I swallowed. “You’re different.”
“That’s also an understatement, na’laa.”
Alone with the Prince, I shifted from one foot to the next. “So, why will the morning be an early one? Have you changed your mind and will be leaving to meet your armies at dawn?”
Prince Thorne chuckled. “Don’t fret. I will not be leaving you so soon. Tomorrow I will be meeting with those in Archwood to begin training those who are able and willing to defend their city.”
“Oh,” I whispered, clasping my hands together.
He glanced at me. “You seem unsettled by that.”
“I am. It’s not that I’ve forgotten what is to come. It’s just hearing that makes it more real. And I wasn’t fretting over your absence.” I glanced beyond him, to the doors. I bit down on my lip, inching to the side. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Don’t.”
My gaze flew back to him.
“I would warn against attempting to run,” he advised, walking past me.
“Because you will stop me?”
“Because I will give chase.” He unhooked the straps holding the short sword to his back as he crossed into the bedchamber. “And I will capture you.”
I tensed.
The Prince stopped in the bedchamber, angling his body toward me as he lowered the sword he’d withdrawn. “But perhaps that is what you’d want.” He tossed the sheathed sword onto a chest. “To run. For me to chase.”
An unwanted thrill hit my blood. It was yet further proof of something being very, drastically wrong with me. I swallowed, holding myself still. “I don’t want that.”
One side of his lips quirked up as he unhooked his baldric. “What do you want, na’laa?”
“Not this.”
His laugh was like dark smoke. “What do you think this is?”
“I think I’m to be your own personal cattle.”
A short laugh left him. “My what?”
“You want me so you can easily feed. You said so yourself— ”
“That is not the sole reason,” he cut in. “Your baron wanted a reason. I gave him one.”
“Then why?” I stopped myself. His reasons didn’t matter. “I didn’t agree to anything.”
He placed the weapons down, then kicked off his boots, apparently not having a small arsenal to unload this night. “That’s not how I recall it happening.”
“I’m sorry? That’s not how you recall it?” I stared at him in disbelief. “I’m sure I was quite clear.”
“Yes. You were quite clear.” His head tilted. “Just as you were quite clear when you came on my fingers— not once but twice.”
My mouth dropped open as heat flooded my cheeks and lower, deep inside me, where my body clearly knew no shame.
His nostrils flared, his eyes becoming luminous even in the distance, and I knew he sensed that curl of desire.
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not sure what that has to do with this arrangement you insist upon.”
“It has everything to do with it.” He disappeared for a moment, then reappeared, carrying a bottle of liquor and two glasses.
The breath I took went nowhere as I watched him stop by the table and pour two glasses. “Then if that is the case, there are many within this manor and city who would be willing to take my place.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “But would any of them throw a glass at me?”
I drew a short breath through my nose. “Likely not, which should relieve you.”
“But it doesn’t.”
I blinked, unsure of what to say to that, because he wanted blunt objects thrown at his head? Which meant Claude had been right about that.
“And I also know that none of them would remind me of cherries or taste as good on my fingers,” he continued, offering the half-filled glass. “Nor are any of them a mystery to me.”
“There’s nothing about me that is a mystery.” I stared at the glass, then snatched it from him.
Prince Thorne eyed me, his stare so intense it was hard to stand still. “Why are you so against this arrangement?” His brows knitted as I took a drink of what turned out to be some sort of dark wine. “Please do not tell me you have feelings for your baron.”
That I hadn’t been expecting. “And what if I did?”
His jaw hardened. “Then your feelings would be wasted on a man who is clearly not worthy of them.”
Thrown by his statement, it took me a moment to respond. “You don’t know the Baron well enough to decide that.”