Caspian’s starlight eyes are wide, smile venomous.I rescind the bargain.Did he just say those words? Words I’ve dreamed of, hoped for …
No. It will not work.
“Say it back,” Rosalina urges, breath heavy in her throat.
I grip Caspian’s slender wrist. “I rescind the bargain.”
Caspian’s smile deepens. Nothing happens. If anything, I only feel the thorns dig deeper into my skin.
“Wait.” Rosalina looks between us, “Why didn’t it work?”
“Not all bargains can be revoked by mutual agreement,” Caspian says, finally dropping my hand. “We worded our bargain so cleverly. If ever there is no love between us, let this bargain melt away like snow under rain. Unfortunately for the Winter Prince, he still loves me. It’s certainly not anything on my end.”
“I do not,” I snap at him. “You must hold some obsession with me yet.”
It’s a lie, of course. There’s a piece of him in my heart I cannot get rid of.
“You begged me to rescind it before,” Caspian says harshly, “but you must have always known it would never work. There’s only two ways for you to break your curse now, Winter Prince. You kill me or you trust me.”
My brash and beautiful mate wiggles on my lap, lips dipping to my neck. “He’s right. We can break the curse tonight. Take me. I won’t go far. I want you so badly.”
Her hips press down, tempting my already erect cock. Stars, if there isn’t anything I want more in this world than to slipinside of her, to let our love come together, release my magic …
But there are some things I want more than even that. To keep her safe.
“No,” I growl and lift her off of me. “The moment our lovemaking ended, you would become his thrall, and I wouldn’t be able to stop him from taking you Below. You’d be powerless to resist him, not in control of your mind or magic. Your only thought would belong to him until he releases you from the spell.”
Rosalina grimaces and smacks Caspian on his bare chest. “He wouldn’t do that. Tell Keldarion you won’t do that.”
Caspian looks to Rosalina, then me. “No, Keldarion,” he says deadpan. “I’ll happily sit here and watch you come into your full magic, then release your beautiful mate the moment she comes under my power.”
Rosalina huffs and falls to the bed in a heap. “You could at least try to sound convincing.”
Caspian just shakes his head. “He won’t believe me.”
That’s true at least. I can have him here. I can be in an uneasy alliance. But I will not trust him with what I treasure most in this world.
“Not yet at least,” I say, my own words surprising me. “Perhaps if you are true to your word and help us rescue the Queen, then we can arrange something.”
Caspian looks startled, then rises on his forearms to stare at me. “Are you sure, Keldarion? Being present for your first time having sex in twenty-five years, that’s quite the occasion.”
I grab his jaw, thumb caressing his full lips. “Thought you’d want to be there, figuring you were there the last time.”
He flushes, breaking away from me and running a hand through his hair.
Rosalina lets out a long sigh. “So, what I’m hearing is I’m not sleeping with anyone.” She pulls the blankets up around herself in a dramatic display.
I exchange a glance with Caspian, and something electric passes between us, something even I don’t have the power to resist. We both turn toward Rosalina.
“Here’s how it’s going to work,” I say, and she pokes her head out from under the covers. “We can touch you, but you must be a good girl and not touch us, all right?”
Her small intake of air is the only answer.
Caspian crawls toward her, but I grip his arm, hard. “If I get any sense you’re trying to manipulate our bargain for your own agenda, you will not be welcome back.”
“I promise. Use me however you want,” he pleads. “Just please, don’t ask me to leave.”
CHAPTER 33
