Rydon swore the man’s eyes narrowed, looking at him now as if he was a threat.
“Well, thanks for stopping by,” Terena said in a high voice. “Good to see you again.”
“Would you care to join us?” the commander asked, his eyes on Terena once more.
Terena blanched, but Rydon quickly answered, “Alas, we were about to leave. Done with supper. Thank you, though.”
Rydon looked over at Terena pointedly, his eyes widening slightly so she’d take the hint. Her face was bright red.
She shot to her feet and stepped away from the table, mute.
Daris Antonius stared at her a moment longer as Rydon rounded the table and clasped Terena’s shoulder. “Again, fantastic to meet you, an honor, truly,” Rydon said as he squeezed Terena’s shoulder and tugged so she’d follow him.
He strode toward the door, feeling her at his back. When she stopped, Rydon turned back to look. The commander had taken hold of her arm. Rydon stiffened and took a step but stopped, watching as Daris Antonius said something to Terena as he bent close, something Rydon couldn’t hear. He took another step, his hand drifting to the pommel of his sword.
Terena’s back stiffened, and she nodded. Without another look at the commander, she strode for the tavern door ahead of Rydon.
Rydon looked at the man one last time, their eyes locking for a second before Rydon dipped his chin and turned to walk out after her.
When the door shut behind him and he caught up to Terena, Rydon spoke at last. “What the fuck was that about?”
Terena wasglad of the cool evening breeze, as it blessedly encircled her overheated body, her face so hot she pressed her palms to her cheeks.
“Oh gods, that was… that was,” Terena muttered as she gulped in air. Even her lungs seemed on fire.
“What is wrong with you?” Rydon asked, his lip curled in disgust. “A man—a fucking hero—says hello to you and you act like he’s got the plague.”
Terena scoffed and lifted a finger to point at Rydon. “That, that?—”
“What did he say to you? As we were leaving.”
If possible, Terena’s face turned a deeper shade of red. “Nothing! It was nothing.”
“By how you’re acting, that’s the worst nothing I’ve ever heard of.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” Terena muttered and strode away.
Rydon caught up to her quickly. “Bullshit. Why won’t you say then, if it was nothing?”
She groaned. “He asked if I’d be staying long in Sparta because he wanted to see me again. I said we were.”
Rydon’s brows shot to his forehead, and his lips parted. “Oh, shit. Do you…” he shook his head, “do you have a thing for him? I thought you and the prince?—”
Instantly, the color bleached from Terena’s face and her stomach fell.
She pivoted, tears pricking at the backs of her eyes as she fought to keep them in.
“Hey, I didn’t mean?—”
“You know what? I’m going back to the inn. Stay, if you like,” Terena said, her voice overly loud to her ears. Rydon stopped following her a few seconds later.
Sleep. She needed sleep.
It was the only reason she could think of why her skin was clammy and her pulse raced. Her body was trying to tell her she needed rest.
That had to be it, because she didn’t want to think it had anything to do with the commander’s powerful body standing so close to her. Or the way those blue eyes looked at her as if he was starving and she was dinner.
And when he’d whispered to her, she wanted to rip the clothes from his body.
