“I am not remotely—” I snapped my mouth shut, realizing he was actually teasing me. Was this all some grand joke to him?
“It’s considered a great honor in Atlantia to be welcomed into the bosom of the noble, ruling family,” he went on. “I think my mother is going to like you.”
I shot to my feet. “We are not getting married!” Slamming the knife down, it scored deep into the wood of the table by the bed, the handle vibrating from the impact.
“On second thought, my mother is definitely going to like you,” Hawke murmured, and right then, he was Hawke.
That was the bemused tone I was all too familiar with, and it threw me enough that it took a few moments to recover, to remember that it was simply another mask. “Why? Because I didn’t throw it at your face this time?”
“She’ll most likely be amused to hear that you have done exactly that,” he said, and my brows knitted. “And she will be happy to know that you are capable of showing restraint.”
“Now, I wish I hadn’t shown restraint.”
Casteel chuckled, and that too sounded so familiar, but it was Casteel’s laugh that faded. It was his golden eyes that held an intense look of fascination. He was both Hawke and Casteel, but it was the latter that I now dealt with. He leaned forward in his chair, lowering both bare feet to the floor. “You are so incredibly beautiful when you’re angry.”
I refused to be flattered by that somewhat weird compliment. “And you’re so incredibly disturbed.”
“Been called worse.”
“I’m sure you have.” I folded my arms across my chest.
He rose from the chair, and for a moment, I got a little lost in all the bronze skin on display. “We’ll talk tomorrow about our future—”
“There is no future to talk about. We’re not marrying,” I cut in.
“I think you’ll find my reasonings impossible to refuse.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
“We’ll see.”
“No, we—what are you doing?” I demanded as he walked to the other side of the bed. “What are you doing?”
“Getting into bed.”
“Why?” My voice pitched high.
He arched a brow as he pulled the blanket aside. “To go to sleep.”
“I figured that out, thanks. But why do you think you get to sleep in the same bedchamber, let alone the same bed with me?”
“Because, as I explained earlier, this is my bedchamber.”
“Then I will find another room.”
“There are no other rooms available, Princess.”
My hands dug into the blanket as my mind raced. “This isn’t appropriate. I’m the Maiden. Or was. Whatever. I’m the definition of appropriate.”
He stared at me. “Besides the fact that you are not the definition of appropriate, everyone in this keep knows that we’ve already shared a bed, Poppy.”
“Well, that’s just…” My face burned. “That’s just great.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I’m not going to try to escape! I promise.”
“I hope you don’t think I’m foolish enough to trust your vow.” Casteel picked up a rather flat pillow and fluffed it. “So, either it’s me in here, or it’s Kieran. Would you rather it be him? If so, I will summon him for you.” He tossed the pillow toward the head of the bed. “But just so you know, he often slips into his wolven form and has a habit of kicking in his sleep.”
My lips slowly parted. “What? Wait. I don’t need an explanation of that. I don’t want Kieran.”
The hint of a smile was pure wickedness. “You want me.”
“That is not what I said. You can sleep on the floor.”
“I am not sleeping on the floor. And before you say it, neither are you.” He slipped into bed with enviable grace. “No matter what you think you know of me, I hope you realize that I would never force myself on you, nor would I compel you to do something like that. I won’t ever do something you don’t want from me, and that’s not just because I know what that feels like,” he said flatly, and my heart squeezed. “It’s because I’ve never been that kind of person.”
“I don’t think you would do something like that,” I said quickly. And I didn’t want to know. I…needed to know. “What did they do to you?”
“That’s not something I really want to get into, Poppy.”