“So. How good did you get her?”
Audrey laughed and immediately winced when her ribs screamed in protest.
“Good enough that no one in this horde better think I’m some damsel who can’t take care of herself.”
He leaned down and kissed her.
“I never thought you were,” he said. “Not from the moment I met you.”
Audrey cupped his face with her hands.
“Can I ask you something?”
“All right.”
“The skull. You wore it every second up until yesterday, and now you’re not wearing it at all. What changed?”
Morgath sat on the edge of the table beside her, his weight making the wood creak.
“The Kharadan was a beast from my home world,” he said. “Near mythical. Enormous. Full of arcane energy. Legend said its power could only be claimed by a warrior who defeated it in a pure test of strength. No weapons, no magic. Just your body against the beast.”
“And you did that?”
“I was young and stupid, and wanted to prove I was more. Kind of like you today.” He smiled. “I killed the Kharadan with my bare hands. The skull became my magical focus. It amplifies everything I do, lets me channel power I couldn’t reach otherwise.”
“So why did you stop wearing it around me?”
He was quiet for a moment.
“The skull makes me feel safe. And around you, my heart didn’t feel safe. So, I hid behind it.”
Audrey hadn’t expected that. She’d asked a simple question about a helmet and gotten an answer that made her chest ache in a way she didn’t want to examine.
He continued before she could figure out what to say.
“I wear it when I hunt or patrol, when I’m away from town. But there haven’t been real battles in years. Peace has lasted long enough that I don’t need it the way I used to.”
“I like seeing your face,” she said. “Don’t wear it when you’re with me.”
He took her hand and pressed his lips to her palm.
“As you wish, my mate.”
Mate. Audrey swallowed hard and stared at the ceiling. This was bad.
Chapter Nineteen
That night, Audrey slept in Morgath’s bed. They didn’t do anything, because she was bandaged all over. Even though her wounds were healing fast from all the medicine he’d given her, she pretended they still hurt. The truth was she wasn’t in pain anymore, but she needed the distance between them, needed the excuse not to be close to him in that way.
She felt like they were too close already, like something had shifted. This didn’t feel like lust anymore, like a simple physical attraction she could control and dismiss. He seemed to have feelings for her, real feelings that showed in the way he looked at her, touched her, and spoke to her. She didn’t know how she felt toward him, but she knew one thing with absolute certainty: she couldn’t feed his feelings, couldn’t let him believe there was something real between them.
She lay awake in the dark while Morgath’s arm draped over her waist. His breathing was slow and steady, and she listened to the rhythm of it while her mind worked through her next steps.
An idea came to her. She wondered if one of the keys on his key ring opened the trunk. She didn’t know what she’d find in it, but it was worth a look.
Audrey poked Morgath’s shoulder until he stirred, then poked him again harder. He groaned and shifted, his eyes opening.
She used her most whiny, sweet voice.
