Theirwords.
And when his fingers grazed her own, her entire body resigned into the reality of his being at her side. The hurt of her heart felt as though someone was tying a knot around it, binding and constricting it into the prison of her chest. She forced her knees straight so they didn’t buckle beneath her. His pinky finger wrapped around her own, and she nearly vomited outright as the feelings overpowered her.
The warmth of his skin. The clench of his finger.
No touch had ever meant so much. It was a promise. A hello. An ‘I’ve got you.’ Just his finger curled around hers. Even if they didn’t get to speak, she knew everything she needed to know simply from that moment.
Sunlight blinded her when she finally opened her eyes. But it wasn’t the light that made her grieve. It was the look in Nadir’s own as he stared down at her. If she’d thought she was broken before, it was nothing compared to the cry of her body upon seeing the weeping dread in his swollen eyes and the tear settled in the corner creases.
She wanted to break the necks of every man there just to embrace him.
“I think these will work beautifully,” the Noble declared.
Nadir and Nyssa both stiffened out of their dazes. Their heads turned quickly in the direction of the Noble—hands separating. She nearly lurched at the abruptness of it, but she straightened and pushed her shoulders back, careful to conceal any dried tears on her cheeks and hoping the Noble was stupid enough to think the swollen redness of her eyes was simply from her being tired.
“Very well, trader,” Bechmen said. “One night with my slave for all of these furs plus the entire supply of foods you've brought.”
“All of it?“ Nadir repeated.
“Is that a problem?”
She could feel him gazing down at her, and as much as she wanted to meet his eyes, she knew if she did, she would collapse into a puddle and reveal it all.
“You can have everything.”
As Nyssa was taken back inside, she saw the Noble nod to Quinn. She wasn't sure what was going on, but when Quinn took her to the Noble's room instead of back to her own, she wondered if perhaps Bechmen had seen something and was suspicious.
It was an hour before Bechmen joined her, and when he did, Nyssa straightened out of the chair she'd sat in.
Bechmen eyed her from the door. "Do you know him?" he asked.
"Know who?"
"The trader who just bartered everything in his carts for one night with you," he said, stepping into the room and going to pour himself a drink.
Nyssa knotted her hands in front of her. "I have never been to the Honest realm," she lied. "As Princess, I did not leave my castle much."
"That castle being the one that was destroyed," he asked.
"Yes."
"Does he know who you are?" he asked, leaning back against the table.
"I wouldn't think so," she affirmed. "As I said, I did not travel much."
Bechmen's gaze narrowed, swirling his cup. "As you can imagine, I am skeptical."
"Honest beings are a race of disgusting traders who think of nothing more than their next fuck," she snapped. "I imagine he saw something you held tight to and wanted to say he was the first to have a taste of a foreign woman. They are savages and imbeciles. My own kingdom would not even let them near our home."
"You think he does not know you are of his kind?"
"How could he?"
The Noble seemed to contemplate this a moment. "Why would I trust you alone with this man?"
"Do you think I want to be left alone with a male who apparently only saw me as his next great conquest?” she sneered. “To be forced to suck some cretin’s cock and endure his pleasures? You sold me forfruit and bread. Today was only the second I have seen sunlight since our deal. Were you ever planning on letting me walk again?"
"My people are starving," he argued. "If getting them food means I have to let an Haerlandian fuck you before my Prince, then so be it. You overestimate what your life means to me."
