“Please. I may be naïve about the world, but I’m not an idiot.”
She grins to herself.
“Okay. Busted. You two simply needed a little nudge, okay? It’s exhausting for us, having to watch you two pine over each other yet do nothing about it.”
I roll my eyes, mostly because I’m currently very annoyed with him. “I can’t believe you’d actually share a room with Raef for me.”
“Oh. I didn’t. The inn wasn’t sold out. That was a lie.”
“I know. But you really got your own room? I thought maybe…”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Okay…”
Part of me is starting to think she might need a little nudge of her own, but I won’t push it. For now. I respect people’s boundaries, unlike others I know.
We make it back by midday.
When we enter the Dothron Inn, the innkeeper’s eyes widen when she sees us. She’s the same one as before. She rushes over to us, appearing eager.
“I thought… when you didn’t return yesterday before nightfall, I thought the worst…” Her eyes are wide with wonder.
“We managed to survive the night in the caves. Thank you for your guidance.”
She looks at us with much more respect than she did the morning before, when we set off on our journey.
We book rooms for the night again, figuring we won’t make it to the next inn in half a day’s ride. There’s also the issue of figuring out where we’re going next. What the plan is. No one has mentioned it since we retrieved the sword. Not that I know of, anyway.
After Meela gets our key, Daegan steps up to the counter. I’m already turning away to go with her when I hear him request one more room. I hear the quick exchange of currency and the key before he catches up to me, pulling me by the waist and stopping me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks.
“With Meela…” I look back and find she’s left me behind.
“No,” he says, folding his arms.
My mouth hangs open in confusion. “No?”
“I don’t care how mad you are at me right now. You’re sleeping with me by your side tonight. And every night for the rest of the journey. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
I’m mad at him, I have to remind myself. It’s highly annoying that his demanding words have sent a spark through me, awakening something inside me again. I narrow my eyes at him, fighting the feeling. “Excuse me? You don’t get to decide that.”
“Just admit it Elle,” he says, his voice lowering. He leans in close to my ear. “You like sleeping with me just as much as I like sleeping with you.”
Fuck him.
He’s right. I do. But he doesn’t get to know that right now. I’m still mad at him, and he doesn’t get to pretend that I’m not.
I stand back, crossing my arms. “I’m good, actually.”
A smug, infuriating grin lights his face.
I scowl at him and turn away.
“Go spend some time with Meela,” he says as I walk away from him. “But I’ll be by to get you before bedtime.”
I turn my head and glare at him one more time before I catch her in the hallway. Who does he think he is? That smug bastard. He looks at me with a roguish, confident grin.
