I’ve spent enough time in enough brothels to recognize desire, but this...isn’t it. Not quite.
I do know I can’t stop thinking about it.
Or perhaps this is just my brain refusing to think about what happened with Jory.
I’ve never snapped at her. Not like that. She didn’t even deserve it. I’ve loved her forever, and even on my worst days, it settled something in my heart to know she was in the palace, safe from harm. The last person in the world who still saw me as I was.
And now that’s gone. The loss pulses like a new wound, raw and weeping like the brand.
Princess. He’s had enough. Leave him be.
Fuck. My throat is tight. I stare at the ceiling and force the thoughts away.
Beside me, the king’s body jerks, and I look over again. A small sound comes from his throat, and he draws his arms closer to his body.
It’s so dark that I can’t see his expression, but I don’t sense that he’s awake. His arms twitch again, and he inhales sharply.
He’s dreaming.
He makes another sound that’s closer to a whimper.
Not a dream. A nightmare.
I reach out and put a hand over his forearm, pressing gently with my fingers. He wakes with a start, his eyes snapping open, and I jerk my hand back.
For a moment, we lie there staring at each other. The belligerent part of me wants to mock him.Poor baby. Scary dreams?
The deeper, darker, more vulnerable part of me wants to put a hand back on his arm.
And then I hear a sound, the soft scrape of wood against stone. It’s so quiet that I could’ve imagined it—but I know I didn’t.
The king sucks in a breath, but I slip a hand over his mouth and clamp down hard.
“Don’t let them know you’re awake,” I whisper, my voice barely more than breath against his cheek. If a Hunter has come after us, he’ll be watching to make sure no one moves. That said, this complete darkness can work in my favor, too.
The king nods. His eyes are dark pools in the shadows.
“No magic yet,” I warn—though I don’t actually know if he can. The hearth is dark, which makes me wonder if Hunters smothered it from the chimney. “If we can see, they can see.”
The king nods again.
I slip my hand away from his mouth, and I try not to consider the way his face feels under my fingers. A little rough, a little warm.
Especially since his voice is all business. “Asher. Hunters?”
“No idea.”
He exhales, and he sounds a little aggrieved.
“But probably,” I add. “Unchain me.”
“Garrett has the key.”
Well, shit. That’s not going to go well for either of us.
His eyes return to the darkness, so mine do, too. I hold very still, waiting. Listening. The king’s weight shifts, and I realize he’s reaching for one of the weapons he laid beside the pallet. I wonder if he’d give me one.
But then I hear another scrape, another whisper of sound. The king’s body goes still, and I know he heard it, too. The darkness shifts, air moving somewhere between us and the door. A shape dropping from above.
