It burned her up to praise him, especially when that irritating smug smile of his donned his face. “So, you admit it. You don’t think I’m a monster, after all.”
She held up the shackle-free wrists. “You’re keeping me chained to you all day and night. Of course you’re a monster.”
His eyes flashed. “All day, yes. All night…not yet. But that can be arranged.”
Choking around the chicken, Eislyn felt her entire head turn the color of the strawberries. “I thought you said you didn’t want to debase yourself by touching a fae.”
A wicked smile curled his lips. “Who said anything about touching? Certainly not me. If that’s where your mind went, then one might wonder exactly what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.”
She dropped the chicken onto the plate. “Funnily enough, I’m not hungry anymore.”
“Perhaps that’s because you’re hungry for something else.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Okay, now you’re just messing with me.”
He chuckled.
“You know, sometimes I really can’t figure you out.” With a roll of her eyes, she turned back to her food. Annoying or not, she wasn’t going to let Lir turn her off from strawberries and chicken. “One minute, you’re dragging me through your palace on a chain. The next you’re making jokes like we’re friends.”
He strode across the floor and dropped into the seat across from hers. “Perhaps I wish we weren’t enemies.”
She arched a brow. “You’re the one who made us enemies. Not me.”
“If I recall correctly, you’re the one who attacked my people with ice.”
“Ice that they’re immune to. It’s not like it hurt them.”
He leaned forward and snatched a piece of chicken off her plate.
“Hey!” She scowled. “There’s more chicken on the platter. That one ismine.”
Grinning, he popped it into his mouth and chewed. “Whoops.”
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed a berry and tossed it at his face. It splatted on his cheek. Eislyn’s heart nearly stopped in her chest as it slowly slid down his chin. His eyes flashed with darkness, and she wanted nothing more than to rewind time and take it back.
He was Emperor Lir, and she was his prisoner wife. He didn’t need to tell her that she’d overstepped her bounds.
His lips curled. “Well. That settles it then. You will spend the night chained to my wrist, after all.”
* * *
Lir hadn’t been joking. After she’d eaten, he slid the bonds around her wrists and led her into his bedchamber. She swallowed hard at the sight of his bed. It was twice the size of hers, and luxurious silk sheets swept across it, inviting her to climb inside and drift into a world of luscious sensations.
“That’s quite the bed,” she said around a lump of coal in her throat.
He shot her a wicked grin. “Eager for it, are you?”
She flushed. “No.”
“Is that a lie, Princess Eislyn Darragh?” The smile dropped from his face, darkness churning in his eyes.
“Of course not,” she snapped back. “Stop assuming I’m desperate to be around you. You annoy me. In fact, I’d rather sleep in the dungeons than in the bed with you.”
“Well, if that isn’t incentive to lock you up in here with me, then I don’t know what is.” His smile widened.
All she could do was scowl.
Thankfully, he left the room when she changed into her nightdress, and waited until she’d climbed into the bed to return. Despite her irritation at him, Eislyn couldn’t help but sigh when the soft silk hugged her body like a soft caress. She fell back onto the pillows, her silver hair framing her face like a tangle of wild thorns.
