Let them call me ruthless. I’d be worse than that for her.
“I don’t want the other warriors thinking I can’t handle things on my own.”
“I don’t care what they think.” I leaned in until my forehead touched hers. “I care that the next time someone looks at you withthat kind of intent, he doesn’t live long enough to think twice about it.”
If she told me to stop, I would.
If she told me she was mine, I’d never let her go.
We stared at each other, her breath ghosting across my mouth. Awareness crackled between us, half full of challenge, half weighted with something I couldn’t name without giving too much away.
Finally, she eased back against my chest, her eyes sliding shut again.
“You’re impossible,” she said in a limp tone that wouldn’t last long. My strong-willed minx would be back soon, and I was so grateful, I was tempted to drop to my knees and thank the fates for the gift they’d given me.
“So I’ve been told.” I tucked the blanket higher around her shoulders, letting my hand linger there. “Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake again.”
“You can’t hold me in your arms forever.”
I bent to her ear, my voice rasping out. “Watch me.”
Every kingdom had a crown jewel. She was mine.
Her face lifted enough for me to see the slight, upward curve of her mouth before she drifted off to sleep again.
I held her tighter, my thoughts dark and churning. She could insist she’d handle Maddox herself all she wanted. I’d let her think that. But I was already planning how to make him regret the moment he’d decided to touch her wine.
Time passed.
Finally, the door creaked open, and Meren stepped inside, an assistant at her heels. She paused, taking in me in the chair, with Isi in my lap. “We’ll need to move her to the bed so I can examine her properly.”
I didn’t like the idea of putting her down, but I stood and carried her the short distance to the bed, where I laid her down slowly, keeping my hands on her for a breath longer than anyone but me would find necessary.
Her eyes, still heavy-lidded, tracked my face.
“Mmm, Trew,” she murmured, the corner of her mouth tugging faintly upward again.
“Don’t start.” I told her as I tucked the blanket around her.
“Didn’t say anything.” Her voice was little more than a scratch, but the spark in it loosened something in my chest.
I eased back enough to let Meren and her assistant in, my hand tightening on the bedrail.
Meren pressed her palm a breath above Isi’s chest, magic flickering between them as she examined her patient.
“Her pulse is strong,” she said. “Her color’s returning nicely.” She tilted her head at me. “Your Majesty… Perhaps you might take this opportunity to bathe, change into clean clothes, and comb your hair.” Her gaze slid over me, lingering on my crumpled tunic. “And present yourself to the court as a king again.”
“I’m not leaving her,” I growled.
Meren’s brows rose, and while her tone remained polite, amusement edged in. “Do you plan to remain by her side while we help her bathe?”
The image slammed into my mind. Steam curling over her bare shoulders, the line of her neck, her hair slick and dripping down her back. I’d seen her wet and naked after her bath, and I’d thought about that image too often.
One day…
My hands curled at my sides. I’d kill for the right to be the one to bathe her, to see every inch of her warm and safe under my hands. But despite my every bone insisting she belonged to me, I knew the truth. Before she was mine in any sense, she was her own.
Isi shifted on the pillows, her lashes lifting enough for me to see her pale blue eyes glinting with mischief. She flicked her fingers toward the door. “Go. You need to wash.”
