“I figured one of you savages did it,” Lucien mutters.
Sevrin’s stare turns sharp. “I’ve never hurt her. Can the three of you say the same?”
Surprise and shock flashes across their faces. Lucien turns a glare onto me. “You told him about us.”
“She didn’t have to,” Sevrin responds, and now there’s a note of anger in his voice. He turns back to me. “Do you want them to leave?”
“I–”
“She probably wants you to leave. You’re the savage,” Lucien says, fists clenched at his side.
“Surely you can do better than that?” Sevrin asks, lifting a brow.
Lucien steps forward. Gareth and Alaric step between them. My gut does a little flop, and I realize just how on the edge everyone is. A fight between them wouldnotbe in the best interest of the treaty.
“Sevrin, please,” I murmur.
He looks at me, and his expression gentles. “I can deal with these asses. For you.”
“Who you calling a fucking ass, savage?” Lucien shouts.
Instead of approaching him, Sevrin sits down on the bed beside me and entwines our fingers. “We have today together, for anything you want.”
“I could show you around,” I suggest.
“Your ankle–”
“It’s really fine. You’re making too much of it. I let you treat it. The poultice should help with the remaining achiness. I’ll be just fine.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “If you wish to show me around, then you can, if we go slow and carefully.”
“I have a better idea,” Lucien says. His chest is puffed out, and his brothers are holding him back. “Why don’t you leave, so we can speak to Harper alone?”
To my surprise, Sevrin turns to me. “What do you want, My Heart?”
They seem equally startled. My experience of royal men is that they do what they want, and they don’t worry about what anyone else thinks, including me.Why is it so easy for Sevrin to show me respect, when it’s so hard for them?
I sigh. “I think it might be best if I talked to them.”
This calms the three men down instantly. The look they give Sevrin is one of triumph. Like they were in a battle, and Sevrin lost. I don’t like it. I think it’s important that they stand on equal footing with him, but I don’t know how to help him get on even footing.
But, apparently, he does.
Leaning over to me, he digs his hand into the back of my hair and kisses me. Hard. So hard that it takes my breath away. So hard that for a second I forget I’m in my room, being stared at by three men, and I cling to him, pulling him closer.
He breaks our kiss, pressing his forehead against mine. “Later.” And it’s a promise.
He rises and struts across the room, a confident little walk that almost makes me laugh. He passes the three princes, who seem to be staring on in complete shock. When he reachesthe door, he says, “I’ll be right outside the door. If you need anything, anything at all, just call.”
And then he’s gone. Three pairs of eyes lock onto me with accusations they don’t speak aloud.
This should be fun.
8
Lucien
It feelslike I’m stuck in some kind of bizarre nightmare that I can’t get out of. After sleeping with Harper, I had so much I wanted to tell her, so many… emotions. It was unexpected and overwhelming. I didn’t know what to do with myself, but I knew that if I’d woken up next to her that morning I would’ve said all kinds of sappy things that might have gotten her to look at me the way she’s looking at the Hollowborn today.
