“Too true.” The elf winked at me over his shoulder as he stopped at a doorway and opened the door for me, gallantly holding it ajar so I could step inside. “If you get nippish before I return, simply let the guards know. You may have whatever you ask for.”
“So kind,” I whispered against his ear as I brushed past him, grinning when another rosy blush stole over his cheeks from my heated breath on his flesh. I bit my bottom lip and slowly let it glide between my teeth while I ran my honey-brown gaze over his lithe, muscled body from head to toe, stopping in my tracks and casually placing my hands in my pockets. My voice was rough when I asked, “How long did you say I’m stuck here?”
His voice slipped down an octave, guttural and raspy, while he stared hard at my damp lips. “An hour at most. Enough for a debrief. Then I’ll be back.” He peeked up at me through his lashes and cast a roguish smirk in my direction—the kind that had the entire city of Gatlin Grove falling at his feet yesterday. “If you obey the rules while I’m gone, I’ll give you a special treat.”
My lips curved up at the edges, watching the elfflirtwith me for the first time—and try to connive his influence on my person.
Unfortunately for him, that shit didn’t work with me. I was far too jaded in life to fall for careless flirtations and whimsical manipulations. Instead, I preferred blunt tactics and raw lust—hard actions that didn’t need to be examined and explained later.
With a heavy sniff of the air to make sure no one else was nearby, I grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him against me so that our heat intermingled, smiling even bigger when his breath caught in surprise—the hunter becoming the hunted. Quite happy he’d permitted me to do this as I wished, I dipped my head down and caught his lips with mine, kissing him soundly and falling into his snowdrop scent.
I groaned softly against his lips and breathed, “I can’t promise I’ll behave, but I will be here when you get back, elf.”
The bastard chuckled and nipped my bottom lip with his fangs, staring up at me beneath the strands of his shiny, white hair. “Do try not to kill someone while I’m gone.” Then a carnal, teasing smirk gradually bowed his lips. “While it may be interesting, I’d hate to punish you later.”
My chuckle was intimate and throaty. “I’d like to see you try.”
“Hm.” Caspian took a slow step back, with his palms skimming down my chest until they fell away. “We may not like each other, shifter, but I do think we understand one another.”
“That we do.” I grinned full out, enjoying his honesty. “From one killer to another, I can say we unequivocally do.”
He smirked at my words, but he paused at the door, glancing back at me with a complicated mien, his white brows puckered in deep thought. The elf opened his mouth and asked quietly, “Do you think we will ever trust each other?”
I rubbed my lips together and stayed silent momentarily, honestly thinking his frank question through. It was an intricate question with just as many thorny answers.
In the quiet of the room, I eventually said softly, “As with most things, time cures most problems.”
Slowly, he nodded his head, his elven gaze locked on mine. “Then I do hope that day comes because this is a dangerous game we’ll be playing.”
I grunted and didn’t look away.
The elf and I were…unpredictable.
Problematic.
But a particular scent filtered through my nostrils, pulling me from my reverie. I jerked my chin toward the hallway behind him. “The guards are coming. I’ll see you in a bit.”
The chilly assassin smiled coldly before he shut the door quickly, off to take care of elven business, not needing to say more.
I turned in a progressive circle, evaluating my location and its setting, while the guards silently took a stance outside the gaming room door.
I didn’t bother with waiting and ruses to trick the royal guards, knowing my soul mate wouldnottake an hour in his meeting. I merely went to one of the windows and opened it, and then let my unique power flare, my eyes turning a solid ghastly white.
With invisibility cloaking my person, I slipped outside the window and put my nose into the air, carefully tracking the guards and servants roaming the stately grounds.
On silent feet, I moved to the barn stables, needing to nab an item from where I’d hidden it. The gifts I’d stolen from King Traevon and Minnie’s soul-mated anniversary were still coming in handy every time I had to spy on this location. It had been too easy at the time to thieve them when the Misfits gremlins had shown up at their celebration, pulling every royal’s attention—and the guards’—away from the revelry.
Was it brazen to steal precious gifts?
Who the fuck cared?
My king enjoyed screwing with the King of Elves. I still had no holy idea how King Traevon didn’t put two and two together since objects always disappeared when my king entered his castle. Either he didn’t notice, or hestilldidn’t understand shifters.
The elf king was far too old to be that stupid, though. Which then boggled the mind with worries about what he, himself, did in retaliation.
I…wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
I left the petty shit to the royals.
