understand that she was the love of his life, not have her believe he was only after a quick romp. This was an unexpected opportunity to seduce her, and not to be wasted.

Which reminded him of the apology he still owed her.

“I’m sorry about the other night, at the banquet,” he told her abruptly.

She appeared nonplussed at the sudden declaration, but he could not leave without having spoken out. That was why he had come, not to be of assistance to her, even if he was glad to have been here in her hour of need.

“It’s all right. I know you were preoccu⁠—”

“No. I was just plain rude,” he cut in, refusing to hide behind Siaspar’s explanation any longer. It was not fair and he was man enough to own up to his faults. He had not been preoccupied, merely unable to deal with the emotions Johanna provoked inside him, and he had made her pay for it. Such behavior was not worthy of him.

“It’s all right,” she repeated. “Even if you were rude, which you weren’t, really, you more than made up for it today. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Please,” he said with a raised hand. “It was my pleasure.”

Pleasure. One day, he vowed, it would be. His pleasure, and hers. Time and time again.

“I’m glad you happened to ride in those woods.”

He swallowed, because he had not happened to ride there, he had purposefully gone to see her. Should he tell her as much? Perhaps. But for a reason he could not explain, he did not. “So am I. Now let me go get a servant.”

Cadell closed the door behind him and, needing a moment to recover from the tension-filled moment, brought his forehead in contact with the wood. The wild drumming in his heart had reached all the way to his toes. Heavens, but this had been a close call. After uncovering Johanna’s legs and unlacing her boots, he had almost scooped her into his arms and brought her to the bed that was beckoning. Would he have been able to resist the temptation had she not been injured? He wasn’t sure. In any case, he was out of the room now. He should go get someone to see to her needs.

And then he would speak with the steward. The situation here could not be allowed to carry on.

As he took the first step down, there was a clap of thunder and then a horrid crashing sound, followed by a woman’s scream. That scream sent ice down Cadell’s veins. Johanna! Her name exploded in his skull.

He burst into the room and instantly recoiled. It was raining.

Inside.