Taking a deep breath, she took a step closer to Cethin. Then another. He’d stilled, watching her carefully. She was fairly certain he’d stopped breathing. She stopped right beside him, her breaths already shallow. Her heart was doing this weird thing in her chest she’d never experienced before, and this couldn’t possibly be what Razik meant.
“By Sargon, this is the most awkward thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Razik said tonelessly.
“Shut up, Greybane,” Cethin snapped.
Kailia had to agree with the sentiment.
“I’m going to see about sleeping arrangements. Leave you two to…figure out whatever this is,” he said, waving a hand at them before turning and stalking off.
She wanted to call after him because, for some reason, she found a weird sense of comfort in his presence. Nothing sensuous. She didn’t linger on him like she did Cethin, but she supposed she’d become accustomed to his presence after spending the last weeks with him every day.
Cethin had shifted on his feet, standing before her now, and she had to tip her head back to look up into his face.
“As much as I wish I did, I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, tiny fiend,” he said, slowly reaching for a lock of her hair.
“Razik suggested that I…practice getting used to touching you. For the Union Celebration,” she added hastily.
His eyes widened at the admission. “Why would he do that?”
Her brows crashed together. “Why would he offer a suggestion when I expressed trepidation over the event?”
Cethin’s features fell. “Why would you talk to him about that instead of me?”
“Because you are always off doing…king things.”
Despite stating simple facts, he clearly wasn’t impressed with them. “What, exactly, did Greybane suggest?”
“Starting with small touches,” she answered, smoothing her hands over her dress. Cethin had suggested a cloak before they left, and she was grateful for that now. The breeze from the inlet was cool, not to mention the dense fog. Everything felt damp and musty. But she much preferred cooler, even freezing, temperatures over stifling hot and humid ones.
“I’ve already been doing that,” Cethin replied. “Or trying to. Things seem to have…intensified since you were attacked in Shira Forest, so I’ve stopped.”
She nodded, averting her gaze because he wasn’t wrong. She was well aware of her shortcomings. She was also well aware of how those shortcomings could be manipulated.
“Maybe if you shared more detail as to why you have such an aversion to touch, we could address that and?—”
“That’s not necessary,” she interjected.
He nodded, that piercing silver gaze never leaving her. Finally, the hand fingering her hair pushed the locks back over her shoulder before pulling up the hood of her cloak. It was almost tender. Or it was tender? She didn’t know.
“Are there some places that are worse than others for touch?”
She hated this. Hated admitting to a weakness. Hated being so vulnerable. Especially with a male who she knew would take advantage of them to gain what he wanted.
Swallowing thickly, she admitted, “My stomach, but really it’s more…the prospect of being restrained. Held down.”
He nodded again, darkness flickering in those silver depths. “Not being able to defend or free yourself.”
She nodded, averting her gaze to where she spotted Razik coming out of a building. He whistled, waving them over, and Cethin gestured for her to go first, falling into step beside her. But he didn’t touch her, and shouldn’t he be? If that was what she’d said they needed to work on?
Razik pulled the door open when they reached him, and they stepped into a dimly lit room. Sconces held dripping candles that cast shadows across the stone floor. There were tables scattered throughout, with a bar running along one end. Far across the room, someone with a hood pulled up over their head was huddled over a table, a tankard between his gloved hands. Male,if she had to guess based on the build she could make out. If there were others here, they were hidden in the dark corners.
Razik led them to a corner booth on the opposite side of the room, the shadows here seeming to writhe. They weren’t the heavy inkiness of Cethin’s power. They felt more graceful and lithe, less chaotic.
Kailia slid in first, Cethin sliding in on her left.
“Ale good for everyone?” Razik asked, looking at her.
She nodded. It wasn’t her favorite, but from the looks of this place, she wasn’t sure there were many other options. She wasn’t sure they should be drinkinganythingfrom here.
