“Because she just came into the room,” Rivers said, and pointed.
Ellis followed his motion. There was Juliana, standing by the entryway to the great hall, hands clenched before her, cheap mask balanced on her exquisite face. She was looking around the room, just as she always did when she came here.
He ground his teeth in frustration. “She is, by far, the most stubborn wench I have ever had the pleasure of…”
He trailed off, for he’d had quite a few pleasures with her. Even now, aggravated as hell by her, he also couldn’t stop looking at her. Wanting to touch her, wanting to claim her.
“…the pleasure of knowing,” he finished with a shake of his head.
“Then your perfect match, it seems,” Marcus said, laughter thick in his voice. “Stubborn and stubborn.”
“She’snotmy perfect match,” Ellis said, sharper than he intended. “She’s a damned menace. You need to ban her.”
Rivers leaned back. “Banher? That’s a very serious action to take. For what reason?”
Ellis rolled his eyes. Damned Marcus would make him spell out every single thing he didn’t want to consider or feel. “As a personal favor to me. And to her, though she might argue that. No, shewouldargue that because she is, as aforementioned,stubborn.”
Marcus pressed his lips together. “Hmmm. Another personal favor. Is that three now?”
“Too many to count,” Ellis said softly. “But I’m still asking.”
“For her protection,” Rivers clarified.
“Yes.”
Rivers stroked his chin as if thinking. “Even though she keeps coming back. Looking for you.”
Ellis flinched. “Will you do it or not?”
“I will if it means that much,” Rivers said. “But I will ask a question before I have it done.” Ellis shrugged to get him to continue. Rivers met his gaze evenly. “Do youreallywant to walk away from this woman?”
Ellis shut his eyes. He could see Juliana perfectly, green gaze turned toward him, full lips slightly parted. He could see her arched back in pleasure. He could see her vulnerable with confession. He could see her shaking as he kissed her. He could smell her, he could taste her.
And all that amounted to nothing but trouble for them both.
“No,” he admitted softly as he looked at his friend. Rivers looked surprised at that answer but didn’t interrupt. “But my entire life has been about whatIwant, whatIneed. Now I must do what’s right for everyone else. Even if it hurts them.”
“I see,” Rivers said.
Ellis forced a half-smile, trying to find that Handsome persona that had always been his shield. “I know it’s not natural,” he said with a humorless laugh.
Rivers didn’t respond but walked to the door. He rang a bell, and soon his right-hand man, Paul Abbot, appeared at the door. The two spoke quietly in the entryway for a moment, heads close together. Ellis turned away from them and looked down over the crowd.
Juliana had come farther into the room, gliding through those around her, pausing to look at the powerful pleasures being shared. He marked what she stopped to see, learning what aroused her, even if he knew he’d never use that knowledge. He couldn’t. He had to keep reminding himself of that truth.
“It will be done,” Rivers said as he shut the door.
Ellis’s shoulders rolled forward, though he couldn’t have said if relief or defeat was more prevalent in his mind and body. He was doing the right thing. He was protecting Juliana because she was too upset and broken to protect herself.
But it didn’t feel very good to crush the one dream she had. To take away the need that drove her and kept the nightmares from catching up to her.
He turned away from her at the window and glared at Rivers. “Thank you. Now I need to go. I have quarry to hunt and I—” He broke off. “I just need to go.”
Rivers didn’t say anything, just stepped aside to clear a path for him to leave. As he passed by, his friend murmured, “Don’t throw away everything, friend. Please don’t.”
Ellis ignored him, pretended he didn’t hear as he moved down the stairs and around to the back exit where Juliana wouldn’t catch sight of him. No matter what Marcus thought, no matter what he wanted, he had nothing left to throw away.
Only his life. And that wasn’t worth anything anyway, except to trade for the safety of those he cared about.
