Chapter 18
Inej finished cleaning her side and moved to Daas’s as he and Shruti closed up the shop. She had gone nonstop since first entering the kitchen. Inej was exhausted but also happy. There was a bubbly feeling in her chest that she had never experienced before, and she never wanted it to stop.
Even Shruti had warmed to her. A little. The elf wasn’t nearly as personable as her husband, but that didn’t bother Inej. Especially after both had tasted her tarts and loved them. They had sold every single pastry she had made.
Daas parted the beads and walked over, carrying a bag, his dark eyes shining brightly. “We had to send people away. They were lined up, waiting for your pastries. Word has spread about your baking. And this,” he said, handing over a pouch, “is your cut.”
Inej stared at the bag, fighting the urge to dump the contents out and count each one. She had never held so much coin at once in all her life.
Daas laughed softly. “I suspect there will be much more of that tomorrow. Be here at dawn.”
“Of course,” Inej murmured, still thinking about her earnings and all that she could do with it. Clothes. A new place to live. Food—all the food she could ever want.
“Manu said you knew the way back to Jalall’s, but I’m happy to walk you if you need.”
And just like that, her dreams crumbled to dust. For a little while, she had forgotten about Manu and why she had faced the Peaks’ violent weather. She tucked the bag of coins into her pocket and smiled, but it was forced. “I can find my way, thank you.”
“See you tomorrow, then. Be sure Manu feeds you well tonight. You’ve earned it.”
Inej walked to the front. Shruti was putting away some leftover candy and glanced her way. Inej waved, but she didn’t know if the elf saw her, nor did she care. Her feet were heavy as she left the shop and headed toward Jalall’s.
How could she have forgotten about Krata?
About why she had a vial of poison stuffed between her breasts?
She couldn’t trust Manu being nice. That wasn’t who he was.
So what that she was finally doing what she loved?
So what that she had more money than ever before?
None of that mattered when others were being taken from their homes.
She found herself standing in front of Jalall’s front door without memory of how she had gotten there. In just half a day, she had almost ruined her mission. If she was going to be any kind of agent, she couldn’t forget again.
Inej started to open the door, then thought better of it and knocked. She was a guest, after all. She waited and tried not to think about the weight of the coins pulling on her dress. She glanced at others walking by to make sure no one rushed her and attempted to take what was rightfully hers.
The door opened, and she found herself looking into Manu’s eyes.
Her irritation soared at the sight of his handsome face.
Had he wooed humans with a smile and a kind word?
Or had he simply grabbed them? Had Krata willingly gone with her kidnappers without realizing who they were?
She was too nice. She saw the good in everyone. She had probably done just that.
“Why are you standing out there?” Manu asked as he moved aside. “Come in.”
Inej crossed the threshold and headed straight for her room.
Nay. It wasn’t her room. It was simply the place where she laid her head.
The only things that were hers were the coins.
She had earned them. No one would take them from her.
The bed, the clothes…they were on loan. One she could now repay.
She waited for Manu to order her to stop, but he didn’t. Nor did he come after her. She entered her room and closed the door, leaning back against it as she scanned the room for a place to hide her money.
Her fingers grabbed the bag and tugged it out of her pocket. She dumped the contents onto the bed. Her jaw went slack at the sight of the coins earned from a single day. Not even a whole day. A half day. If she could earn this in a few hours, what could she accumulate in a day? A week?
She pulled her hand back as if burned. She wouldn’t be here in a week. Inej looked at the door. She was alone with Manu again. It was time she formed a plan to give him the poison. She also needed to make sure she could get out of Navara.
Inej put the coins back in the bag and hid it.
She grabbed fresh clothes from the wardrobe and made her way to the bathing room to freshen up.
In record time, she walked out, the poison safely tucked between her breasts once more.
The dress had a low neckline, making it easy for her to grab the vial.
No one would come looking for Manu until morning, and if she dosed him at dinner, then she had all night to find a way out of the mountain.
She heard voices from the kitchen and headed toward them.
Chanda laughed at something Manu said. There was an easy camaraderie between them.
Inej’s feet slowed as she approached, and she peered around the corner.
Manu leaned back against the counter, his arms casually crossed over his chest. He wore an easy grin, following Chanda with his eyes as she moved about the kitchen.
Chanda’s smile was bright, her body relaxed as they bantered back and forth.
It transformed the elf from pretty to beautiful.
Suddenly, Manu’s gaze lit on her. Inej dismissed the shiver that curled down her spine as he slowly straightened. His gaze was intense, probing.
“I needed to wash off the flour,” she said into the awkward silence.
His dark eyes looked her over before returning to her face. “The food is nearly ready.”
“Good. I’m hungry.”
She could have sworn she heard “me, too,” before he turned away to grab something out of the cupboard.
When she drew her gaze away, it was to find Chanda watching her.
The elf’s smile was gone, and though it wasn’t hatred directed at her, Inej still felt her disapproval.
As if she had disrupted something between Manu and Chanda. Which she had.
Inej almost felt sorry for the elf. If she weren’t there on a mission, she wouldn’t have any designs on Manu.
Inej would’ve cheerfully retreated so the two could find their way to each other.
But clearly, Manu didn’t think of Chanda as a lover since he had barely looked her way since Inej entered the room.
“We can finish,” Manu told Chanda. “You said the meal was done, and I’m sure you’d like to get home.”
The elf jerked her head toward him. “It’s no problem to bring the food out to you.”
“Jalall doesn’t ask it of you, and I don’t either. We’ll be fine. And I promise I’ll clean everything up, so you don’t have to do it in the morning.”
Inej turned and headed to the dining area, so she wasn’t watching the exchange.
It was obvious Chanda didn’t want to leave her alone with Manu.
