Release(34)

Keirth lurched forward. His hands fumbled to unfasten the smartcloth. Once he did, it parted immediately, revealing Ariana’s white skin underneath. He gazed down at the curve of her back, sucking in his breath. So, he was like other men in that regard. He did have some desire to take advantage of the situation.

He turned away from her.

“Turn around,” Ariana said, turning to face him. But his back was already turned. “Oh.”

He could hear the whisper of fabrics as she changed her clothes, and he struggled not to think about what she was doing, not to picture her nude body. He’d fought a long time to keep this part of his nature in check. He didn’t intend to let that change. Maybe he should sleep on the floor. He rubbed his toe against it. It was really hard.

“Okay,” said Ariana.

He turned back around. She was wearing the nightgown, which thankfully covered her entire body. But the fabric was a little flimsy, and he could see the barest hint of the outline of her curves beneath it. He immediately looked away.

“Do you, um, need to change?”

“I didn’t bring anything to change into,” he said.

“Okay,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Well, I guess we should...”

There was still time to do the right thing. There was still time to sleep on the floor. But Keirth sat down on his side of the bed instead and removed his shoes.

Ariana pulled the covers down on her side and slipped under them. She pulled them all the way up to her chin. “Can you turn off the lamps?”

There were clusters of oil lamps beside the bed. Keirth reached over and dutifully turned the knobs on them until they went out. The room was plunged into darkness. Unsure if the darkness made him feel relieved or more anxious, Keirth got under the covers of the bed as well.

With the cushions on the bed, there was less room than there might be on a single bed. It was better than the floor, though. Keirth lay rigidly on his back, his eyes wide in the darkness. He wasn’t sure whether to close them or not.

“I’m sorry if this part of my idea wasn’t so great.” Ariana’s voice was soft, possibly because it was dark.

“It’s fine,” Keirth said gruffly. He was doing his best to pretend she wasn’t over there. He was doing his best not to think about the sliver of her bare back, of the outline of her body in her nightgown. But...to his horror, his body wasn’t doing its best. He could feel himself thickening, lengthening between his legs. He was going to have to sleep on the floor after all. He struggled to think of something else—anything else.

Ariana giggled. “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever shared a bed with a man. I guess it’s not unusual for you.”

It was unusual. “No,” he muttered. “I’ve never shared a bed with a woman either.”

A rustling on the other side of the bed, and then the shadowy features of Ariana appeared over the cushions. She’d propped herself up to look down at him. “You mean, I guess, that you usually just take what you want and run.”

“No!” said Keirth. It came out a little stronger than he meant it to. “Absolutely not.” He wished he hadn’t spoken in the first place. He was nervous. This whole situation made him nervous, and he couldn’t control his tongue.

“You don’t mean that you’ve never...”

If it weren’t dark, maybe she’d see that he was glaring at her. She might be pretty, but that never stopped her from being annoying, did it? “Is this your business?”

She flopped back off the cushions onto her side of the bed. “Really? I thought all men started lying with women when they were seventeen or something.”

Keirth didn’t say anything. For some reason, this discussion was not helping him stop being hard. If anything, it was making it worse.

“Why not? It can’t be because you’re ugly or something, because you’re quite nice looking. I mean, for a criminal.”

“Let’s go to sleep,” said Keirth. She couldn’t stop from insulting him, could she?

“I didn’t mean that,” she said. “You’re not a criminal. Well, maybe you are, but you’re in it for the right reasons, so that’s just as good as not being a criminal. I mean, if I killed Risciter, then technically I’m a criminal. A real criminal.”

Her voice started to shake on that last part. Keirth didn’t want her to have to think about Risciter, so he changed the subject back, even if it did make him uncomfortable. “Maybe all the noblemen can run around having whatever woman they want,” he said. “You might find that in other classes, it’s far less easy to take advantage of people.”