Page 48 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

I whipped in his direction, now facing him and trying to ignore that stupid large hand resting by his side, ignore the pulse of heat that spread through me at seeing it. That hand. Why had it felt so good between my legs?

“You had no right,” I snapped, scooting to the edge of the large bed and through the wispy canopy that hung over its posts.

I stood, and Lor followed, halting me as he blocked my exit. “I’m sorry that I thought to help you when you were sick, that I was worried about you.”

My core still throbbed with need that I didn’t want. What I wanted was to get away from this man and his large hands.

“You should be sorry,” I said, backing away. “It was unforgivable, bringing me here.”

“You’re so difficult,” Lor said. “All the time. I don’t know what Castle was thinking, making you its queen. You’ll be the ruin of me. The ruin of us all.”

It was cruel, even though I knew I’d been cruel too. With that he pushed past me and stomped out of the room, leaving me with nothing but anger and a pulsing ache between my legs.

CHAPTER 23

Aoife

Iblinked my eyes open, transported to a different place, a different time, one where I went to sleep every night with the sound of others breathing around me, the scent of them, the nearness, the warmth. I hadn’t felt this in so long, and it was disorienting. I wondered if maybe I’d dreamt the last two years, that I was actually still a slave, waking up like I had every day for thousands of years.

A body pressed into mine, the warmth and comfort of it like a cloak as the sun shone through the little round window in my safe haven. Lor’s familiar musky scent washed over me, and the events of the previous night rushed to the forefront of my mind. Ceri’s dress shop. The prisoner. And wine. A lot of wine.

Flashes of him helping me back to my room, of Castle shifting and bringing us here, of Lor trying to leave and me telling him not to appeared in my mind. I couldn’t very well blame Lor for sleeping next to me when I’d asked him to. My gaze traveled down to his hand resting on my belly, and heat instantly flooded me at the memory of the last time we’d fallen asleep together, of where I’d placed his hand in my sleep.

At least I hadn’t done that again. I needed to maintain a shred of dignity after how I’d acted last night.

Lor shifted behind me, and I stiffened, then pushed myself up to a seated position as he blinked his eyes open. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms over his head and revealing a sliver of pale skin, dark hair leading down under the waistband of his trousers.

My gaze snapped back up to meet his, and I hoped he hadn’t just seen me gawking at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, holding out his hands. “You were drunk, and I was just trying to get you home safely. Castle is the one who led us here, and I wanted to stay by your side all night to make sure you were okay. You drank a lot.”

He was lying to me. I remembered grabbing his arm, pulling him down next to me. So why wasn’t he throwing that in my face? I immediately knew the answer: because Lor wasn’t petty, not like me.

“It’s okay,” I said quickly, just wanting to get him out of here as soon as possible. I hated the way my body remembered the last time we were together like this, hated how my body seemed to crave his hand between my legs again.

Luckily my brain knew better.

Lor’s gaze swept around the small space. “Why would you sleep in here, Aoife?”

My defenses raised immediately. “What? Are you ashamed of having a queen who sleeps in such impoverished conditions?”

Something like sympathy flashed in his eyes, and instead of answering my question, he responded with one of his own. “Where did you sleep when you were a slave?”

“Not in a closet if that’s what you’re implying,” I said stiffly.

“No, I wouldn’t think so,” he murmured. “But you don’t like big spaces?” His brows furrowed like he was working out a difficult equation.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “You know where I sleep. Not at Ambrose’s. Just here. In this closet. Thank you for helping me last night, but you can go now.”

His eyebrows shot up, his face so close to mine in this tiny room. A little crease lined his forehead from the way he’d fallen asleep. For some inexplicable reason, my hand itched to trace it.

“No,” he said, nostrils flaring.

“No?” I asked back. “This is my room, the only space in this entire castle I can claim as just mine, and you want to take it from me as well?” I huffed a laugh. “Unbelievable. Well if you won’t leave, then I will. I’ll have Castle make me another closet, one where you’ll never find me.”

I made to move, but Lor caught my hand in his, staring at me with this intensity in his dark brown eyes that I didn’t understand.

“Let go,” I said.