Chapter Eleven
I sat on the couch, my head swiveling back and forth as I eyed Kingston and Max standing in front of me. With his arms crossed over his chest, Max glared. However, Kingston appeared relaxed.
In fact, his placid expression made me suspicious. Not to mention the crimson streak on his arm.
It was just a hint of the color, as if it hadn’t washed off completely. But after everything that had happened, I riled myself up enough to believe it was blood.
Kingston caught my narrowed gaze and glanced at his arm. His lips twitched with a smile, and he rubbed at the stain.
“Paint,” he told me, tugging down the sleeve of his royal blue D’Arthur University sweater.
Paint.
A likely story.
He didn’t suppress his grin when my suspicion remained, turning to Max and arching a brow. “What’s the problem, Max? You insisted I come here instead of talking over the phone, so I thought this was urgent.”
Max huffed a laugh. “What? Did I pull you away from pressing matters, Your Highness?”
Kingston lifted a shoulder, not answering the question directly. “If you simply wanted to glare at me, I would’ve been happy to do a video call.”
I snorted, unable to help myself, and drew their eyes to me.
Max frowned.
“Oh, come on! That was funny.”
Kingston smiled fully this time, making no attempt to hide it from me. Or more likely, from Max, who glared as soon as he saw Kingston’s joy.
“Did you give someone a key to my cabin?” Max snapped.
“ Your cabin?”
“Yes, my cabin. The one I’m currently staying in? You know, with Quinn? Oh, look. There she is. In the room you’re also fucking standing in.” Max shook his head. “Don’t play games with me, Kingston. I’m not in the fucking mood.”
While I studied him, Kingston tilted his head, assessing Max. Unruffled by Max’s attitude, his air of ease was bound to become an issue between the two of them.
One I didn’t want to deal with, quite frankly.
“Kingston, it really scared me. Once I could tell Max was confused, I thought…” I dropped my head, wringing my hands in my lap. “Not knowing who’d been inside or if someone was still here, it freaked me out after what happened at the lake. At one point, I thought someone might be hanging around the house, waiting for Max to leave my side. I didn’t want him to leave me alone.”
Maybe I exaggerated a teensy bit, but who could blame me? Especially after getting his note, I wanted to know whether my feelings mattered to him.
So, sue me.
“I understand, Quinn. My question about the cabin wasn’t to imply I didn’t appreciate your fear. I found the phrasing interesting since this isn’t just Max’s cabin.”
I lifted my head.
“It’s also yours.”
Max grumbled under his breath. “Fucking hell. Does everything have to be so literal with you?”
Kingston bristled. “Yes, Max. I’m afraid it does. Language matters. Words have meaning. Understanding is left open to interpretation when people don’t pay attention to how things are phrased.” His tone firmed. “ I am not one of those people.”
My cheeks reddened. “Oh.”
So, I acted like a giant scaredy-cat for no reason.
But I also tucked away what he said, needing to think about that more later. Currently, Max looked ready to have an aneurysm, so I redirected to the topic at hand.
“Well, thanks for that, I guess. But if that’s the case, then I’d like to know if someone else had a key, too.”
Kingston nodded. “The pledges were given keys to drop off gift baskets last night. During the party, they should’ve come by and left them here.”
“Ours didn’t come last night.”
Max smirked. “Unless we were too busy to notice, Princess.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I was really busy sleeping in the bed alone while you were on the couch. Can you two stop baiting each other?”
“No,” Max snapped as Kingston said, “Of course.”
I arched an eyebrow at Max, but he did not take the hint he might be part of the problem.
And Kingston, after his whole speech on being intentional with words, gave away he was also part of the issue. His response implied he had been trying to bait Max since, of course , he’d stop since I asked.
What else had I misinterpreted in Kingston’s words?
Or missed?
The note he’d given me suddenly burned a hole in my pocket, even being safely tucked away in my bag.
“I’m not sure why your basket wasn’t delivered last night.” Kingston searched the small cabin. “Where is it?”
“Max put it on the patio.”
Kingston furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry, he what?”
“He put it on the patio.” I shrugged, glancing at Max with a teasing grin on my face. “I guess if it exploded out there, we’d be safer.”
“Har, har, Princess.” Max grumbled as he went out back to grab the basket.
At the same time, Kingston turned to me. “Princess?”
Max heard him and called out, “You got a problem with that, Your Highness?”
“Why would I?” Kingston glanced at me before turning to Max with a dip in his brow. He said softly, “It suits you.”
Before I could assure Kingston that Max just said it to annoy me, Max beat me to it again.
“Yeah, well. That nickname is taken. Get your own.”
Kingston said nothing, shaking his head as if Max’s suggestion was ridiculous. But his eyes lingered on Max’s back while he set the basket on the coffee table and pulled items out of it. I couldn’t interpret the expression on Kingston’s face, even when his attention came back to me.
I had a million things I wanted to ask him, starting first and foremost with what the fuck and ending with anything that gave me a reason to believe his note hadn’t been just another lie. But I couldn’t ask him with Max in the room.
Not if I wanted the truth, at least.
Max stepped back from the table, standing between Kingston and me. A move I suspected was intentional, even though he kept his eyes on the gift basket. He waved a hand at everything—a bottle of wine, chocolates, cookies—wrapped in fancy packaging. Even the assortment of toys and lingerie looked bougie as fuck.
“What the hell?” I snatched the matching bra and panties off the table. “Are you guys trying to get the Maidens eliminated?”
