...Tanner frowned as he ran the washcloth over Matthias’s arms, belly and chest. For such a large man, Matthias had soft skin over those ropy muscles. And the golden color told Tanner the prince often worked outside.

Tanner swallowed hard as he realized he’d been stroking Matthias’s chest with tender, almost lover-like motions. Immediately he stopped, and Matthias moaned, growing restless. Tanner moved the cloth again and the prince stilled, quiet and calm once more.

Taking a deep breath, Tanner continued to minister to his charge. My responsibility, he reminded himself. Running the cloth over Matthias’s firm jaw, full lips and strong, stubborn nose, he grudgingly admitted Matthias’s attraction… to the opposite sex. Though all three Dekkers looked alike, with dark hair, dark eyes and strong, warrior builds, Matthias was considered by most to be the best-looking. Ferin had an imposing manner and sexual grace. Adrian held an energetic, animalistic energy. And Matthias was quiet, a still, thinking predator with speed and agility. And a poet’s full, carnal mouth.

Swiftly taking his eyes from said mouth and the uncomfortable thoughts it stirred, Tanner ran the cloth carefully over Matthias’s temple, his high cheekbones and square jaw and then dried the prince with the towel before fixing a small bandage over the gouge on his forehead.

Matthias seemed to turn into the soft touches, and Tanner felt a measure of peace that at least Matthias had escaped the brawl intact and mostly unhurt. The scare of that loud boom and the sight of Matthias falling refused to leave him, however, and he paid special attention to each mark the prince now carried.

Several moments later, having cleaned and tended to almost every area on the prince’s body, Tanner took a deep breath and moved to Matthias’s groin, where a large gash sat on his inner thigh—a place Tanner had deliberately avoided.

Matthias had much the same build as Tanner, and his cock was no exception, long and thick, and dusted with a dark thatch of hair at its root. Flushed for noticing at all, Tanner reminded himself he did this service for the prince and the royal family. Nothing sexual about it. Nothing improper about cleaning and tending to an unconscious man.

Gritting his teeth, he moved Matthias’s shaft so that he could better tend the deep gouge on his thigh. Tanner spread the prince’s legs wide and couldn’t help noticing the plump, ruddy sack resting between Matthias’s thighs. The sudden image of Tanner suckling that flesh, of engulfing that cock with his wet, hot mouth took him by surprise.

He stared hard at Matthias’s face, wondering whose thoughts he’d been sensing, wanting desperately to place to blame on another. Matthias, however, continued to breath easily, unconscious. Staring at the wound, and only the wound, and praying to get this over with, Tanner leaned closer to the injury. He ignored his own throbbing erection—as if disregarding it would will it away—and applied antiseptic and a butterfly bandage. Hopefully, Matthias’s strength would heal the wound without the need for stitches. A day in this cabin, provided the owner didn’t soon return, and they could resume the search for the person Matthias hunted.