13 #2
I looked down at my hands. Remembering what had transpired in his room, and what his forces had done to Tyressa’s home—the people flayed by claws—I picked dirt from my nails. “You know what I meant.”
“You believe I want to fuck you.”
I flinched. My eyes shot to him as my mouth fell open.
“I’m curious.” Unmistakable amusement brightened his eyes. “What would that achieve for Valadorn?”
I couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or if he was trying to goad me into lewd conversation. But I lifted my chin and said, “Humiliating my father in such a way could have dire consequences.”
“Ah.” A single nod. “Smudging Cloverleaf’s shiny jewel may cause tension between him and his gutless followers.”
Anger curled my fingers into my palms. All too aware of what he was capable of, I responded as softly as I could manage. “Speaking so harshly about people you do not know is never wise.”
His lips curved. “Shiny indeed.” Looking at my hands, he swept his tongue over his teeth. “Fret not. I won’t…” An intentional pause came before he said, “Smudge you, Princess.”
I almost scoffed. “Then why do you want me indebted to you?”
“Maybe I simply want to kiss you again.” His eyes climbed my body to my face. He straightened from the windowsill and took two measured steps into the walkway. Giant steps. “Maybe I want to kiss you as much as I want.” Another step toward me. “Whenever I want.”
The word left me on a shocked breath. “Why?”
“I think that’s obvious.”
Laughing a little, I said through it, “I’ve come to learn that you and obvious are not a likely combination.”
He no longer found me amusing. His eyes were expanding black, rimmed in darkest blue. Features still and expressionless, he declared, “I liked kissing you.”
My stomach tightened.
He’s lying.
I didn’t say that. Instead, I decided to tread carefully. “I think you’re the one playing now.”
“I do not play.”
“No. You want something,” I prattled on. “If not to humiliate my father and me, then information about the Scale Crown.” I retreated a step when he took another. “But you won’t get it. Not from me. My father never included me in his council meetings, nor has he confided in me about this war.”
It felt like a betrayal of sorts to admit that. However, not only was it true, but it could hopefully put an end to his determination to get closer to me.
Voran eyed the small amount of space between us. He was so broad, his shoulders nearly touched the shelves on either side of him. “The war over the wyverns is already won.”
Momentarily thrown by the sheer size of him and his statement, I failed to keep my fear from getting the better of me. “How casually you speak of the evil you’re committing.”
“Because it’s true. We both know it, and therefore”—he spread his hands—“you know I’m being honest about what I desire from you.”
The word desire was a pail of iced water dumped over my head. “It doesn’t matter what I believe. I cannot do…” I withheld a nervous laugh. “That.”
“Kiss me?”
“Yes.” I amended, “I mean, that’s right. I cannot.”
Again, Voran stepped closer. “You are indebted to me.”
Again, I retreated a step. “I am painfully aware.”
His twitching lips cracked his emotionless mask. “No one needs to know, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
The thickened lilt of his voice and the glint in his eye caused an almost sickening fluttering in my chest. This was a male who destroyed and took lives. A prince who turned into a murderous beast. A wolf who’d marred my neck—perhaps irreversibly.
And he’d supposedly saved me so that he could make me kiss him.
My head spun. Absurd. This was utterly and bewilderingly absurd. I couldn’t determine if it was all the reasons he shouldn’t want to kiss me that made it so, or if it was that he appeared to truly want to.
Of course, kissing me might not seem so absurd to him. Little would change for this prince after the war. But for every other ward in this fortress, even those who’d yet to have their kingdoms touched by wyvern flame, nothing would be the same.
I might have already kissed him, but that had been a game. Anything more was intentional.
Was betraying my friends, my father, and my kingdom.
While searching my addled mind for a response, my eyes swept over the hundreds of books surrounding us, and I wondered if maybe I could appease him by giving him something else. Something that would help me determine his intent.
And maybe, just maybe, provide me with some intel to aid my father.
“I cannot kiss you.” I couldn’t even meet his gaze as I said the word kiss. “But perhaps I can honor this debt in another way.”
Displeasure tautened his fearsome features. “You would feed me again?”
“You do not need me to feed you.”
“But I really fucking do,” he sighed more than said.
I couldn’t help it—and smiled.
His features eased as he stared at my mouth.
It sent my heart into my throat and my eyes to the stone floor.
Dust motes danced within arches of light cast from the orange-stained windows.
They drifted around his giant boots. Worn yet incredibly clean boots, as if he scrubbed them at the end of each day.
I fixed my gaze on them while apprehension grew and pulled at my bones. I counted to three, then looked up.
As I did, I blurted, “I can teach you how to read.”
The way his eyes widened was almost comical—proving that had been the absolute last thing he’d expected me to offer. But he quickly narrowed them and repeated tightly, “Teach me how to read?”
I nodded.
“No.” An instant response that sliced through the warm air, cold in finality.
Determined now, I tipped my shoulders. “That’s what I’m offering.”
He warned, “You do not get to decide how a debt you owe is repaid, Princess.”
It took effort to keep my fraying resolve from spoiling my lighthearted tone. “Then I think I shall simply do my best to hide your mark and avoid you forevermore.”
His brows scrunched. “You will fail.”
“Maybe.” Smiling, even as my heartbeat screamed in my ears, I gave him my back. “Goodbye, Prince Voran.”
“And what if I do not want to learn?” A scathing question. Bitten between his teeth. “How to read.”
“Then you wouldn’t have that book on your nightstand.” Turning to him, I tossed a hand at the shelves. “Nor would you be here, trying to find another that might help you.”
His jaw tightened. A muscle feathered in the hewn edge. “Let me rephrase that.” He rubbed his mouth, then exhaled roughly. “What if there are other things I would prefer to learn?”
Unwilling to ask him what he meant, I shook my head. “If you want me to repay the debt, then this is how I can do it.” Gentle but firm, I said, “A lifelong skill in return for a life saved seems fair to me.” With that, I traipsed down the walkway.
My smug exit was ruined when the bell tolled for lunch—loudly due to the bell tower residing right above this floor.
I jumped.
The prince’s chuckle trailed me, and the sound nearly tripped my unsteady feet. Just as I was about to turn the corner and head down to the north wing, I heard, “Fine.”
I stopped.
“We start tomorrow,” he said. “After lunch.”
My back faced him, so I let myself smile.
It fell when he added, “In my room.”