Lois Greiman by Seducing a Princess Read Free Book Online

again. “You would have thought we’d been butchering pigs in the parlor.”
    He was going to vomit, he thought, but suddenly she laughed, and he realized that was her intent.
    “Who are you really, Dancer?” she asked. “Where are you from?”
    He had no way of knowing, but it made little difference, for only a fool would tell her the truth. But then thequestion remained…was he a fool? “Have you ever been to Burnbury, Princess?”
    “Yes, as a matter of fact, I have,” she said, and watched him with curious closeness.
    He gave her a smile. “Then I’m from elsewhere.”
    She canted her head in concession, but when she spoke her tone was painfully earnest. “You don’t belong here.”
    “What makes you think so?” he asked, and tried to turn on his side again, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.
    “Cease your wriggling before you do yourself even greater damage.”
    Her hand felt warm against his biceps, and he realized for the first time that he wore no shirt, only a tattered bandage that crossed his chest at an oblique angle. He lifted his gaze from her hand to her face. Her Majesty had nothing on this woman, he thought, and realized with a breath-stopping jolt that he knew the queen of Sedonia, had known her for some time. He knew her because he was…who? Her guard? Her lover? Her hired assassin? Had she sent him here on some secret, royal mission?
    “Are you about to swoon?” she asked.
    He hustled his mind back to the present. He would wait, would bide his time. The memories were coming, and when they were complete he would fulfill Her Majesty’s command and return to her side. “Don’t look so hopeful,” he said, and forced his muscles to relax one by one. “Men don’t swoon.”
    “But what of you ?” she asked.
    He would have laughed had he had the strength. As it was, he barely managed to speak. “You’re dreadfully skeptical, lass, for a princess.”
    “And tell me, Dancer, have you known many?”
    Memories crowded in again, pressing on his head, but he forced them back. Closed the door. Waited. “Dozens,” he said. “Or perhaps they only said they were princesses in an attempt to gain my favors.”
    She gave him a sliver of a smile. “If you can manage to sit up,” she said finally, “I shall find you a bite to eat.”
    His stomach felt queasy, and his mind unsteady, but he knew what he needed. Knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. “I could use a drink.”
    She stared at him. “Ahh,” she said finally. “So you don’t swoon, but you pass out.”
    He shrugged as if conceding, though in truth he couldn’t remember. Perhaps he’d been drunk when he’d come here. But what man of action didn’t enjoy a drink now and again? “Entirely different,” he said, and she nodded.
    “It matters naught to me. I believe Poke has a bit of Scotch in his chambers. I shall fetch you some.”
    Struggling against the light-headed pain, he managed to sit up, then glanced around the room. Perhaps at one time it had been an elegant parlor of sorts, for it was large, with a high ceiling and arched doorways. But now it was nearly empty and hopelessly dingy, containing a few ratty pieces of furniture and a large stone fireplace. He lay on a divan of sorts. A crack ran diagonally across the wall opposite him, and a yellow stain covered a good portion of the ceiling.
    Where was that drink? His chest hurt like hell. Glancing down, he saw with some surprise that blood had seeped into the drab bandage, and his hands were shaking.
    Footsteps sounded in the hall, and he looked up eagerly as she entered the room. She carried several things, but the mug was all that mattered. It seemed to take herforever to cross the floor, but finally she was there. He curled his fingers around the cup. His hands shook in earnest now, but he managed to bear the Scotch to his lips, to drink deeply. His nerves eased immediately, and he tilted his head back, appreciating the warmth in his belly.
    It wasn’t until then