I was immediately affronted.
“It’s notlaughable,” I said bitterly.
Draw continued to laugh. “What an absolutely stupid idea,” he wheezed.
Okay, that was a bit far.
“I have a mission,” I reminded him hotly. “And like it or not, one of the key players is as cooperative as a cat. Ironclaw listens only to the women he’s interested in, and then only if they play him carefully. You know it’s true.”
“Dottie.” He was still chuckling. “When it comes to Ironclaw, I don’t want to know exactly what you’ve read in your books, but I have a good idea. What made you think you could do all that?”
“Wha—” I was blushing in the darkness. I knew it.
Draw’s voice flowed like honey, only too happy to dismantle my plans. “I saw you by the stream with those big eyes. He’s never going to fall for it. Ironclaw might be dense, but he has a certain propensity for spotting lies. He’s always been very distrustful, even when we were kids.”
This was not going the way I thought. I had expected Draw to agree I had to do what I had to do for the good of the queendom, not pity my attempts at flirting.
“What else am I supposed to do?” I burst, then dropped my voice, ashamed at the wobble in it. “I have to solve the war and keep everyone safe.”
“Dottie,” he said slightly calmer, “everyone is not your responsibility. Trust me, I’ve been playing this game since I was fourteen and we do what we can, but it’s no one person’s responsibility. Not even you with your deep reading of Ironclaw’s romances.” He burst out laughing again, but it was softer this time and he maneuvered himself on the step to lay his hand tentatively on my wrist.
It was weird. I’d had the afternoon to sit with the idea Ironclaw was going to come to my tent that night. He wasn’t a man to turn down opportunity. If I welcomed him to my little straw pallet, I had no doubt he’d set me on his lap, put a hand between my legs, and leave in the morning with whatever new intel existed. Those moments were key scenes in every book in the series.
While the thought of that once would have inspired many tingles, I’d spent enough time in Ironclaw’s company to know I didn’t really want him.
After kissing Draw in his chambers—I finally had an idea of what real desire felt like.
Draw spoke again, now confident he could coax me out of the idea. “And the queen, you had better be prepared—”
“Yeah,” I finally agreed, “it’s not going to work.”
“I will help you,” he insisted. His fingers traced my wrist. “I’ll help you regardless of what our station is with each other. I want to be clear though, even though your wooing may not work on Ironclaw, you should know by now, it quite well works on me.” His voice had dropped, husky.
I leaned into him, the faint light of the night enough to show me where to place my mouth. Draw didn’t freeze in surprise, only melted toward me as if he expected this would come.
I couldn’t stay with Draw forever, but why would I punish myself for the time I had with him?
He groaned softly and ran his hand up my arm, the other finding my knee. My own went to his sides. I felt a little uncoordinated on the steps, not knowing how to get close to him, but his mouth stayed trained on me, even as we made our way together, bit by bit.
Our kiss broke and his fingers ran up the nape of my neck.
I wondered when the crowd would be breaking from the queen’s speech, how long we had—
My thoughts stopped as Draw’s mouth went to my neck, parting over the smoothness. I breathed out, a wet and eager sound.
Then he was lifting me, scooping me onto his lap, my legs to one side. My dress hitched slightly and he placed a hand on my calf. I hadn’t shaved since I got to Landsome, but then realized he wouldn’t expect me to have clean-shaven legs. His fingers traced back to my thigh, but now they were under my dress.
I felt a throb at the thought of letting him climb higher.
“Is this okay?” he breathed.
“Yes. Well”—I pulled back slightly—“Ironclaw is going to expect me at my tent. I said I’d tell him more about his sister, but I don’t have any new information to give him.”
“Dear Dottie, another man might wonder at your insistence at mentioning his cousin at every turn, but fortunately, the state of your dress is reassuring me.” His fingers pressed gently into the soft of my thigh. “Ironclaw probably has plans to chase a boar through the woods; he doesn’t exactly keep to meeting times.” He kissed me quickly. “I’ll help you with the finer details of your strategy when the sun is upon us once more. For now...”
There was something about the confident way he talked. His claim to take care of me.
I twisted my body and settled my legs on either side of him, my knees making contact with the stone steps until he repositioned us. I was fully on his lap with my legs around him.
