30
Valine was scouting the halls, searching for mysterious passages and emergency exits from the way of the aviary, when Malik found her. She had just finished penning three letters which she sent by falcon, though only once was necessary. The other two were a charade. Valine pretended not to see him, and it was all the more satisfying that he didn’t know this when he attempted to accost her in an alcove, and she was the one who had him pinned instead.
Malik blinked those blue-gold eyes, stunned to find himself with stone at his back when it had been his intention to have her in that very position. A smile crept across his face, sexy and cool, as he took her in, the clinging silk and exposed throat. Heat built between them, only furthered by the press of their bodies against each other. Valine’s arms were shoved against his shoulders and chest, sprawling out while their knees locked together, legs tangled. Instead of being dismayed, he was turned on and showed this by circling her waist.
Panic flooded Valine. This was not what she had anticipated, and truly at this point, what was stopping them from fucking right then and there? Her lines and rules? Both were becoming horribly flimsy and they both knew it. She had stated her boundaries, yet invited him to flirt, virtually giving him every reason to chase her—because she secretly wanted it. She was letting him pursue her, she was not stopping him when he was touching her. The sexual tension between them was ramping up, pulling tighter, the taut thread between them a breath from snapping. All she wanted was—
No.
No, she was angry at him. He used her. He used her to get information and then fucked off to bed. That did not a deal make.
“You lied to me,” she fired quietly.
Surprise laced Malik’s features, but still, he did not yield in his hold. He actually began circling her lower back with his thumbs—it felt divine. “About?” he said with such calm, fingers still working knots from her.
“We had a deal, information exchange, and you reneged on it. I gave you what I knew, and then you left.”
“I left,” Malik breathed, leaning forward, his mouth brushing the shell of her ear. “Because if I didn’t leave, I didn’t know how I wasn’t going to fuck you had I spent another minute in your presence.” He bit her ear gently, and she gasped. “Do you want me to tell you the numbers in which Talloh’s taxes differ from Adraali’s? How I convinced Jericho to counter an agricultural deal with Pravo that will only make Pravo richer by the supply-demand that I have promising investments in? What of the alliance that Jericho seeks to form with the Desdemons of Runell, an alliance that I assure you is shot with your presence here?
“Is that what you wanted to know? That your mere existence has resulted in the questioning of a powerful monarch?”
Valine knew that he wasn’t just talking about Jericho’s political ambition but his own feelings, and Valine did not have the capacity to sort it out. Not when she had Malik’s breath on her throat, his lips parted on her skin, her pulse against his teeth. She had rules, she reminded herself, but all she could think about was: Why stop? Why didn’t they tumble to bed together? They were adults. It was just sex. All these times Malik put his hands on her, Valine had resisted the urge to do the same, but finally, the dam against her will broke, and her hands found themselves beneath his shirt, skimming his hot golden skin. She felt his abs ripple with his increased breathing, and she felt his cock harden against her belly.
“Malik…” she whispered, tilting her face up to him. She wanted him so badly it hurt. She could feel the desire aching in the apex of her thighs.
Malik’s hands roamed lower, grazing the bare skin of her thighs, hitching up her dress to cup her rear against him. He ground his hips into her, his fingertips pressing on her bare skin, and she hoped he left bruises.
“Valine…” he moaned back, tipping his face down.
As they began to reach for each other, their lips a breath away, loud footsteps thundered down the hall, a belligerent yell emphasizing them. Valine and Malik broke apart in shock, peering out of the alcove to watch a very uniformly white figure dash up the hall towards them. Illuminated in the moonlight, it became painfully evident the person was wholly naked, the member between his legs flopping comically about. Sweat and other bodily fluids stuck to his skin. His eyes glassy, pupils blown wide.
“Get back!” he screeched, and Valine realized with shock that the naked, running man was Balchon. “Quit chasing me daemons, you can’t have my cock!”
Valine stood still, processing his words as Balchon ran past, heedless of their presence. His bare feet continued to slap the stone floor. Whether the event was induced by drugs or a dare—Valine suspected the former—Balchon was utterly unaware of the near kiss he’d interrupted. Seconds later, the jangle of armor and weapons came upon them while Valine and Malik were still caught in a compromising position. Four guards rounded the corner, clearly chasing Balchon.
They slowed, and she knew what they would see soon—Valine’s black negligee hitched on her thigh, Malik’s hands covering his prominent erection, both their faces flushed with lust and embarrassment—and she held her breath. But it was for naught, because they raced past, unknowing of the king and the assassin hiding in the shadows. Unaware they were harboring tension that could’ve been cut with a knife.
As they disappeared, Valine deflated, palming her forehead, and immediately dragged Malik inside her room. Once safely away from potential prying eyes, Valine pulled the vial and clip from her hair and tossed them on the entry table.
“We can’t get caught like that.”
“Like what?” Malik asked, crossing the space between them, caging her against the wall. “Explain it to me.”
“No, we can’t do this.” She reaffirmed the dam that so nearly shattered. “I do not sleep with people that pay me. I don’t like mixing money and sex. It complicates things.”
“Is that what you want?”
He was so close, Valine couldn’t get a breath that wasn’t scented with black orchid and tobacco. “What I want is irrelevant. This is business, and I haven’t yet told you what I’ve learned.”
Malik stepped back, realizing the spell was broken and respecting the clear shutdown of the situation—a situation it was all too clear neither of them actually wanted to prevent. Even so, he moved to her fainting couch, and she filled him in on everything Hanish had told her, from his wife to Balchon and Tallulah, in addition to the treatment of romantic entanglements between servants and the resulting consequence of showing it. She also revealed Hafsa’s connection to the ōrdinem and her unfilled assignment.
“Are you planning to complete her assignment?” Malik asked levelly. She couldn’t deduce how he felt about it in that moment, and his response was going to sway her answer. But unfortunately, he was stone.
“If it does not jeopardize the mission here, yes.”
“You cannot get caught.”
“I haven’t yet.”
“That’s not true—we got you.”
“That’s different,” she dismissed, a furious flush rising in her cheeks. “That was a setup.”
“And are you sure this isn’t?” Malik questioned; eyes flinty.
Valine bit her lip, glancing away. She had considered that Hanish was lying to her, and even if he wasn’t, she wondered if he would immediately blame her for the crime upon its commencement. She had to weigh the risks, and she knew that the only way to get Hanish and his family safely out of Talloh, was to finish the job. She could, of course, refuse to help them escape, but what was stopping Hanish from turning her in at that point? It was too messy to contemplate, she’d gotten herself in too far. Betraying Hanish would only result in his death or hers. But she had a contingency.
“No, but I have to do this,” she told him determinedly. “I need to instill his trust with this.”
“I can’t lose you,” Malik bit out.
“I’ll be careful. Trust me.”
Malik laughed, a harsh sound. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
“Have I given you reason not to?”
“No.”
“And I won’t.” She crossed the room, standing before him, taking his hand and placing it over her heart. “I am a liar and a cheater. I am a murderess and a traitor. But I will not betray you. I swear it.”
Malik swallowed once, and nodded. Valine dropped his hand, and for a moment, they were still and silent, staring into each other’s eyes, leaving so much left unsaid before he left the room.