“What?” I whispered. “But I don't...”
“Who gives a shit?” Hugo interrupted me. “That's not the fucking point. Drostan knows that you don't know what it means; he didn't take it like that. But on an instinctual level, it will affect him. Those traditions are there for a reason. It's common sense, really. You do something debt-worthy for someone and then refuse payment; who does that? Only people who—”
“Love each other,” I whispered.
“Yep!” He smiled widely.
“Why is that a good thing?”
“Idiot girl,” Hugo rolled his eyes. “Half of getting a man to treasure you comes from making them believe that you value them. But Drostan brought you here as a slave. He would never have believed your declarations of love, had you flat out told him. Any offer of affection from you would be suspect for years. It would have taken precious time for you to prove yourself to him. But now—”
“He has instant proof,” I said. “He'll believe that I care about him.”
“That's right, honey,” Hugo said proudly. “And you don't even have to say the words. Heck, at this point, you could swear that you hate him, and he wouldn't believe you.”
“Good to know.” I laughed.
“Oh! Gotta go!” Hugo shimmied up the bed frame and disappeared just as the bedroom door opened.
Drostan looked grimly satisfied, but Conall looked disturbed. The Seelie knight glanced at me as he left, and the look he gave me left me feeling just as unsettled as he had appeared. Drostan shut the inner door and lowered a bar across it.
“Not that this will keep out serious magic-users,” Drostan said as he turned toward me. “But it will at least give us some warning.”
Drostan came back to bed and shrugged out of his robe. I laid down beside him, and let him draw me into the curve of his side. My palm slipped over his chest automatically, and Drostan sighed deeply.
“I knew you were meant to be mine, Riley,” Drostan whispered. “And now my instincts have been proven true.”
I smiled against his skin and drifted off to sleep with a deep sense of satisfaction. My world had just become a little more stable. If only I weren't starting to believe that I was meant to be there too.
Chapter Fifteen
I awoke on the back of a horse.
Yes; it was very confusing. I blinked around myself in shock; taking in the forest as it passed by, and processing the jostling of the animal beneath me. I was naked; wrapped only in a blanket. Strong arms held me in place, and a muscular back was pressed against me. It wasn't Drostan; this man was a little smaller than my fairy king.
And when the fuck had I started thinking of Drostan as mine?
I turned around and saw Conall. He smiled sensually at me.
“What the fuck is going on?” I nearly screeched.
I startled the horse, and Conall had to calm it before he could answer me.
“Do you want to kill us both?” He growled. “Control yourself!”
“Why am I here?” I snapped.
“You've frightened our friend, the King,” Conall said with a huff. “He's having feelings for you that he knows will weaken him, and so he asked me to take you for awhile; long enough to let his feelings fade.”
“What?!” I shouted.
The horse reared again, and Conall cursed as he settled it.
“Damn it all! Be still; do not take out your dismay on the horse,” Conall snarled as he turned me around to face him. “If you require proof, I'll give it to you.”
Conall pulled a fine transparent chain from his pocket, and my eyes widened.
“Yes; Drostan gave me the shiver chains,” Conall purred. “I won't force them on you, but you need to accept that I'm your master for now.”
