How to Pursue a Princess by Karen Hawkins Read Free Book Online

were like the green found at the heart of the forest, among the tallest trees.
    He brushed her curl behind her ear, his fingersgrazing her cheek. Her heart thudded as if she’d just run up a flight of stairs.
    Cheeks hot, she repinned her hair with hands that seemed oddly unwieldy. “That’s— You shouldn’t touch my hair.”
    “Why not?”
    He looked so astounded that she explained. “I don’t know the rules of your country, but here men do not touch a woman’s hair merely because they can.”
    “It is not permitted?”
    “No.”
    He sighed regretfully. “It should be.”
    She didn’t know what to say. A part of her—obviously still shaken from her fall—wanted to tell him that he could touch her hair if he wished. Her hair, her cheek, or any other part of her that he wished to. Good God, what’s come over me?
    “Come. I will take you to your home.”
    She brushed the leaves from her skirts and then stepped forward. “Ow!” She jerked her foot up from the ground.
    He grasped her elbow and steadied her. “Your ankle?”
    “Yes.” She gingerly wiggled it, grimacing a little. “I must have sprained it, though it’s only a slight sprain, for I can move it fairly well.”
    “I shall carry you.”
    “ What? Oh no, no, no. I’m sure walking will relieve the stiffness—”
    He bent, slipped her arm about his neck, and scooped her up as if she were a blade of grass.
    “Mr. Roma—Romi— Oh, whatever your name is, please don’t—”
    He turned and strode down the path.
    “Put me down!”
    “Nyet.” He continued on his way, his long legs eating up the distance.
    Lily had little choice but to hang on, uncomfortably aware of the deliciously spicy cologne that tickled her nose and made her wonder what it would be like to burrow her face against him. It was the oddest thing, to wish to be set free and—at the same time—enjoy the strength of his arms. To her surprise, she liked how he held her so securely, which was ridiculous. She didn’t even know this man. “You can’t just carry me off like this.”
    “But I have.” His voice held no rancor, no sense of correcting her. Instead his tone was that of someone patiently trying to explain something. “I have carried you off, and carried off you will be.”
    She scowled up at him. “Look here, Mr. Romanoffski—”
    “Call me Wulf. It is what I am called.” He said the word with a faint “v” instead of a “w.”
    “Wulf is hardly a reassuring name.”
    He grinned, his teeth white in the black beard. “It is my name, reassuring or not.” He shot her a glance. “What is your name, little one?”
    “Lily Balfour.” She hardly knew this man at all,yet she’d just blurted out her name and was allowing him to carry her through the woods. She should be screaming for help, but instead she found herself resting her head against his shoulder as, for the first time in two days, she found herself feeling something other than sheer loneliness.
    “Lily. That’s a beautiful name. It suits you.”
    Lily’s face heated and she stole a look at him from under her lashes. He was exotic, overbearing, and strong, but somehow she knew that he wouldn’t harm her. Her instincts and common sense both agreed on that. “Where are you taking me?”
    “To safety.”
    “That’s a rather vague location.”
    He chuckled, the sound reverberating in his chest where it pressed against her side. “If you must know, I’m taking you to my new home. From there, my men and my—how do you say babushka ?” His brow furrowed a moment before it cleared. “Ah yes, grandmother.”
    “Your grandmother? She’s here, in the woods?”
    “I brought her to see the new house I just purchased. You and I will go there and meet with my men and my grandmother. I have a carriage, so we can ride the rest of the way to your home.”
    I was right to trust him. No man would involve his grandmother in a ravishment.
    He slanted a look her way. “You will like my grandmother.”
    It