But alone time was exactly what Inej needed.
Hopefully, she could get the poison into his drink at dinner.
If she didn’t, she was prepared to find a way into his bed—maybe even that night if she was lucky.
At least he was handsome. That would make it easier to get through. Or she could just close her eyes and pretend he was someone—anyone—else. That way, the only person to ever know she had given her body to someone so evil would be her.
The sound of the side door opening and closing told her that Chanda had departed.
Inej turned as Manu walked into the room.
Thoughts of sex made her imagine what he would look like without his clothes.
Her gaze lowered to his large hands and long, thick fingers.
Desire unfurled like liquid heat between her legs, startling her.
“Shall we eat?” he asked.
She swallowed hard, nodding. What had just happened? There was no time to think about it as they walked to the kitchen. She was hyperaware of his every movement. From the way his arm brushed her shoulder to his hand bumping into hers. His very nearness.
How would she get through a meal like this? She briefly thought about going into her room and easing the ache herself, but she couldn’t miss another opportunity to slip him the poison. Others were counting on her. Before she knew it, they were seated at the table across from each other once more.
“I hear your pastries sold well,” Manu said.
Inej looked at her plate, but she couldn’t think about food when her body craved another kind of meal. She needed to get control. And quickly. “They did.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Very much.”
She lifted her eyes, her gaze tangling with his once more. Dark. Mesmerizing. Challenging. He was too much. His regard too fervent. She wanted to look away, to have a moment to catch her breath so she could participate in the conversation—or at least pretend to.
Somehow, she tore her eyes from his and found herself staring at his lips. It was a mistake, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away. Images of his mouth kept running through her mind—on hers, wrapped around her nipple, kissing between her legs.
“You seem…different,” he said.
Inej drew in a deep breath, thankful that his words had ended the fantasies rolling through her head. She had never been attracted to elves. Then again, she had never spent so much time alone in the company of a male elf before.
“I’m just tired, I suppose,” she answered.
His eyes didn’t leave hers. “You were just healed from a stab wound.”
She looked away, unable to bear his piercing gaze for fear he might see the truth. He was despicable, evil. And an elf.
But she wanted him. Craved him.
Inej jerked to her feet so fast the chair fell backward, banging against the rug.
She rushed around the table as Manu slowly rose.
He watched her, but he didn’t attempt to stop her.
She hurried past him and then hastened to her room.
Once behind the locked door, she walked to the bed.
If she was going to give herself to him, she needed to be thinking clearly so she could control the situation.
If she went to him as she was now, all she would care about was gratification.
She yanked off the dress and saw the vial fall from her breasts.
Inej reached for it, but her fingers missed, and it tumbled against the rug.
She gasped, frozen as it bounced twice and came to a standstill, thankfully without shattering.
Her heart thudded wildly against her ribs as she carefully lifted it and tucked it under the mattress.
Her legs crumpled as she fell back onto the bed to stare at the canopy.
The day had been unlike any other. It wasn’t her dream job or even earning money that was on her mind.
It was Manu. She squeezed her thighs together as desire throbbed deep within her.
Inej slid her fingers between her legs and closed her eyes.
Manu kept popping into her thoughts. She tried to think of past lovers, but she kept returning to his chiseled features, his wide lips, and that hard body.
A moan tore from Inej’s lips as she chased the climax, her fingers circling her clit. In her mind, it was his hands on her, his mouth, his voice murmuring her name. She imagined him over her, his dark eyes watching, strong hands caressing her body, and the heat of him pressed against her.
Pleasure slammed into her, sharp and all-consuming.
She bit her lip to hold in the cry and lifted her hips while shudders rolled through her body.
When the waves finally ebbed, she lay still, her heart pounding and her breath ragged as the ghost of his touch lingered on her skin.
She drifted to sleep with the fantasy of him beside her.
Inej woke suddenly. She sat up, disoriented, and looked around, half-expecting to find Manu in her bed.
That was how real he had been in her head as she’d eased the ache in her body.
But he wasn’t there. Whatever had gotten into her head had caused her to lose another chance at finishing her mission.
She was turning out to be an awful agent.
She stood and stepped onto her discarded gown. Since she couldn’t go out naked, she put it on and headed to the door to get some water. Maybe some food after leaving dinner without eating even a single bite.
Manu was exiting the bathing room at the same time she walked out of her room.
She halted at the sight of him, nothing but a drying cloth wrapped around his trim hips.
He looked up before she could retreat to her room, and their eyes collided.
She noticed the droplets of water beading his skin and dripping from his wet hair.
Her gaze trailed one as it plopped onto his muscular shoulder and ran to his collarbone, skimming along it before rolling onto his chest and into the dusting of hair there.
Time slowed as she took in every inch of the fine specimen before her.
Muscle rippled beneath his fair skin as if an artist had sculpted him from her fantasies.
His broad shoulders flowed to strapping arms and a chest built for sin.
Her gaze dropped to the ridged planes of his abdomen, where each muscle stood out in perfect relief.
An invitation her fingers itched to answer.
The moment her gaze reached the towel, she had the overwhelming urge to rip it off and feast her gaze on the rest of his magnificent body. Her mouth went dry as she imagined him pushing her against the wall and lifting her up before thrusting deep inside her.
The scene played out in her head, making her nipples harden and her breasts swell. He hadn’t made a sound during any of this, hadn’t even moved. But his eyes burned with the same fever that coursed through her veins.
They stood like that for several moments, each waiting for the other to make a move.
Inej’s breath caught in her chest when he took a step toward her.
Her hand rose, ready to remove the towel, just as someone pounded on the front door, breaking the spell holding her.
She stood stunned as he went to see who it was.
Leaving her with an ache, sharp and unfamiliar.