Breath shifted the strands of my hair. The scent of rain and mint leaves mingled with the salt of the water. Needles stabbed at me where his skin breathed heat back into mine, suffocating the comfortable weight of my muscles, leaving me stiff and ungainly. I wiggled my toes and felt Kye lift his head to gaze over my shoulder at me.
“Thought you fell asleep,” he murmured in my ear. His thumb slid around the curve of my elbow, sending raised pimples of another nature down my arm.
I closed my eyes, pressing my cheek against his arm like a pillow, letting myself melt into him. But I couldn’t sleep. “What are you thinking about?” I asked softly, for no reason other thanthe sudden desire to hear his voice, to feel the rumble of his chest against my shoulder blades.
Body pressed against my own, he gave a dark laugh and didn’t answer. The sound and vibration of it woke something in my core.
The needles in my skin grew sharper. I fidgeted, working my limbs to banish the pinch of returning body heat, until he hissed, “Please stop.”
His tone sent a squirm further into my belly. A small smile invaded my mouth. “I can’t help it.” My bones had a mind of their own whenever I was doused in cold, restless and impatient, and I was reminded of those first few days after my failed transition in Leihani, the sensation of crawling insects over my legs.
“Find a way to try.”
“Distract me, then.” I rolled enough to glance at him sidelong, and he narrowed a single eye at me.
Heat flickered in his gaze. “How would you like me to distract you?”
My mouth went dry. Despite the chill in my bones, a flush set in, creeping under my flesh. “I don’t know. What’s your favorite food?”
He paused, considering me. “Leihaniian tuna wrapped in banana leaves and baked in an underground oven.”
I snorted. “Liar.”
“Mashed breadfruit, grown in an island garden.”
I shook my head at him, wondering if his willingness to tease me meant he’d overlooked my disregard for his warning.
“Soup from clams hunted on the beach of a cursed island.”
“Never mind,” I said, pulling his shirt over my shoulder, though my smile hadn’t yet dissolved.
“Hadrian and I used to play a game when we were younger. You ask the first question that comes to your mind, and then theother person must answer without giving themself time to think about it.”
“Okay,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me. Against Kye, my back had thawed considerably, but my front remained frozen. I forced away the urge to turn around.
“You start.”
I scoffed. “I already asked what your favorite thing to eat was.”
“You asked what my favoritefoodwas.”
Shooting him a look of impatience, I paused as I was met with a mischievous stare. “You’re disgusting,” I deadpanned, narrowing my gaze into the cliffs again. His answering chuckle sent electricity under my skin, the velvet in his raspy voice waking something deep within me. I hid my smile in the crook of my arm, trying to drum up a question he’d actually want to answer.
What sorts of things interested Kye? I realized I didn’t know very many. He had a penchant for disregarding expectations of the crown. He liked to sneak out of the castle. He was a commander. A master of military strategy, training recruits, sword play.
“What’s the easiest way for two countries to settle a dispute?Besideswar,” I quickly added, feeling his mouth already shaping the word against the back of my head.
He snickered. “Do you not understand the point of the questions game?”
“No, not really.”
“Fair enough.” He grinned into my hair. “The easiest way is probably to buy an enemy out. Give them money.”
“What if you have no money?”
“Give them what they want, then.”
“What if what they want takes away your freedom?”
