Chapter 20
The next morning, Dean and Fawn started to leave for breakfast, but he stopped her by the door and picked up a box from a side table. “I’ve got something for you.”
The box was too large for jewelry—unless it held a crown. If he thought she would wear a crown around like a pretentious fool, he was sorely mistaken. “What is it?”
“A surprise,” he answered cryptically. “Close your eyes and hold out your left arm.”
A bracelet of some sort? How big could it be to need a box that size? He looked too excited for her to protest, so she held out her arm, closed her eyes, and waited.
The snap of the box opening and closing spiked her anticipation. She’d never received much in the way of gifts, other than from her grandparents. Something soft cinched around her wrist, fastening with a loud clink.
More rustling and then, “You can open your eyes.”
It took a minute for her to process what she saw. There was no fucking way he’d locked a leather cuff with an attached leash to her arm. She tugged at the cuff, but it wouldn’t budge. “Dean, what the hell is this?”
Her mate slid his right wrist through the loop at the other end of the strap, smiling. “It’s to ensure you don’t leave my sight again.”
She blinked at him. This had to be a joke. “Very funny. Unlock it.”
“No.” He opened the door to the hallway and gently pushed her forward. “We’re going to be late.”
His cool demeanor pissed her off and she yanked on the leash. “I’m not moving until you take this off me,” she seethed.
“You can either come willingly, or I’ll carry you,” he said casually. “It’s your choice.”
“Again, I don’t think you know what that word means.” She tugged at the leather cuff, trying to tear it. “I’m not walking in there leashed like a dog!” Her anxiety spiked, the leather tingling against her skin.
He bent to kiss her head as he often did, and she put up a palm to block him. “Don’t kiss me right now or I’ll strangle you with this.” She snapped the strap at him in warning.
A hurt look crossed Dean’s face. “I only want you to be safe.”
“This isn’t keeping me safe,” she said softer. “It’s insane behavior.”
Dean’s lips quirked. “Some people enjoy being leashed. Let’s test it out.”
“I don’t,” she snapped. “Take this off of me right now or I’m not going to breakfast.”
He sighed. “Very well.” Fawn’s relief was short-lived because seconds later, he hoisted her over his shoulder. “We’ll do this the hard way.”
“Dean!” She swatted at his back. “Let. Me. Down .”
He popped her on the ass. “I gave you a choice.”
“No, you didn’t, you psycho.” She tried to wiggle enough to force his hand, but he held strong and headed toward the dining room.
The only thing more embarrassing than wearing a leash in front of other people was wearing a leash and being carried in over the king’s shoulder. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll walk, but after breakfast you’re taking this off of me.”
He gently set her on the ground with a triumphant smile. “Good girl.” His tone was smug enough to make her see red.
She considered punching him. “I’m going to kill you.”
Dean wiggled his eyebrows. “That’s foreplay, darling.”
They entered the dining room, and Fawn tried to look nonchalant, as if wearing a leash was a normal occurrence, but if the looks on everyone’s faces were any indication, she failed.
Violet’s gaze snagged on the cuff and traced up the strap to Dean’s wrist. Her two friends traded a look, and Monroe clamped his lips together with dancing eyes.
Gods damn it. At least Naomi had riding lessons with Jeremiah this morning or else she would have asked about it immediately.
“Take this off of me,” she hissed low enough that the others couldn’t hear.
Dean ignored her, and she decided to strangle him with the strap when they were out of prying eyes that could testify against her.
The king pulled out her chair and she lowered herself into it, averting her eyes from the rest of the table. The cuff bit into her skin, already close to unbearable.
Between Violet and Monroe, the conversation kept moving.
Violet explained that her friends Lydia and Victoria lived in the Garden Kingdom and had arrived in the capital the night before to visit her before she leaves for the Human Kingdom.
It was a pleasant meal and conversation, if you ignored the fact that one of the breakfast guests was shackled to another.
Fawn was thankful for Cali’s absence. She couldn’t bear her seeing her in her current condition.
The feel of the leather against her skin had escalated, and she needed it off immediately.
The others excused themselves as they finished their meal, and Monroe told her he’d meet them at the front entrance in a couple of hours for their shopping excursion.
With a last glance at Fawn’s wrist, he giggled and left the room at Braddock’s side.
Only a few staff remained, and Dean spoke with one of the waiters about something Fawn couldn’t concentrate on enough to hear.
Thankful for his distraction, she took her knife and tried to carefully slip it under the cuff to saw it off.
