She gives me a look so chilling it might actually make my balls shrivel. I clear my throat. “I meant, I’ll make this shit fit.”
“Yes, you will,” she says haughtily.
In one fluid motion, I dump the clothes onto the bed and then haul her up into my arms, landing a smack on her ass. “You’re being very fucking snappish.”
She digs her nails into the back of my neck. Like a kitten trying to draw first blood. Fucking cute.
“I’m always snappish,” she snaps.
I rub my nose against her neck and breathe her in. “It’s gonna be okay,” I tell her before pulling back to look her in the eye. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
Rissa blinks, but she can’t fool me. I see how shiny her eyes are. She’s scared.
“What about you?” she demands. “What if you die? Then I won’t be protected at all, and you’ll be dead!”
I sit down on the bed with her, leaning up against the headboard. She eyes my boots on her mattress but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she tucks her head under mine. I love how she does that. Fiery with me one second, then melting for me the next.
“I’m not planning on dying, Rissa.”
“Don’t be an idiot. No one plans to die.”
I could argue that fact, but…better not right now.
Gripping her chin, I lift her face so she’ll look at me. “I’ve been in a lot of fights to the death. Lots of battles. I’m not gonna die.” She watches me dubiously. “But…if I do… You’re a strong, capable, independent woman, right?”
Her back straightens as she sits up. “Of course I am.”
“Exactly,” I say, dropping my hand. “You think I’d bring just anyone along with me? There are some soldiers I wouldn’t trust to handle this mission. Butyou, Yellow Bell, you can handle it. I know you won’t take shit and you won’t lie down and give up. You’re just as much a fighter as any of my soldiers.”
Her throat bobs, eyes shiny again. She takes a moment to compose herself and then clears her throat. “Well. You really should get better soldiers then.”
A chuckle rolls out of me, and I kiss her on her pouty lips. “Fucking delicious,” I mutter as I pull back. Then I place a kiss on her forehead before lifting her up and plopping her on the bed again as I get to my feet. “I’ll get food sent up. You should bathe or primp or whatever shit you want to do. I don’t know how long it’ll be before you’ll have the chance again. We leave in a few hours.” I point at her. “Remember, dresswarm.”
She stands and points her finger right back at me. “Remember, don’tdie,” she mocks. “Or I’m going to be absolutely furious with you.”
Grinning, I lean in and give her another kiss. “I wouldn’t fucking dare.”
“See that you don’t, Captain.”
Then she goes on her tiptoes and kisses the hell out of me, getting my dick raging hard. She pulls away right when I’m about to say fuck it and rip off all her clothes. She shakes her ass more than usual as she walks off.
I grin at her retreating form. She thinks I’d go off and die? No fucking way.
I’ve never had more to live for than I do right now.
CHAPTER 10
SLADE
“So this is where you always run off to.”
The sound of my father’s voice makes my shoulders stiffen. For a second, I think about refusing to turn around, but that would only piss him off, which I actively try to prevent. I’m in a constant state of controlling my own reactions while also attempting to regulate his so that he doesn’t lash out.
I’m surprised my feet aren’t scarred from all the times I’ve had to walk on pins and needles around him.
I turn away from the table where the newly hatched marewings chirp in their nest. Above us, the fully grown birds are notched into their enclosures, awaiting missives to deliver.
My father’s right—this is where I run off to when I want to get away from him. Not that I’d tell him that. Now that he’s found my spot, I’m fuming that I will have to give it up. I like coming in here, to sit with these birds. Not only are they incredible navigators and highly intelligent, but they’re calming.
