Victoria would bathe with him present—not that he wanted her to. Far from it. She’d already tried to kill him for barging in while she was in a state of undress. She’d never willingly shed more in front of him.
He searched the room for a place he could get out of her way. But then an idea began to formulate. Maybe he didn’t have to leave the room or hide after all.
For several minutes he worked at his plan, trying to be as quiet as possible. When he had everything ready, he stood back with satisfaction.
He glanced again at Victoria still asleep and frowned at the corset and the way that it was pinching her flesh. With only a moment’s more hesitation, he crossed to the bed. She was lying on her stomach, with half of her face against the bed and the other half exposed. Her long lashes rested against splotchy cheeks, still damp with tears. Her hair had come completely loose and fell in tangled waves over her back.
She was beautiful, even when she was wilted and hot and asleep.
Should he leave and come back later? Or should he wake her and let her know about the bath. He lowered himself to the edge of the bed next to her.
She didn’t move.
He lifted a hand above her hair and again hesitated. He needed to be careful. There were boundaries he couldn’t—wouldn’t—cross. But at this moment, with the evidence of her tears and heartache still so fresh, he let his fingers dip into her hair, into the golden silk. The softness was exquisite against his fingertips, and he combed into her hair deeper, sweeping it off her back, away from her over-heated skin.
At his movement, she stirred.
He combed another wave off her back, and this time his fingers grazed against her smooth flesh, which was a mistake. Once his senses registered the satiny texture of her skin, he had to run his fingers over it again, the spot between her shoulder blades.
She sucked in a quick breath, and her eyes flew open. He expected her to sit up, push him away, and tell him to get out. But instead, she lay motionless, not breathing at all, as though waiting. Waiting for him to touch her again?
He moved his fingers higher toward the base of her neck and then very slowly and softly swept aside more hair, letting his fingers linger against her neck.
Her eyes closed, and she began to breathe again, her chest rising and falling with a rapid succession that sent a strange ripple into his gut. With her hair combed away, he didn’t stop himself from looking at her delicate shoulder blades and backbone so perfect.
Stop looking, an inner voice warned. And definitely don’t touch her, it yelled louder. But in the process of lifting his hand, he let his fingers trail against one of her shoulders. At his touch, she released a soft kitten-like noise, which melted his insides faster than honey in the hot sun. Suddenly, all he could think about was flipping her over and kissing her.
He moved his hand to her waist, telling himself that he wouldn’t kiss her, that he was only going to help her sit up for her bath. But as he began to roll her, she cried out, this time in pain. At the sight of the corset digging into her tender flesh, he bit back a frustrated oath and gently released her onto her stomach.
“Why haven’t you taken off your corset?” he asked, trying to keep his voice gentle.
She laughed almost bitterly. “Because I’m useless. I can’t do anything for myself.”
He studied the strings and understanding dawned. “You’re not useless.” He extricated the small knife he kept hidden against his calf beneath his sock. “The strings are just knotted too tightly.”
“In all my efforts to untie them, I think I only made it worse.”
He lifted his knife, and she gasped and started to squirm. “Hold still, Victoria. I won’t hurt you.”
She stopped moving. Once again she held her breath.
He carefully wedged the blade into the crossed strings at the bottom. She had to be very uncomfortable and in pain to obey him so readily, especially knowing that he was about to rip open her corset and expose her even more.
Slowly, he worked the sharp knife up through the laces until the last one at the top snapped. The corset fell away, revealing red, irritated skin and three places where her flesh had been rubbed raw.