Page 69 of The Queen’s Bodyguard

Theora held his arm against her chest, suddenly realizing why Boada had chosen him. “This isn’t your first relationship, is it?”

“No,” he murmured to her hair.

No wonder he was so good with his hands, at making her feel safe. And then a pin stabbed through her gut. He would never have had a sexual relationship outside of claiming…and that meant…

“What happened to her?” she whispered.

He didn’t answer. Or he did, in the way he quickly moved away, no longer comfortable. “Vespula happened to her,” he finally said, his voice tinged with anger.

Theora’s stomach ached for him, but he didn’t stay to be comforted. He put his useless glasses back on, shouldering his jacket as he opened the door, holding it wide.

“I think we’ve made our point,” he said, his voice now leveled to proper public-displaying stoicism. “Let’s go see how mad we made Venita.”

Chapter 18

Argos

Apollo and Venita didn’t accompany them on the tram ride back to their suite, and Argos knew exactly why. Theora had sounded beautiful when she came, but nothing like a cave coyote. And the most entertaining part was, Theora didn’t even notice their absence. She seemed distracted in an overly flustered way for the rest of the evening, in a way that told Argos exactly what she was thinking about.

Not that he could blame her. It was all he could think of, too.

But he was glad the lagoon had been the last planned activity for the day. This would be a good time to explore that hidden tunnel in the closet, if he could distract Theora enough to get away without explaining himself. Besides, he needed to hunt. Badly. Walking around sightseeing at a casual pace wasn’t exactly what he’d call exciting. And what had happened on the ferry, well…he had gotten no exertion out of that.

Not that it mattered…Theora’s pleasure was enough.

Enough? It was everything.

He’d set out to prove a point and managed to get himself into more trouble than he was ready for. The thought of touching Theora had passed through his mind occasionally, but now? If he wanted to remain in an honorable position with the Sovereign, he needed to tamp down those feelings quickly.

He feigned an itch beneath his nose just so he could smell his fingers, still marked by her intoxicating scent.

Theora tugged on his arm, pulling him from his meditations.

“Stop that,” she hissed.

“What?”

“I know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a grin before he could stop it.

Her blush was so pleasant to experience. It made heat waft off her chest, her pulse ticking rhythmically on the side of her throat.

The same long, beautiful throat he’d held in his hand not long ago.

Fuck.

“Cease,” she said quietly. Behave, she meant. “Come inside and wash your hands.”

“Come inside?” he repeated, for her ears only.

She blushed further, realizing her mistake. “You’re asking to get murdered.”

She stormed into their wing, with Argos following casually, and she hastily took out some lounge clothes and locked herself in the bathroom to change.

“I’m going to sleep,” she said through the door.

“Okay.”