Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
NEVE
It took everything in Neve’s power not to press his traitorous throbbing sorav against his wife while glaring at Bacti. The lavender male was too interested in Neve’s mate.
While he didn’t disagree with what the little human had volunteered to do, his soul was screaming not to let the valles leave his sight.
It was a tough balance not letting the bond take charge.
Especially since he was the only one tethered to another person.
His wife seemed completely indifferent to him.
A blessing and a curse.
On one hand, he was thankful that he did not have to contend with her arousal. The tiniest perfume of it that first morning imprinted on his mind. It was only her fear that had broken the spell, or he was sure he would have taken her right on the table in the mating madness.
But on the other hand, it rankled that she was so indifferent. She’d turned into an ice queen. Granted, each night when he crawled into the furs that smelled deliciously like her, she rolled toward him in her sleep and curled into his side like she belonged there.
She does.
Irritation thrummed in his veins. He exhaled slowly, trying not to prickle at the way Bacti stared at Neve’s pretty little wife. The urge to attack him was getting worse each second. That would not help anything.
He lifted the valles from his lap and set her on her feet and stood, towering over the table. “We bid you goodnight.” Neve swept around the table, lifted the tent flap, and waited for his wife.
She murmured polite goodbyes before gliding across the room with pink cheeks.
“It was wonderful to see you again,” chirped Bacti as she reached the exit.
Qovving bentai.
Neve quickly followed after her and nodded to the Haunts stationed outside. Neve’s brows arched when she signed for them to have a good night.
That was new.
Lia led them up the looping pathway but paused at the first intersection. She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Which way, my lord?”
Olwen and Flyka shadowed them, and he just wanted some space.
“Right.” He stalked past Dahlia but couldn’t help capturing her hand. Her cool fingers laced through his, and the bond quieted a touch. He prowled through the snowy corridors but slowed when she huffed, almost jogging to keep up with him. “Your legs are short,” he grunted.
A bitty growl escaped her. “I’ll have you know, Reillov, that I’m tall for a human. My legs are longer than average.”
Legs that had wrapped around his waist perfectly.
Stop it.
He sped up again, catching glimpses of his men celebrating as they planned to finally take the human camp in five days if the Asterans agreed to a cease fire.
Too soon, they arrived at their tent—his tent.
Her astrylle perched on the tallest tent post, staring down at him with two round black eyes. Judgy eyes.
He dropped her hand and walked inside the tent, ignoring his Haunts and the woman who was making everything a bit too complicated.
“I think that went well,” Dahlia said, following him into the tent.
Neve scoffed. “Which part? The one where you exonerated a traitor? Volunteered to run away? Or when you said nothing as Bacti devoured you with his gaze?” The last part wasn’t supposed to come out. It revealed him to be the jealous bond-sick fool he was.
Lovesick.
Her lips parted, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth and glanced away, a mulish expression crossing her face. “I gave you exactly what you want, my lord.”
“You gave me nothing.” It was a bit unfair, but he could not seem to calm down. The heat was just too much. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm. “You struck a deal to protect Loshika and to extort coin from the Loriian crown.”
Her face reddened, and she tore off the armor, tossing it carelessly onto the table like he hadn’t had a hand in crafting it.
Stop. She does not know. Does not need to know.
“You’re right, Reillov. I did strike a deal to protect an innocent, but I have not extorted coin from you.
I saw the posters with my own eyes. You offered an inordinate sum of gold for information on me.
There were no stipulations regarding where the information came from.
I came forward. I deserve the coin, as we agreed for my participation in this little charade. ”
Weren’t all arranged marriages a little mercenary?
But you want more.
“A charade that protects you,” he replied, on edge.
“And you!” she retorted, her voice louder than before.
That was new. She had never raised her voice before. Dahlia’s eyes widened, and Neve watched as she wrestled with herself until all expression was wiped from her face. He hated when she did that. It felt almost as dishonest as lying.
“Why do you do that?” he demanded. “You shut yourself off from what is happening around you. I’ve seen you do it time and time again.”
She blinked slowly. “What do you mean?”
Neve laughed, but it was bitter. “You’re doing it right now. You got angry. I saw it in your face, and then it was just gone. Why do you do that?” It drove him nuts. He just wanted her to be honest and just say the bloody thing.
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Why?” He braced his hands on the table, staring her down. He needed the answer. “Why do you use my lord and reillov? You never use my name. You never show your emotions. Qovving why?”
“Because it’s not safe,” she admitted softly.
Neve flinched as if she had struck him, the whispered words sinking painfully in his gut. Dahlia shut herself off because she was afraid.
Of him.
It cut too deeply.
This is madness.
How could he resent someone so deeply for what they had done and need them to the point of it being painful? How did anyone survive the feelings?
“You know, you can always tell me what is on your mind, and I will not hurt you. You are safe with me,” he said raggedly.
Her mask cracked and then completely crumbled right before his eyes.
Finally.
She glared at him, her slight form trembling. She stabbed a finger in his direction. “Do you remember the first time I met you? You threatened to kill me.”
He winced. “Those were extenuating circumstances.”
“And the bullying? Constantly, you made me feel like I was worth less than you on our journey, an inconvenience. You told me I stank! I almost died twice on our trek underneath your so-called protection. At what point should I have felt safe?”
Dahlia stomped around the table and crowded into his space, her face so full of defiance that his body surged with another wave of heat. All he wanted to do was get lost in her fire and her body.
Pay attention.
She stabbed him in the chest with her blunt finger, the nail ragged and torn, a small testament of her struggles. “From the moment we met, we have been enemies. Nothing more, nothing less. In what world could I feel safe enough with you that I could speak my mind?”
Neve laid his hands on her pink cheeks, cooling his palms. “The one in which I love you.”