Maybe it truly was the moon making her this way, but Orelia wanted to ride the high the night had given her. “I felt you watching me dance with the pixie. You were very concerned for someone you say you don’t really care about.”
He took a few steps closer until he was right in front of her. “I was making sure he didn’t hurt you.”
“Because of the binding spell, or because you actually care about me?”
A slow smile spread across his face, accompanying a deep chuckle that made her press her legs together.
“Oh, little lamb. It’sbecauseI care that I know you couldn’t handle me. Can’t go breaking such a fragile little thing.”
She reached out and closed a hand around his throat. “I’m notfragile.”
Vade’s wicked smile grew. “Still feeling confident, I see.”
She glared up at him. “You’d make fun of me regardless. Whether I was timid and shy, or forward and cocky, so what does it matter? Knowing you disapprove of everything I do makes me not care anymore.”
Orelia squeezed his throat tighter, enjoying how he licked his lips in what appeared to be enjoyment.
“Is that so?” Vade asked, his perfect smile infuriating her.
In a flash she was up against the wall, his arms bracketing her head.
The orb floating behind him cast him in dangerous shadows. “Tell me then, what would a confident, self-assured woman like yourself do in this situation?”
She knew he was toying with her, but his gaze was scorching, pressuring her to explore the side of her that was tired of being reserved.
“I’d say that you think I can’t handle you, but you’re wrong. I could handle you just as well as any pleasure girl could.”
He chuckled. “If I bent you over and fucked you in this shithole, you’d never be able to walk out.”
Her chest heaved at the thought, brushing against his chest. “Is that what you do? You don’t even let the girls look at you?”
“I get in, do my business, and get out. I don’t need to look them in the eyes to get what I’m there for.”
“Detached. Why am I not surprised . . .”
Another arrogant chuckle.
Orelia looked at him.Reallylooked at him. Beneath the layers of bravado and endless stream of vitriol spewing out of his mouth,there was something else there. Something he kept buried deep in a place darker than his onyx eyes. Something that had hardened and calloused over time. A hurt she would never be able to heal. Her willingness to taunt him faded until sympathy took its place. Her desire to have him was replaced by bitter disappointment that he would never be capable of giving her what she wanted. Even for a night, no matter how much he taunted, he would never give any part of himself to her.
Vade gave her a strange look, his smile slipping.
Orelia placed her hand over his heart and he froze. Pity laced her words. “I feel sorry for you, Vade. You hold no joy in your heart.”
twenty-six
They had just finisheda lunch of venison and spring apples when Vade pulled the stone out of his pocket. He looked up at the sky and let loose a long ‘fuuuuuck.’
Horrified at her behavior on the dark moon, Orelia had spoken to him little since. She’d never been so openly brazen with anyone else. Even when they managed to make it out of the Greywood, she kept her distance and stayed quiet.
Vade acted like the night hadn’t happened, but he had offered her more of the apples and given her first pick of the deer. He walked in a circle and stopped when he was facing northeast. “We’ll have to make a detour. Good news is we can make it there today.”
“Where are we going?”
“Ravere. Figured that son of a bitch would be there,” he grumbled.
“Who?” Orelia popped her last apple slice into her mouth and started packing up her things.
“Egan Rivgarr.” Vade removed the ward, put out the fire, and slung his pack over his shoulders.
