Tarn steepled his fingers. “You’re deflecting.”
“And you’re prying,” Dyna replied sharply. She didn’t owe him any answers to her private life. “Did I come here for an interrogation? If so, drop me off at the next port.”
“Testy.” His fingers slowly drummed on the table in a pensive rhythm. “I was merely curious. I find my mind is full of … questions.”
Tarn’s eyes caught the sunlight from the windows, turning them icy white. Dyna held still as she waited for his next question. For his next demand. But what he asked next was the last thing she expected.
“Why didn’t you take my hand?” It took her a moment to understand Tarn referred to the first time he asked her to join him.
Dyna swallowed before she could make herself answer. “I did,” she admitted faintly. “Want...to take it.”
The truth rune that had been burned on the wall lit up the cabin, bathing the edges of his face in blue. The ship creaked on the waves as neither of them moved. It was the only sound in the silence that took up all the space between them.
Dyna reached into her cloak, but he snatched her wrist. “So fearful I will betray you?”
“The only people who can betray you are those you trust.” Tarn’s gaze darkened, and the intensity behind his stare sent her pulse racing. “I trust no one.”
“Then don’t expect me to trust you.”
They fell quiet again as they measured each other. He pulled her hand out of her cloak, revealing the red apple in her grasp. Dyna arched her brow pointedly, and he released her.
Leaning back in his seat, Tarn crossed one leg over the other. “Tell me this: why did you contact me with your water mirror? I will suffer no lies from you, Dyna.”
He wouldn’t trust her, nor believe her without the truth.
Dyna took a bite of the apple to buy some time. She had to tell him that much. Suddenly, her chair felt too uncomfortable. Getting up from the table, she wandered the cabin, stopping to examine the artifacts on his desk with false interest. “At first, I contacted you out of spite. Speaking to you …” She worked her jaw. “It felt like revenge.”
“Against who?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Dyna said coolly as she faced him. “I’m here now. Is that not what you wanted?”
“Better question is, whynow?” Tarn asked, watching her intently. “You had your chance to join me before, and you did all you could to escape,including taking a life. I am no fool. Over these past winter months, something changed. In you or your situation. Therefore, I will hear your intentions plainly.Whatdo youwant?”
His head on a spike.
His boat.
His resources.
Him—out of her way.
But Dyna couldn’t lie here without giving herself away. The longer she was silent, the more her heart raced. Tarn rose and prowled forward. She walked backward as he approached until her back was against the wall.
Tarn stood inches before her, forcing her to meet his icy eyes. His substantial height made her feel small. “Why are you here, Maiden?”
He demanded an answer. There would be no way around it. She had to lie.
But the only way to lie in front of the truth rune was without words.
Dyna rested her palms on his chest, holding his gaze. His white brows furrowed. “I’m no longer a maiden,” she whispered.
Then Dyna stood on her toes and kissed him.
It was like pressing her lips to cold marble. He was stiff and unmoving. She felt his shock, but Tarn’s moment of hesitation lasted only a second. His arms wrapped around her and his mouth invaded hers. Dyna closed her eyes and pretended. She imagined who she wanted it to be, but it was impossible. Cassiel was a gentle kisser.
Tarn was not.
Kissing him was demolishing. Bruising. Immobilizing. He pinned her to the wall, consuming her air. There was no love behind the kiss. Only a heated attraction fueled by something that felt like possession. Perhaps Dyna had been lying to herself. It wasn’t only out of spite or anger. Her body was starved for touch, and some part of her needed to feel wanted.
