Craig didn't respond at first.
His chin remained against her hair, but the shift was unmistakable, his breathing slowed, his chest tightening against her back.
The change in him was subtle but immediate, he wasn't smiling anymore.
Merlina felt it before she saw it, his arms around her loosened, enough to tell her his mind had gone somewhere else entirely.
Slowly, she turned her head over her shoulder, to see his face.
His gaze was already on her, unfocused at first, like he was still halfway in whatever memory had pulled him under. Then his eyes sharpened, on her, into her and for a heartbeat neither of them moved.
A hint of something unspoken crossed his features.
Only then did he speak, his voice low, roughened by whatever he wasn't saying. "I zoned out for a second," he murmured. "Thinking."
She turned back, looking ahead. "About what?"
He hesitated, eyes fixed on nothing in particular, some point across the room only he could see. "About Belford," he said quietly.
