I waited a few more minutes, but none of the other ladies showed any signs of retiring. Finally, I pushed back my chair.
“I’m tired,” I said.
Lisveth smiled at me. The others ignored me.
“Good night.”
I practically ran from the dining hall. I hadn’t seen Rythos or the rest of the group, but if Lorian was here, I had little doubt they were around somewhere.
Someone took my arm, and I stumbled. Then I was being swept into an empty room.
Lorian glowered down at me. My stupid body wanted to arch against him. Clearly, all the stress was impacting my mind.
“You were supposed to get on a ship,” he growled.
I took a deep breath, and his enticing scent wound toward me. He smelled wild, like the forest, and it reminded me of sleeping outdoors beneath the stars. “I’m going nowhere until Asinia is safe.”
He went still in that strange way he so often did. “You’re risking everything for a woman who is probably dead already?”
I sniffed. “I don’t know how to explain friendship and loyalty to you. You either know what those things are, or you don’t.”
The ghost of a smile crossed his face. We both knew he was intensely loyal to his friends. “Tell me.”
“It’s simple. She’s my best friend. More like a sister than a friend. And I know, without a doubt, that if I were the one who’d been taken, she’d do the same for me.”
“Yet neither of you knew the other had power.”
Something I’d avoided thinking about until I could talk to Asinia.
“Our friendship had secrets. But none of that matters now. The question is, what the hell are you doing here?” I hissed.
He just raised one dark brow. “How about you tell me how a villager gets a position as one of the queen’s ladies?”
“As soon as you tell me how a mercenary has a seat at the king’s table.”
He gave me a slow smile. “I never said I was a mercenary.”
Of all the— “You’re not from Gromalia either!”
“According to whom?” He had the audacity to look affronted.
“The idea of you being a prince is ludicrous.”
“Almost as ludicrous as a villager being a queen’s lady?”
I sneered at him.
“Although, for a savage villager, you certainly manage to outshine the other ladies,” he purred.
“Don’t try to distract me.”
He grinned down at me. “But you make it so easy.” He reached a hand up to play with the curl that had been left free over my forehead. “I like your real hair better. And I miss those strange eyes.”
“Strange?”
“Strangely beautiful.”
Something had sparked in Lorian since I’d seen him last. He was almost…charming. Was it because he was close to getting whatever it was he’d come here for?
His hand slid to my chin. “I missed the rest of you too. The way you scowl at me when I say something you disagree with. And that face you make when you’re wondering what I’d look like naked.”
My heart thundered, an entirely unwelcome awareness flooding my body. “I don’t wonder what you’d look like naked!”
“Ah, you wouldn’t need to wonder, would you? Because you watched me bathing at the inn, you wicked thing.”
My cheeks blazed. I thought back to the way he’d stretched, as if on display. Because he had been. This man was a predator at his core. Had I really thought he hadn’t felt my eyes on him?
This conversation had quickly slipped out of my control.
Lorian shifted closer to me, leaning down to sniff at my neck. I pulled my head back and planted my hands on my hips. “Whatever you’re doing here, stay out of my way.”
His expression turned serious. “Only if you restrain yourself from spying on me.”
“Fine.”
He stepped back, his eyes still intent in that strange way.
He cursed, and then he was kissing me. His lips caressed mine achingly slowly. As if I’d stopped time for us. Warmth traveled through my body, my limbs strangely languid. One of his hands slid to my ribs, right beneath my breast, and I wanted to arch my body, wanted to writhe until he was touching me higher.
He slowly lifted his head. His expression was cold, but his eyes…blazed. “Unless you want to end up in my bed, stay away from me.”
Of all the—
I shoved against his chest, and he took his time stepping back. “That will never happen,” I hissed, ignoring his low laugh. I stalked out of the room.