I covered my mouth mid-bite and let out a muffled, “Thank you.”
The commander leaned on the table next to me. “Well…?”
I swallowed and let my wrist flop. “Well, what?”
Leather crunched as Dommik twisted his torso and jerked his chin to the items on the table. “Where is the brush?”
“In the chapel,” I said, nodding and plotting my next bite of the baked good. “I didn’t know there was a chapel in the Hive.”
The table rocked slightly as Dommik pressed away to stand. He stretched his arms high and rocked side to side, the bones beneath his dense muscle cracked at the force.
“Well, there wasn’t. Until recently.”
“Oh?” I was chewing vigorously.
A smirk crept across his stubbled, square jaw. “You don’t remember mentioning yourreligious practicesto Gorvin?”
I stopped chewing. Frozen and mortified.
“No,” I said behind my hand.
Dommik dropped his head, smiling a broad, amused smile to the tiles below. “Yes.”
I squeezed my eyes tight, cursing the blood rushing to my cheeks. “That is…so kind of him.”
“Very, very kind of him.” His boyish snickering wove between his words.
I raised my gaze to Dommik’s. Round, dimpled cheeks looked foreign against his angular features, but they suited him. I tucked my lips, trying to hold in my own laughter. A maniacal cackle burst from me, sending him into his own over this absurd misunderstanding.
“I can never correct him,” I breathed, admitting what Dommik had already known, that when he found me that night in the Illica keep, I was worshipping something, but it was definitely not the Dawn.
“No,” he stepped toward me, “you can’t.”
I cleared my throat, ceasing my laughter as he came closer and reached out to me. My breath all but halted when his fingers met the fabric of my dress.
“This dress is too lovely to be covered in your crumbs, my lady,” he gently scolded, picking grain from its fabric.
Had Rhazien’s blood still been in my system, it would have admonished me for the fluttering in my chest. It also would have compelled me to swallow and forget the words I said next.
“You think my dress is lovely?” The question breathed around hope.
Fierce cerulean looked up at me. “It is.”
My traitorous body flushed at the compliment. I needed more.
“Just the dress?” I fought the urge to bite my lip.
Time slowed as I waited for his response and I braced myself for rejection. Why keep entertaining this attraction? This was a mistake.
I almost apologized for asking, but then Dommik said, “No. Not just the dress, my lady.”
Smoldering satisfaction burned down my spine and settled in the pit of my belly. Its coals may have been stoked further had someone not abruptly entered the ballroom.
Dommik matched each tap of the approaching footman, backing away slowly but watching me with his own heated gaze.
I stood tall to greet the man.
“For you, my lady.” He bowed his head and presented a letter on a golden tray, green wax and a distinct rose sealed the center of an envelope. It was from Rhazien. I smiled as I traced the calligraphy of my name on Rhazien’s stationery. I turned my back to Dommik as I carefully opened the letter and I chewed a nail as I read to myself.
