I ventured down several hallways until I found a door leading outside. It opened to the back of the manor, which had a stone path curving into a hedge maze. The bushes were neatly trimmed and dark green in the light of the moon, towering high over my head. Taking a deep breath to loosen my muscles, I headed into the maze, needing something to do while my thoughts kept wandering.
The solitude didn’t last for long, though.
“Can’t sleep?” a deep voice said behind me.
I turned to find Thorne leaning against a hedge at the starting point, one ankle crossed over the other.
Of course he was here.
“It’s not that I can’t, just that I haven’t tried. If you’ll excuse me, Lord Reaux.” I faced forward and continued my exploration, once again missing my fox half. The moon and stars barely provided enough light to see my way around the winding hedges. My Shifter eyesight would’ve allowed me much more visibility.
“Do you often take walks in places you’ve never been after nearly being killed?”
I pursed my lips and held out a hand to feel around the next bend. “Do you often follow women down dark paths when they’re alone?”
“No. They’re usually the ones following me.”
I let out a scoff and picked up speed. I heard his footfalls on the grass behind me. Emperor’s tits, this lord couldn’t take a hint.
His low chuckle reached my ears, caressing my neck. “Oh, come on. It was ajoke. Are you always so tightly wound?”
I stopped in my tracks.Tightly wound? I didn’t think anyone had ever called me that in my life.Leowas tightly wound. I was the fun, adventurous twin.
Spinning on my heels, I pointed my finger. “And areyoualways so—” I halted when my finger met his solid chest. He wascloser than I’d thought. His steady heart beat against the tip, rumbling into my hand and down my arm.
I snatched my hand away and took a step backward. My spine met the sharp leaves of the hedge. Thorne smirked and moved forward, bringing an arm to rest above my head and caging me in.
“Always so what, Empress?” A scent I’d never noticed before, like the light, sweet smell of grass mixed with heavy leather, washed over me, and I involuntarily sucked in a breath.
“Arrogant,” I gritted out.
His smirk widened. “You don’t even know me.”
My fingers sank into the shrubs behind me as if my claws were trying to emerge. He was too close. His broad shoulders covered my line of sight, and he was all I could see.
I swallowed hard. “Yes, well,” I started, sliding out from beneath his raised arm to put some distance between us. “I know menlikeyou.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He fell into step beside me when I whipped around another corner. His tone was light and humorous, as if taking pleasure in my irritation.
“Men who think they own every room they walk into. Who hide behind lies and are used to charming their way into anything they want with a nice smile and pretty words.”
“You think I have a nice smile?”
A quiet growl escaped me as I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. He quickened his pace and got in front of me, only to spin on his heel to face me. He walked backward as he laughed. “I mean you no harm, Empress. It’s just too easy to get under your skin.”
I sighed. “You're going to run into something.”
“I’ll take my chances. This is a better view, anyway.” When I glowered at him, his eyes crinkled into a smile. “See? Far too easy.”
My nose twitched, and I cursed my traitorous lips for trying to smile.
“What did you mean earlier, about men who hide behind lies?” he asked, his grin fading.
I stopped walking. “You said you would talk to Galen about all the dead sea creatures, but that didn’t happen.”
“Oh. That again.”
“Yes,that again. And today with the blight, you obviously weren’t being truthful. There’ssomethinggoing on.”
