“What? Lukas is here?”
Seraphina chuckled again. “Yourotherfiancé.”
Any flicker of hope in my heart was immediately snuffed out by her tinkling laughter and the sound of dry leaves being crunched under someone’s boots behind me.
“Hello again, little human.”
CHAPTER 38
My heart stilled as the scent of wildflowers hit my nose.
“I hope you have a good explanation for why my betrothed is standing in the middle of a goblin camp. Or did you bring her here just to torment me,dear sister?” The deep voice spoke again, his tone heavy with warning. “Surely you can tell you’ve frightened her. She’s trembling.”
An arm slipped around my waist and pulled me tightly towards a familiar, hard chest, the motion doing absolutely nothing to steady my shaking limbs. Glancing up, my eyes caught on Arenn’s sharp jawline. I wanted to feel angry, but the heat of his body pressed against mine only stirred up memories of last night.
My cheeks warmed. Thankfully, that wasstilljust a dream. Nothing more.
“You should stop with the dramatic entrances, then maybeshe wouldn’t tremble so much,” Seraphina sneered. “Though I can assure you, brother, I had nothing to do with her being here,” she carried on nonchalantly, as if I wasn’t standing right between them. “Apparently, she came here to help the Prince of Drothmore. And you can see by casting a look at the state of my poor goblins that she had more of an effect than he did – or the twenty or so soldiers he brought with him, if you could even call them that,” she scoffed.
“Naughty little human,” Arenn tutted with a playful grin. He tilted his chin down towards me, running a hand along my cheek. “Close your eyes now. Let me take you away from here.”
My stomach dipped. Finding some courage, I yanked myself out of his grasp and whirled around to face him. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I stated boldly.
Seraphina shook with laughter. “So much for a chivalrous rescue!”
Beneath his midnight waves, Arenn glared at his sister. “You stay out of this,” he growled before returning his gaze to me. “Now please, don’t be difficult. You must close your eyes, or else you’ll be sick, and I’d rather not have to call the servants into my bedchamber at this time in the morning.” He spoke as though he was addressing a small child. It made me feel so small. I hated it.
“I said, I’m not going anywhere with you,” I repeated, anger rising in my chest. “I came here to help Prince Lukas, so unless you can take me to him, I’m not leaving this forest.”
Arenn’s shoulders tensed. “You would be wise not to mention his name again, Princess.” He stalked closer, snatching my wrist with one pale hand. “Like I said last night, I don’t share.”
My chest tightened.No, but that would mean…
Before I had a chance to ponder just how many of my dreams he’d been watching, or how that was even possible, Arenn commanded in a husky, pressuring voice, “Close your eyes.”
No. I didn’t want to. But his voice echoed in my mind. Iresisted for barely a second before the compulsion overwhelmed my senses and my eyelids forcibly closed.
The moment they did, a woosh of cool air hit my face, and suddenly there were no more distant goblin screams. The smoky scent of dying campfires vanished, too, replaced by the soothing smell of pine and jasmine. Under my boots, even the forest floor felt suspiciously soft, as though I was standing on a plush rug instead of dried, crunchy leaves.
It was only when Arenn allowed me to open my eyes that I realised we were not in the forest anymore at all. Instead, I found myself in the middle of a familiar quartz-walled bedchamber. Thick willow roots weaved through the ceiling over a large silk bed – the very same bed I’d woken up in on my first visit to the faery kingdom. In the corner of the room was the same ornate chair from which Arenn had interrogated me, although this time there was a black nightshirt and some loose breeches draped over it. The silk bed was also unmade, as if someone had left in a hurry. Then it hit me: the regal engravings that wrapped around the bed posts, the circlet that rested upon the dresser…
This wasn’t just any spare bedroom in the faery palace. This was Arenn’s bedchamber.
My mouth fell open. “You interrogated me, a complete stranger, in your own bed?”
His grip on my wrist loosened as he chuckled. “Would you have preferred a cell? You know, it’s not everyday I get to apprehend a mysterious human girl.” He sauntered over to the chair, collapsed into it, then propped his elbows against the wooden armrests. “Besides, if you actually were an assassin, maybe you’d have begged for your life by attempting to seduce me.” He smiled in a way that was almost feline. “I wouldn’t have said no. I’ve never bedded a human before.”
I almost choked. “You’re disgusting!”
“And yet you still accepted my proposal?” he mused, tiltinghis head playfully as his silver earrings glinted in the golden light of the room. “You do know what will happen once we marry, don’t you? We will be expected to consummate.”
Warmth flooded my cheeks and I quickly avoided his gaze. I couldn’t let him see what his words did to me, but this room was so small and there was nowhere to hide. If that silk bed wasn’t his, I’d bury my burning face in the sheets and never leave again.
A low laugh sounded from where he was sitting and judging my reaction.
“I was worried that I might’ve been too late,” he started, lifting his hand to prop his chin against it. “I thought that maybe your foolish prince would’ve already had his way with you, maybe even several times. But I can see it clearly now… You’re as innocent as a little flower.”
My knees trembled. “My private life is none of your concern.”