Max snorted, picking up a smaller item and tucking it in his pocket before I saw it. The smirk he sent Kingston’s way assured me I didn’t want to know what it was.
Kingston, thankfully, ignored Max’s taunt and answered me. “The goal is to test the Maidens, Quinn. By this point, most of the Knights have tried the usual forms of seduction. If those haven’t worked, the basket is an opportunity to…”
“Turn up the heat?” Max offered at the same time Kingston said, “Test your willpower.”
“More like, be totally gross,” I muttered.
We all shared a look, and it didn’t escape my notice that neither of them argued with me.
“So...does naked breakfast fall under the usual forms of seduction?” My curiosity over whether any other Maidens had experienced that quickly morphed into nausea. “And are all the Knights required to do that?”
I tried to ask the question innocently, but I wasn’t fooling anyone. Not even myself.
Max said nothing, his stare turning into a glower, but Kingston tried to put my mind at ease.
“There are no requirements for each Knight’s approach. Although, naked breakfast has been successful in the past.”
That didn’t surprise me. If half the Knights had asses like Max and Landon, it’d be a wonder if any of the other girls made it to the next round.
But the last thing I wanted to picture was Landon in an apron. Naked. And making her breakfast.
He’d betrayed me, so it shouldn’t have mattered.
But it did.
Kingston cleared his throat, understanding in his blue-gray eyes and an unexpected flash of sympathy. “I do know not all the Knights are a fan of that method.”
I hated the relief that brought.
Max did, too.
“On that note, if everything here looks to be in order, Kingston, probably best if you head out. I should get started on all the seduction, and you probably have more important things to do than stay and watch.”
Kingston didn’t respond to that, but his eyes darkened.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d thought about it. Betrayal or not, the fantasy I’d played out before The Quest had begun popped into my head.
But it morphed into a slightly different fantasy.
The thought of Kingston watching, directing Max on how to seduce me…the idea of being at their mercy refused to leave my head. But I didn’t imagine that playing out right now. I pictured it after, when I could give in without losing The Quest. And when Kingston could join instead of watching us.
My body flushed with heat.
Sweat beaded at my temples, my breathing grew erratic at best, and my nipples hardened. I lit up like a goddamn billboard, advertising my arousal to the room.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I shifted in my seat to create friction my body desperately needed.
A move that didn’t go unnoticed by the two men standing stiffly beside me. Kingston’s pupils dilated as his gaze ran past my parted mouth, down the length of my body.
Max did the same before his onyx eyes bore into mine.
But when he noticed Kingston staring at me, a different heat filled the room. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind that might spark my fantasy to life.
It was rage.
Burning my desires into a pile of ash.
“Quinn?”
I blinked at Max, brow pulling in at his use of my name.
“Put on the lingerie.”
Wait, what?
Had I misread the rage?
Unfortunately, Max quickly made it clear he hadn’t said that for me. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down his nose at me. And when I didn’t move, he clarified that it hadn’t been a request at all.
“That’s an order, Maiden.”
Kingston’s spine straightened, hands slipping into the pockets of his gray trousers as if he wanted to contain them. But he stayed silent. Staring at Max with narrowed eyes, the muscle in his jaw worked furiously.
Mine dropped to the fucking floor. It practically unhinged at Max’s sudden demeanor shift.
What the actual fuck?
Running a hand through my hair, I laughed nervously. “Very funny, Max.”
He didn’t flinch, and I gaped at him before turning to Kingston. But he was no help, either.
“Your Knight gave you an order, Maiden.”
It helped that he didn’t look or sound happy about it, but not by much. The hint of resignation in his tone only pissed me off. Though, that was nothing compared to my outrage over how he referred to Max.
My jaw locked, and I glared at Max as I hissed through clenched teeth, “He is not my Knight.”
Max tensed, arms tightening over his broad chest, but he said nothing as I stormed away.
He called my name right before I escaped and tugged the item he’d pulled from the basket out of his pocket. Tossing it underhand, he lobbed it over to me.
“Wear that, too.”
My eyes widened, and I opened my mouth to protest.
“Now, Maiden.”
Fuming, I slammed the bedroom doors. The glass rattling was equal parts satisfying and annoying.
It rang out like a tantrum more than a protest.
As I moved away from the door so they couldn’t see me, Kingston spoke. “Did that make you feel better, Max? Ordering her around like a sex slave?”
“I haven’t even begun to treat her like a sex slave, Kingston. But you’re welcome to stay and watch that, too. Since you don’t seem to be getting the hint and leaving.”
Kingston’s response was too quiet for me to hear.
I did hear Max’s furious “ Fuck you ,” though.
It came right before Kingston clearly, and a bit pointedly, said, “Like I mentioned before, Max, language matters. Words have meaning. You might want to choose yours more carefully, especially when it comes to Quinn.”
He paused, and I held my breath.
“I’m sure she’s already realized your order didn’t provide a time requirement. And I’m afraid I don’t have all night to wait for her to come out.”
Max growled.
Kingston gentled his tone. “Just because you have power over someone doesn’t mean you have to use it. If you do, you always have the choice to do it with respect.”
“Gee. Thanks, Dad .”
A long moment of silence followed, and I strained to hear them in case I was missing something. That comment made me wonder if the resentment between them stemmed from Kingston’s relationship with Max’s father.
But if it was that, I was even more confused when Kingston finally replied.
“Unfortunately, that’s not a lesson I learned from either of our fathers, Max.”