She scrunched her brows together. “What’s wrong with Brant? He owed me a favor, and he’s the best I could get on short notice. Do you two have some sort of history I don’t know about?”
Marius glanced away from her. “No. It’s not my history with him that bothers me.” He mumbled the last part under a growl, and Harlow barely made out his words. Once she put it together, she started to laugh.
“Do I amuse you?” He wiped a towel across his sweat-stained forehead.
“Honestly, yes. You think I have a romantic history with Brant, and it makes you jealous.” She raised her chin and preened. “It’s very flattering.”
“Hardly.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m paying you a small fortune. I don’t want you to be distracted by your quivering loins.”
“Did I seem distracted to you today?” She took a step closer to him, flashing him an insouciant grin.
“It was hard to see anything with him standing so close to you. He was practically wrapped around you at our last break.”
“It was a break. Why would that bother you?”
“It’s the principle, Harlow. For the love of the goddess, if you’re going to be my trainer, I don’t need to be distracted with personal displays of affection between you two. If this is going to work, you’ll need to find someone else.” He mopped his chest aggressively.
She stepped in closer and grabbed his towel in a firm grip. “What if I told you that Brantley is not and has never been my lover?”
He snorted. “Right.” He tugged at the towel, but she pulled it closer.
“He’s married with two whelps.” She stepped in closer, their hands sandwiched between their bodies, still gripping the towel. Those strange silver eyes locked on to hers, and a flock of butterflies took off in her stomach. “We’re old school chums. Have known each other since childhood. And between you and me, if he were going to pursue one of us, it would likely be you. You’re more his type.”
Marius’s face softened, and he lowered his head toward hers. “He’s not a past lover who taught you to fight?”
“No.” She chuckled. “He did teach me to fight, but we were never lovers.”
He leaned in. Was he going to kiss her? Her nipples tightened, her breasts straining against her dress. Her core clenched at the possibility. She wanted him. That hadn’t changed, and having him near her, half naked and covered in sweat, certainly wasn’t helping to inhibit her desire. Her fingers itched to stroke the velvet smoothness of his wings. His woodsy scent filled her nose.
“So you’re not involved with anyone now?” he asked softly. His hand lifted as if he intended to cup her face.
She released the towel and swaggered back, smiling and shaking her head. Her gaze dropped to his erection. No one could miss it in his fighting breeches. An overwhelming desire to take that erection in her hand was almost her undoing, but she forced her spine straight and smoothed the front of her dress.
“The last thing I’d ever want to do is distract you, Marius.”
“Harlow—”
Before she lost her resolve, she strode toward the exit and the carriage waiting to take her home.
Chapter Nine
Everything hurt. Marius strode through the palace, muscles aching from his physical training and his balls blue from unresolved sexual tension with Harlow. Fuck. Why had he tipped his hand? Now she knew without a doubt he wanted her. At least he’d discovered she was unencumbered. He sensed she wanted him too, even if she didn’t act on it today. She was definitely flirting with him.
Who was he kidding? He looked like a ghost and had been dead for three hundred years. Not exactly the definition of what women wanted. And she was a socialite. Every polished young dragon male was likely sniffing at her doorstep. Those wings. Who could stop themselves from wanting her after seeing those delicate works of gold? His dick twitched just thinking about them.
“Oh my, what did the kitten do to make you want to kill it?” Raven appeared in front of him, dressed in a gown that made it impossible to forget she was the queen, although he’d started to think of her as a sister over these last months.
He forced a shallow smile. “Hmmm. No kitten involved. You caught me coming from the training arena. I’m afraid this body isn’t used to such hard work.”
“Charlie says you haven’t been sleeping well. You’ve been having nightmares.”
“She told you about that, huh?”
“She did.”
“Avery too. We compared notes, but my dreams and her dreams are as different as dreams can be.”
“Charlie mentioned that too.” Raven brushed her sleeve, as if any dust would dare cling to the perfectly pressed gown she was wearing. “I’d like to do some additional magical investigation on your condition—sketch the symbols on your torso. If I have a detailed drawing of each of the different symbols, I can research their historical magical usage and maybe determine what’s causing your nightmares.”
