I reach out, grabbing her arm and halting her progress. She turns toward me, opening her mouth but I don’t give her the chance to get out a sharp retort. “I hope so.”
“Because you have given meso manyreasons to trust you,” she says, finally getting her retort out.
“I gave you my word.”
“Something worth its weight in gold, I’m sure.” Her tone drips with sarcasm. She pulls her arm out of my hold, looking like she is going to start going, but I put my arm against the wall blocking her path and successfully trapping her between it and me.
I don’t care what she thinks of me, but she must know that I won’t let anything happen to her. I want her to know that no matter what, she’s safe around me.
She clenches her jaw but finally meets my gaze. I swallow hard as I hastily explain what I should have back in the library. “This whole dinner is because Morozov feels off-balance. He wants to exert control over me by forcing you to come. All we have to do is show up, play submissive, and let him have his power trip. It isn’t about you at all, it’s about controlling me.”
“And whose idea was it to involve me by making him think he could control you through me?” she asks arching one of her perfect brows. “It was such a ridiculous notion that it’s no wonder Morozov has a hard time accepting it.”
“It’s not so far-fetched as you make it out to be,” I whisper, my eyes dropping to her lips.
She rolls her eyes. “Who are you trying to fool here, Wilder? We’re alone.”
I’m not sure what possesses me, the spirit of a demigod? But I find myself saying, “Good,” and leaning forward. For the second time in my life, I kiss Bronwyn the Eel.
I’ll be honest, I think the second time is more surprising than the first.
Last time, I kissed Bronwyn to save her life. This time? Well, this time I have no good reason. Honestly, I just wanted to, and her lips were right there and were so kissable.
I’m so surprised that when Bronwyn shoves me away, I am caught off guard and stumble back. Bumping the wall across the hall.
“What the jetting Skyhold was that?” she screeches, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
I reach up, rubbing the back of my neck. Indeed, whatwasthat?
“I, uh, that was just practice,” I say, trying my hardest to school my face. I don’t know what I’m currently feeling right now, but I don’t want it playing across my face. Bronwyn is tooclever; she would figure it out before I even have a chance to know myself.
Bronwyn glares up at me, her eyes sparking. She raises a finger, pointing it in my face. “We may be in a fake relationship, but this is crossing a line, Zubkov. You keep your kisses for show and only as a last resort. No more kissing in private.”
I feel my eyebrows shoot up. No more kissing in private? Well, that’s not so bad. It just means that I have to kiss her in public.
Chapter Nineteen
Bronwyn
The kiss has played havoc on my ability to focus. My lips are still tingling and my heart races anytime I think of it.
I try not to dwell on the smirk that played across Wilder’s face when I told him not to kiss me in private anymore. I know that he can easily work around that, he’ll just kiss me in public. I could see in his eyes that was what he was thinking.
But I made that rule not so that he would stop kissing me. No, I made it to protect myself.
If he kisses me in public then I know it’s all just a show, a part of our fake engagement. But when he pins me against the wall in a secluded hallway, looks me deeply in the eyes and then kisses me there, where there are no witnesses, what am I supposed to think?
That it was just practice?
Probably.
But it didn’t feel like just practice to me. To me, it feltreal.
Which is very, very dangerous because I am in no position to mistake reality for illusion. I don’t like it when he looks at melike that because it makes me think that he might actually care. And with that thought I’m only setting myself up for heartache.
The last thing Wilder Zubkov will ever do is care about me.
I have very little time to compose myself before we are entering Professor Morozov’s office. I run my clammy hands down my skirts as I glance around, taking it in. It looks very different from earlier this week, his desk has been shoved to the side and a long wooden table has been moved in with high backed chairs set up, two on each side.