The leather molded against her sweaty skin, feeding her frantic need to escape.
Dean’s hand went to his chest, and he whipped his head around to look at her just as she stuck the tip under the material and yanked. The blade sliced through the leather, but she hadn’t expected it to on the first try, and the knife snapped free, her arm going forward with the momentum.
Dean tried to turn and grab her wrist, but he wasn’t quick enough.
“What are yo—” Fawn watched in horror as she stabbed Dean in the side.
He grunted, eyes wide, and red bloomed across his pale blue shirt.
“Darling,” he ground out, examining the knife jutting from his side.
“You never told me you liked blood play.”
Fawn’s hands flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to stab you, I swear.” Tears gathered in her eyes. “I just needed the cuff off and the knife slipped.”
“You did say you’d kill me,” he teased, his voice tense. Turning to the stunned server, he ordered him to bring a healer. “It’s alright, darling.” He retrieved a key out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Who knew you were this blood thirsty?”
In a daze, she accepted the key and removed the leather shackle.
“I did help bury a body,” she tried to joke, but the words were strangled.
“Shit.” She apologized profusely, and Dean used his left hand to pinch the end of her chin.
“Stop apologizing. I pushed you too far because of my own fears. I see that now. We’ll talk about it later, but for now, I need you to remain calm.
Your emotions are crashing through my chest.”
Fawn nodded and breathed deep, doing what she did best and locking her inner turmoil into a box. She bit back another apology and to her utter mortification, Cali hurried into the room with a large bag in her hand.
“What happened?” she gasped at the knife and blood. “Oh my gods!”
“I’m alright, swe—Cali. Just a bit of foreplay gone too far.” He winked at Fawn.
Cali turned hate-filled eyes on Fawn and spat, “You attacked your king?”
“Her mate,” Dean corrected her. “Call it a love tap.”
“Move,” she snarled at Fawn. “I need space to work.”
“Cali,” Dean warned. “Do not speak to her that way.”
Cali bit back a scathing remark and positioned herself at his side. Her voice softened into an affectionate murmur. “I just hate seeing you hurt, D.”
Fawn gritted her teeth at the nickname. She tried to give the woman grace in the beginning, but that grace just flew out the window for good.
“We need to take off your shirt.” Cali started to unbutton his shirt, and her fingers brushed against his skin. Fawn’s worry for Dean overrode her raging jealousy. The sight etched itself into her memory, destined to haunt her later.
She watched helplessly as her mate’s ex-fiancé patched him up and saved the day.
Dean should’ve been angry that his mate stabbed him, but all he could think about was the fear in her eyes. She cares about me. He grinned.
“This isn’t funny,” Fawn huffed. “I could have killed you.”
He lay stretched across the bed, torso bandaged, while his mate hovered with furrowed brows. “Nothing in this world could take me from you, not even your murderous rage.”
“I didn’t try to kill you,” she said for the hundredth time. He laughed, the sound bubbling up too easily these days, then groaned. Pain lanced through him, but it was worth it.
He’d laughed more in the week since meeting Fawn than in his entire life. “If you say so, little assassin.”
She growled, frustration spilling out as she thunked a tray of food onto the side table. “Sit up. It’s time to eat.”
“Will you feed me, pet?” he teased, his grin sharp.
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “I haven’t forgiven you for putting me on a leash.”
“You can’t stay mad at me after trying to kill me.” He tapped the bandage. “You delivered your revenge.”
“If I’d tried to kill you, you wouldn’t be here to tease me about it,” she shot back.
“If I die before you, make no mistake, I’ll find my way back to you and haunt you until you’re ready to join me in the afterlife.” He pushed himself upright, wincing but steady. “I thought I lost you once. I won’t do it again.”
Her expression softened, affection slipping through the cracks in her anger. He beckoned her closer, and when she sat beside him, he reached for her hand. “I want to apologize for the cuff.”
“You mean the leash.” She brushed his hair from his eyes. “You’re forgiven. But you can’t control me, Dean. I’ll never be happy in a cage.”
He encircled her wrist and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I’ll try to do better,” he vowed. “I’m terrified of someone taking you from me.”
Her voice quieted, but her words landed like a vow. “What makes you think I wouldn’t find my way back to you, too?”
A knot tightened in his throat at the promise she didn’t quite name. It had only been a week—ridiculous, even reckless—but he couldn’t deny it. He had fallen in love with her long before, back when he was fourteen and she’d kept his head above water.”