Dauphine hummed in consideration. “Where does that put those of us in the middle?”
“I suppose it requires us to choose a side.” His head cocked as he searched her face. “Do you…have feelings for him?”
A loud laugh burst from Dauphine. “Gods, no. I’m just curious about what motivates one to risk their lives so foolishly.” Her smile turned coy as she fixed it on Aidon. “I told you in the brothel wheremyinterest lies.”
“Now I know you’re drunk,” Aidon scoffed. He glanced at the windows, the pitch black of night doing nothing to tell him the hour. He knew it was late, though. They’d been up for hours, and he’d accomplished more than enough with this ruse.
“We should go to bed,” Aidon suggested.
Dauphine lifted her head, her teeth digging into her bottom lip as she looked him over. “Together?”
Aidon laughed. Seven hells, she was relentless. “I hardly think that’s appropriate.”
Dauphine’s grin widened as she stood and crossed to the couch, her hips swaying with her steps. Her gaze flitted to his lips as she braced her hands on either side of him.
“Oh?” she breathed as she peered down at him
“I don’t make a habit of sleeping with mercenaries.” His voice was low and gruff, and he cleared his throat. “Besides, you’re drunk.”
Dauphine’s smirk grew as she leaned in, stepping between his thighs. “And you’re not. Don’t think I didn’t notice you pouring your drink out.” She glanced at the plant. “You owe me a new aloe.”
“Again, add it to my tab.”
“Or,” she drawled, “you could pay me in another way.”
Aidon’s head leaned back against the cushion, his hands curling into fists on his thighs. He could smell the rose of hersoap, could feel the warmth of her pressing so close to where his bodytrulywanted her.
“For what it’s worth,” Dauphine whispered, the strands of her hair tickling Aidon’s neck as she ducked her head down, her lips a breath away from his. “I never took a deal with your uncle.”
Aidon let his hand find her chin. Her skin was just as soft as he’d imagined. He let her drift closer. Closer.
His thumb pressedin, halting her lips just before his.
“Why would you think that’s worth anything?” he breathed.
Dauphine froze.
Silence stretched for a beat, but then she laughed, the sound a near vibration against his mouth. Cold rushed in as she pulled back, her hand skimming down his chest as she stepped away.
“Well played, General.” She grabbed the gin off the table, her movements slow and sensual. “But do let me know if you change your mind.”
Aidon raised a brow, his back still pressed firmly into the cushions as he watched her go.
“Fucking hells,” he swore under his breath.
He had thought himself evenly matched in this dance. He hated learning he was wrong.
26
The last time Josie sat beside someone’s sickbed like this, it had been in the final days of her Aunt Madelyn’s life. Then, it had been a bed in a private room of the palace infirmary, the walls lined with windows, chosen specifically by Dominic to give his wife a view of the sea.
“She needs to be able to feel the fresh air on her face,” he’d commanded as he’d thrown one of those windows open. “And the sound of the sea soothes her.”
There had been a tremor in the king’s voice that Josie had never heard before—a sign of his frayed nerves and impending grief.
Love is unsurvivable.
The thought came as she watched the rise and fall of Aleissande’s chest.
