Elias stopped. “What’s wrong?”
Gerard glanced back towards the banquet hall. “You and Luther. Did you ever …”
Elias laughed, shaking his head. “No! Never. But he did lead Onyx to believe that we’d had sex.”
Gerard frowned. “What? Why would he do that?”
Elias rolled his eyes. “You’d have to ask your brother. I don’t know how Luther’s mind works. But my guess is to make Onyx jealous.”
Gerard nodded. “That would make sense. Luther did used to enjoy annoying Onyx a great deal.”
“And it definitely annoyed him. Onyx used to glare at me like I’d … well, like I’d fucked his husband. But Luther must have told him the truth, because he doesn’t glare at me anymore.”
“But what was that thing he mentioned?” Gerard asked. “The comment about your magic.”
“Oh. That. I told him that although my magic is rather weak, the sparkles can be fun in the bedroom.” The wordweaktasted like ash on his tongue.
Elias had never minded lying to others about his powers before. The only person he’d ever wanted to tell the truth to was his father. And he’d been right to keep that secret. But continuously lying to Gerard rankled.
“Really?”
Elias winked. “I’ll show you tonight.”
They walked the rest of the way to the Draconianquarters. Four Draconian guards saluted. Two of them opened the doors as one.
“Well-trained guards,” Elias murmured.
And as they entered the quarters, he noticed several more on duty, standing down the corridor. In fact, he’d noticed guards constantly trailing after several of the royal family, especially the king and queen consort. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you didn’t trust the warrior monks to protect you.”
“We must be careful. Especially at present.” Gerard fixed Elias with a firm gaze. “In fact, I would like to provide you with your own personal Draconian guard to escort you when you leave our quarters.”
“You don’t have any following you around,” Elias pointed out.
“I can defend myself. I’m a dragon, and I’ve also been trained in hand-to-hand combat,” Gerard said. “But you are lacking in any ability. If you were attacked, you would be unable to protect yourself.”
It wasn’t meant to be an insult. Gerard said the words so matter of fact. Because to Gerard they were. After all, how many times had Elias practically boasted about his lack of magical ability?
When Elias didn’t respond, Gerard took his hand and squeezed. “We are yet to determine who Warden Flint worked with. I would not want you hurt or killed.”
Elias lowered his gaze to hide his face. He swallowed. The thing was, hecoulddefend himself! He just couldn’t tell Gerard that.
“Fine,” Elias said.
Gerard let out a breath, and they continued to walk.
A guard stood by the door. Gerard slipped a key into the lock and turned it. “Only myself and one of our trustedservants has a key to my room. I’ll provide you with one too.” They entered.
“So this is your room?” Elias asked.
Gerard nodded.
There was a seating area with some chairs, a large table, a dresser, a bathtub, and several cupboards. Candles flickered. A bottle of wine and glasses sat on the table along with a platter of food. But what most captured Elias’s attention was the large four-poster canopy bed.
“Nice.” Elias strode straight towards the bed. He glanced at Gerard. “Whatever should we get up to now?” He pulled out hairpins and placed them on furniture as he passed. He dropped his clothes and boots onto the floor.
All the while, Gerard watched him silently.
Elias turned and sat on the bed, completely naked now. He tilted his head up.
