“It’s just fucking,” she retorted flatly, the smoke in her eyes swirling faster once again.
“Fucking is not what I’m speaking of, Kailia. Although, I still question your experience with that too,” he said, the words fanning across her lips as he leaned in a bit more. “Lovers know each other intimately. They can predict each other’s reactions and understand the other’s emotions with a simple look. They share secrets that no one else knows. They steal glances and moments, appearing as if lost to their own world.”
She didn’t move, and he could swear his words weren’t having any effect on her. There was no throat bobbing with a swallow. No hitched breath. No shifting on her feet or averting her gaze.
“But the physical is just as important,” he added, releasing her hair. He let a ribbon of his darkness appear, tangling with the tendrils of smoke still lingering around her. That was when the small gasp fell from her lips. And fucking Fates, he hadn’t expected to feel that sound all the way down to his cock, but there it was. Twitching behind his pants as his blood heated and something primal lifted its head in his soul.
“Lovers create excuses for small touches in public because they are craving to be behind closed doors. Because they know each other’s bodies as well as they know their emotions and thoughts,” he continued, the words low and sensual. Slowly, he lifted his hand, using the tip of his finger to lift her chin. The barest of touches that she still visibly winced at, clearly wantingto pull away. “That’s how convincing we need to be, Kailia, and the way to become that familiar with each other is to have godsdamn conversations.Thatis why I don’t believe you have any experience with lovers.”
“Perhaps you should have thought of all that before you forced me into a bargain to be your wife,” she retorted, shoving his hand away and breaking the small amount of contact.
“Perhapsyoushould have thought of all that before agreeing to be my wife,” he bit back.
She tsked, her ashes vibrating as more smoke found its way to her, undulating around her feet and torso. “The options were a union or a death trial. That’s not much of a choice.”
“But a choice you made nevertheless,” he said. “You were angry I didn’t prepare you enough, but have you thought that maybe that’s because you avoid me instead of having conversations?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Exactly, but instead—” He paused, realizing she’d actually agreed with him instead of arguing. “Wait, youhave? If you’re in agreement, then why are we having this argument?”
“I…don’t have an answer for that,” she admitted.
By the gods. This seemed more and more hopeless the longer this conversation went on, and it made him that much more intrigued. And yes, he recognized how fucked up that was, but this was the most engaged he’d been in something in a long time. Sure, there were the attacks and trying to figure out the Wards, but this was something that was only his. A mystery that was a break from the monotony and duty of his crown. Someone who appeared not to care about that crown or what it made him in the slightest. He didn’t understand this ridiculous argument or her, but he understood it made him feel alive. More alive than he’d felt in decades, perhaps centuries. He understood he was a bastard for pulling her into this for his own entertainment, andhe even understood he was a bigger dick for using his title and threats to keep her here.
Worst of all, he didn’t care because she was a distraction from…well, everything really.She’d become a vice he craved as much as a drunk craved liquor to drown his sorrows.
He rubbed his brow as he studied her. Her in complete stillness aside from her power. Her with her magic and those swirling eyes that were fixed on him that suddenly made him feel a bit like prey, especially knowing she’d been watching him from her smoke for months. Her with her midnight hair and that godsdamn nightdress that clung to her curves.
Fuck.
With a sigh, he moved back to the sofa and picked up his teacup, the liquid lukewarm now. “Sit, Kailia. Tell me why you appeared apprehensive when you emerged.”
“I was fine,” she answered, cautiously moving closer and perching on the edge of the sofa cushion. Again, she glanced at her forearm, running her fingers over her skin.
“You were not fine. You were skittish and trembling like a youngling convinced they saw a Night Child.”
“It was not that bad,” she protested.
He smirked. “But you admit you were trembling?”
“I…” She paused, and he watched her think about how to respond before she said, “I simply woke up in a strange space. I’m not accustomed to the surroundings, and I’ve had unfavorable experiences when waking up in unfamiliar places with no one that I know around.”
He nodded. That was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
“Was that so hard to share?” he asked.
“Yes,” she retorted. “And you don’t need to be condescending about it.”
He huffed a laugh. “My apologies, your Highness.”
“That was the same mocking tone, and it makes your apology insincere,” she snapped. “Anyway, we don’t need to do this.”
“Do what?” he asked, angling his body more towards her and propping his arm on the back of the sofa, his temple resting on his fist.
“Get to know each other.”
His brows crashed together. “I thought we established several reasons for why we needed to get to know each other.”
