“Fair enough,” I conceded and turned to face him. “I like this view a lot better.”
He smiled before leaning in to kiss me, and we were just settling in for a nice, long, make-out session when someone knocked on the door.
“Enter,” Raza called over his shoulder, then went back to kissing me.
Tiernan cleared his throat. Raza shifted his head down and over in a menacing arc, bringing it up to fasten his eyes on Tiernan. Tiernan lifted his chin and an eyebrow. Raza growled. Tiernan crossed his arms. Raza went back to kissing me. If he wasn't such a damn good kisser, I would have stopped him sooner. As it was, I let it go on until Tiernan spoke.
“As much as I can appreciate how distracting Princess Seren can be,” Tiernan drawled. “We need the both of you downstairs.”
“Raza,” I pushed him away. “Come on.”
Raza heaved a deep sigh and reformed his wings. Tiernan's eyes widened. I don't think he'd noticed that Raza's wings were missing until they had returned. Tiernan gave me a look and I shrugged. I had figured that Tiernan would already know what Raza was capable of, but then again, dragon-djinn were rare, and Tiernan didn't know everything about every fairy. That would be like me knowing everything about every race of human. Just impossible... wait a minute. So why was I studying all the fey races so hard? Oh, right, fairies had magic, which made knowing about them important if you were going to deal with them. And my ambassadorial status nearly guaranteed that I would deal with most types of fey eventually.
“When did you arrive?” I asked Tiernan.
“Just now,” Tiernan said. “Your father sent me with the Star's Guard. He didn't like you being here without them... and we weren't too happy about being left behind.”
“I didn't think I'd be here so long,” I admitted.
“The Princess is perfectly safe with me alone guarding her,” Raza's golden eyes flashed within his sin-black face.
“She has us for a reason,” Tiernan said calmly, surprising both Raza and I. “You have a kingdom to look after, and that's a huge distraction. Whereas we are focused entirely on Seren. Wouldn't you prefer her to be protected to the best extent possible?”
“I would,” Raza sighed and held his arm out to me. “Tiernan's right, you shouldn't leave your Guard behind again.”
“This is bizarre,” I whispered as I took Raza's hand. “First you get along with Killian, and now Tiernan.”
“You got along with Killian?” Tiernan asked with surprise and just a little horror.
“I tolerated him for an evening,” Raza shrugged.
Tiernan gave me a weighted look. I shook my head. He nodded.
“Are you two quite finished with your secret conversation?” Raza asked as he led me out.
“Queen Daiyu is asking for Killian,” Tiernan followed after us. “Any idea why?”
Raza and I started laughing.
“Ah, I see,” Tiernan smirked as he stepped up alongside us. “The snake has charmed the dragon.”
“Not on purpose,” I chuckled.
“What would she do if she knew Killian's heart already belonged to you?” Tiernan asked me.
Raza and I both looked at him with blank expressions.
“Are the both of you seriously expecting me to believe that you didn't know of Killian's affections?” Tiernan rolled his stunning silver eyes.
“I knew,” I whispered.
Raza's gaze darted to mine.
“You knew it too,” I gave Raza a look. “Don't act like you didn't.”
“I knew he was interested in you,” Raza conceded. “I didn't know the extent, nor did I realize thatyouwere aware of it.”
“Anyone with a pair of eyes is aware of it,” Tiernan saved me. “The boy is love-struck. He looks at her like a puppy. Like Cat did when she first bonded to Seren.”
