Chapter 11 #3
Across from her, Khayrivven kept his eyes on the back window behind Lory’s head, gaze vigilant and shoulders tight.
His smile had faded, revealing the soldier scouting for potential danger.
He was leaning back, his fingers laced together in his lap, an idle position she wasn’t used to, but knowing him, he could spring into action in a heartbeat if necessary.
“The two bays are perfect for our disguise,” he commented, his tone the velvet of moonless nights, and his eyes snapped to hers.
Lory’s heart stumbled inside her chest as the side of his mouth quirked into a crooked half-smile. “I won’t waste time telling you how beautiful you look, Lory, when I have only a minute to catch you up.”
Lory held her breath, savoring his compliment while at the same time dreading what he had to say.
“Ulder will be at the dance tonight. So will all of his court. And when I say all of his court, I mean his advisors, his courtesans, and if we’re lucky”—he swallowed hard—“his ward.”
“Elina,” Lory spelled it out. “Your sister will be there?”
“I haven’t seen her in forever.” A simple fact charged with so much pain that Lory couldn’t help but reach out to squeeze Khayrivven’s hand.
“The last time, she was still a child, and I wasn’t allowed to speak with her, let alone get close enough to make contact.
” His chest heaved as he inhaled an audible breath.
“All I know is what Ulder tells me, and I have to take the king’s word for it when he says she is still alive. ”
“She will be there.” Lory didn’t know how she was so sure. Perhaps it was the need to soothe Khayrivven’s pain, or the way he looked at her like he wanted to believe she was right.
He lowered his head, waves shifting to hide his face as he turned over his hand to wrap his fingers around hers.
“Once we arrive, we’ll enter the palace together.
There won’t be any physical contact between us, for we don’t want to dissuade the courtiers from asking you for a dance.
Your task will be to gather as much information about the most recent attacks as possible.
Anything might be relevant, no matter how small. ”
He wasn’t using the tone of the captain, but a vulnerable sort of urgency that informed Lory that he needed to find out to please the Triad as much as he needed to find out to further his cause. A cause, which until mere hours ago, she’d had no clue existed.
“All right.” She nodded her agreement. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Khayrivven’s head snapped up, his teeth gritted and lips pulled back in a silent snarl.
“Perhaps don’t go to extremes,” he warned, his gaze traveling down her throat, then her chest, stopping at the plunging neckline of her dress.
“Don’t leave the main event without me under any circumstances.
Some of the gentlemen will try to convince you that they like to share secrets in more private settings.
” His expression turned feral. “The only secret you’ll learn if you allow them to persuade you is that their cocks are jokes and their skills in the bedroom are inferior. ”
Lory swallowed, unable to look away, heat rolling through her body at the mere memory of his skills in the bedroom and the size of him…
Pulling up a mischievous grin, she lowered both their hands in his lap, sliding the back of her palm over the length contained in his fitted pants. “I wasn’t aware we were exclusive.”
Was it mean to bring the topic up now, when they were a few feet from stopping in front of the palace? Definitely. Was her heart galloping out of her chest because she was terrified of what his answer might be?
She didn’t have time to overthink it because Khayrivven pulled her hand away, grasping it gently as he led it to his mouth, grazing the back of her palm with his lips.
It was all the answer he gave her, and Lory’s breath was still unsteady as the carriage rolled to a halt at the palace gate and a servant dressed in beige and gold opened the door, beckoning them to get out.
So Lory did, climbing out of the cabin after Khayrivven and taking his offered hand as he indicated a bow just as in Gilded training.
And thank the Guardians she did; her legs were unsteady as she set her feet on the limestone tiles leading up to the palace, and Khayrivven glanced up from under his lashes once more.
She’d fallen so deep for this man there was no scrambling back up, and despite all the secrets he’d entrusted her with, the kisses and touches and the mind-blowing sex, they hadn’t had the talk.
A small voice at the back of her head reminded her that a man like Khayrivven probably didn’t have girlfriends, or she would have heard about it. Lovers, yes, but what they had was beyond casual sex.
I love you, she murmured in her head just to test what the words would taste like, thankful that he couldn’t hear her thoughts outside of shared dreams.
Khayrivven’s hand tightened around hers as he steadied her, his eyes on the palace gate, but a sensation prickled at the edge of her consciousness, a presence that was unmistakably Khayrivven, and the way his mouth had curled back into a smile made her wonder if he had heard her after all.