CHAPTER 23
Helena
He was positively adorable when his cheeks turned red. How had he survived so long with a blush reflex like that? He was almost as bad as Katy.
Helena’s own emotions were rather unsettled, but she didn’t want to face them yet. Besides, poking the bear was fun. “You’re too easy, Cap,” she grinned. “You must not have much experience with women.”
“I have plenty,” he growled back. Touchy, or hiding his embarrassment?
She leaned back, enjoying the warmth of his chest and smiling as she pictured the deeper hue to his face.
A different kind of warmth spread through her chest as she remembered the sight of him standing before her and Erwan like an avenging angel.
Strong draw, solid stance, hazel eyes blazing in the midst of all that brown hair.
Sought out, her heart had whispered. Rescued.
Maybe she had needed to be rescued after all.
Cherished.
She pushed that thought away before the pressure in her eyes could build again. It wasn’t true anyway. “I suppose you must,” she rejoined lightly. “Rouge can’t be the only young woman who has desired your attention.”
“Rouge?” he parroted with confusion. “What does she have to do with this?”
“She’s jealous,” Helena replied matter-of-factly. “I had my suspicions before, but her reaction when we returned to camp yesterday and to our struggle for the arrow today proves it. So don’t deny that she likes you.”
Cap barked out a laugh. “I’ve had women chasing me since I turned sixteen. Trust me, Rouge isn’t one of them.”
Raising an eyebrow, she twisted to stare at him. He looked completely serious. “Are you really that clueless?”
“Not an accusation I normally receive.” His eyes flicked down to her. “It might have been easier if I were, but I don’t have the luxury of accidentally encouraging a woman.”
“What are you, a prince?” Helena chuckled at his solemn tone. “I wouldn’t think a royal guard would be in such a precarious position.”
He said nothing, looking over his shoulder before he slowed Farrell to a trot and turned north.
“Speaking of guards,” Helena began, settling against him again.
He stiffened with the contact, but she just grinned.
“After our memorable meeting, Erwan – the guard you just rescued me from – seemed hesitantly supportive of you. Today, his belief that you abandoned me to aid your own escape had him rethinking that position.”
Cap adjusted his grip on the reins. “Not on purpose,” he said gruffly. “I thought you were up ahead.”
She nodded; she’d get the full story later, but he’d come for her. That was enough for now. “But when you showed up, he seemed oddly respectful. Why was that?”
A deep exhale escaped his nostrils. “I was his commanding officer. Before.”
“All right, but how did he—” Helena cut off abruptly as she remembered the scene again. Cap, ready to fight for her, hazel eyes blazing.
Hazel eyes blazing.
“Your hood!” she gasped. Cap grabbed her waist to keep her in the saddle when she spun to gape at his bare head. “He saw your face.”
He gave a grim nod. “I don’t think Erwan will report that fact to General Valentin, but I can’t be certain. I may have just put a lot of people in danger.”
Helena felt her heart sink, remembering the trouble that rescuing her from her curse had caused Michael. “It would have been better if you’d left me.”
“No!” he said fiercely. “It was my fault for rushing in without thinking. I have no regrets about coming back for you.”
Wanted.
As she blinked back the tears, Helena thanked the heavens that sharing a horse gave her a valid excuse for not facing him.
She took in a slow, quiet breath through her mouth, then rested a light hand on the arm that was still around her waist. “Thank you, Cap.” Her voice didn’t even waver, she noted proudly.
His cheek pressed against her temple, and his arm tightened for a moment before his hand moved back to the reins. “Always,” he whispered.
The loss of his arm was meaningless with that single quiet word. Years of feeling like an imposition, like an unfortunate necessity, melted away.
If anyone else had said it, she would have replied with a skeptical, Really?
But she was riding up the mountain on Cap’s horse. He’d just risked exposure to rescue her. He’d comforted her when he still believed she might be his enemy.
And he didn’t even know he was doing it for a princess.
Unwanted.
Cap and his friends wanted her. If they didn’t, he wouldn’t have come for someone who only slowed him down.
Abandoned.
When Cap discovered that she’d been left behind, he’d forgotten to raise his hood in his rush to find her.
Alone.
Tucker and Alanna made her feel like she belonged. And she felt very noticed with Cap’s warm breath fluttering her hair as they rode.
Sought out. Rescued. Welcome.
Unable to bear the overwhelming – and wonderful – reversal of her mental refrain, Helena turned her face to the side, tilted her head against Cap’s shoulder, and silently cried.