I turned to Kole. “I told you that you could join us.”
“I’m not hungry.” He shrugged.
“He has already had his one meal for the month,” Ariana commented, earning a cool glance from Kole. To which her lips tipped up.
“I eat more often than that,” he snapped, though it was more friendly than angry.
“Whatever you say. Though, you may be more pleasant to be around if you stop going hungry for so long.” Ariana’s eyes sparkled as she teased him.
“You have been spending too much time with some who are clearly a bad influence on you,” he replied before turning to me. “If it’s alright, I have a couple of things I would like to take care of.”
“It’s fine. I’ll bring Ariana back to her room when we are finished eating.”
Kole dipped his head before excusing himself.
“This smells divine.” Ariana inhaled deeply as I took a seat across from her. Her unbound hair flowed in soft waves over her shoulders. She ran her fingers absentmindedly through the bottom section of her hair while her eyes scanned the table before her. Was she nervous? I worked at keeping my smile hidden at the realization.
Ariana was a peculiar creature. Brave when she had no reason to be. In many ways, she seemed fearless. Yet this, sitting in a room with me when I promised her that no harm would come to her, made her fidget.
“Help yourself.” No sooner had I said the words than she began loading her plate with various meats and vegetables. She seemed relieved to have something to occupy herself with.
Ariana hesitated with a spoonful of cooked mushrooms hovering above her plate. Her eyes were enormous when they met mine, as if just then noticing I had not moved. “Don’t tell me I’m the only one who is going to be eating here.”
I smiled, finding her surprise and concern for eating alone curious. “I will join you. You seem ravenous, so I wanted to grant you free rein at the table.”
Ariana finished placing the serving of mushrooms on her plate and sat. The barest hint of a flush painted her cheeks. Had Iembarrassed her? That would have meant that she cared how I viewed her, which was vastly different than when we first met. Her actions always were her own. She never seemed influenced in the slightest by my opinion of her.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” I commented, wondering if my pointing it out would cause her further to squirm. It was perhaps cruel of me to do it, though I couldn’t help myself.
“You didn’t.” She reached for her water, taking a few large gulps. Did she use the cold fluid to cool her body from within in hopes that the flush would not spread? Smart girl.
“The flush to your cheeks says otherwise.” I shrugged and stood to load my plate with food while Ariana eyed me.
The blush began spreading to her neck though her voice did not waver as she said, “You always so observant?” It was not a denial. She did not shy away from my gaze when it drifted to her before retaking my seat. Typically, when others stared in my direction, their gut reaction was to look away when I turned to them, but not hers. Instead, she held my gaze, breaking contact only after making the point that she refused to be rattled by my company. A part of me desperately wanted to rattle her.
It was as if we were playing some sort of implied game with unspoken rules.
“When something catches my interest,” I answered honestly.
Tension filled the small room, causing her to shift in her seat. “And how quickly is that interest typically lost?”
I leaned back in my chair, openly observing her, neither of us touching the plates of food before us. “You’re going to hurt my feelings, making it sound like you don’t like my attention.”
Her lips lifted ever so slightly. “You’remaking it sound like I caught more than just your interest if it’s that easy for me to hurt your feelings.”
I let out an amused breath. This woman was lethal, and this game, or whatever this was, was dangerous. Despite my bestefforts at not continuing, I found myself saying, “And what is it you think I have caught?”
“You tell me.” Her mouth twisted into a smirk, eyes glittering. “Unless your ego cannot handle the embarrassment of announcing how you are desperate for my favor.” Any hesitation I may have seen within her when we first sat had evaporated.
Her words cause me to genuinely laugh. “My ego is not so easily bruised.” She arched a slender brow in disbelief before I added, “And maybe I am desperate for your favor.”
Her head tilted, brown silky locks spilling over her shoulder. “I must confess, I am surprised you admit it.” A tendril of hair curled against her throat.
“How does one go about winning that favor?” I reached for the glass of water before me, needing a distraction to keep my thoughts from wandering to a dangerous edge.
“Get on your knees and grovel,” she answered with a completely straight face, though she could not hide the shine in her eyes. But something shifted, and the light dimmed from her face as she said, “And free me.”
All brightness vanished from our conversation. The pleasant tension altered into an uncomfortable one.
