I reeled away from him, nearly yanking the hair from my head in my determination to put distance between us.
“No,” I said. “I will never willingly give my body to you again.” Did he truly think I’d do so to repay his cursed favor?
“I wouldn’t ask for that,” he said softly, though with our location and his threads, he had no reason not to speak in a normal tone.
Ah, I understood why he used such a sweet voice. He saw me as a feral creature who needed a soft hand to tame her. I guessed hehadlistened when I talked about how I trained beasts.
“When you come to my bed again,” he growled, “it will be because you want me. Because you crave my touch. Because you still love me.”
“Never again.” I jerked up my chin. “I owe you a favor, not my soul. Name it or go away.”
“Work with me until this is over.”
“I assume you mean until I kill the king, but define what working with you means.”
“I’ll continue to train you.”
My blink was acknowledgement, not agreement. It took spoken words to lock in anything with one of the fae.
“You’ll behave,” he said.
I’d only behave if it fit with my agenda.
“Do as I ask without question,” he said.
“I ask when I need answers.”
He jerked out a nod. “Do as I ask when the king or anyone else is around—without question.”
“Is that all?”
“You’ll listen to me now while I explain. I can fix this. I promise.”
Was this where he’d pretend to grovel?
“I’m not that good in bed,” I pointed out.
His lips curled up but only briefly. “There will never be anyone else for me but you.”
My eyes stung all over again, proving the floodgates were still wide open and gushing with my pain. I wasn’t sure there was enough water in the world to cleanse me of this man’s touch. “Don’t do this.”
“I need to explain. You need to listen.”
“You want me to trust you again,” I croaked. “I never will.”
“Have I lost you completely?”
I wanted to shout yes, but that blink in the throne room . . .
Was this another trick?
“This isn’t over yet,” he said.
“I’ll agree with you on that statement, assuming you didn’t lie when you told me you were determined to do whatever you had to to kill the king.”
His hand rose to his scars, and I wanted to snap at him for reminding me that he’d suffered as much from Ivenrail as me.
Could I form a truce with this wicked fae lord?
