He gives me a look that suggests I’m not far off the mark.
I roll my eyes and take a glug, choking the moment I swallow.
“That’s disgusting,” I rasp as the cool liquid burns a trail all the way to my belly where it swirls around, adding weight to my already burdened lids. I hand it back and bunker down, drawing comfort from his awkward angles and stiff demeanor. “But effective.”
He sighs and drapes an arm around me. “I’m going to get castrated for this.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” I slur, dragging myself full of his rich scent—blooming nightshade with a hint of woodsy undertones.
“I’m not being dramatic.” He takes a large gulp, hissing from between clenched teeth when he swallows.
“Tanith won’t tell.”
He smirks, studying the dancing flames that are gently warming the room. “To be fair, I doubt your handmaid will have it in her to make it up those stairs in the morning. Not after the state Ileft her in.”
I jerk upright and glare at him, taking in his naked torso, bed-swept hair, the lazy smile ...
He waggles his brows.
My face twists along with my guts.
“Ispecificallytold you Tanith was off limits!” I stab him in the chest with my pointy finger. “She’s young, and she wants things you can’t give her.”
“She’s older than you, and I gave her plenty, thank you very much.”
Walked right into that one.
“What would Halena think if she knew you were messing around with my handmaid?”
He lifts a shoulder. “She was there, too.”
My mouth falls open, closes, opens again ...
He chuckles, making the dimple on his right cheek pucker, and I consider tossing him off the balcony.
“We tried this thing where we used a ca—”
I stamp my hand over his mouth. “Just... stop talking,” I grumble, flopping down and nuzzling in.
He tucks me closer, retrievingGypsy and the Night Kingoff my side table. “Your loss.”
“That’s open to interpretation.”
I listen to him flick through a few pages. “Well, I was going to read you a bedtime story, but some of this content makes me wildly uncomfortable.”
“It’sromance. Of course it grates you the wrong way.”
“If I had to choose what to do with my last breath, I’d spend it kissing you until I slipped away ...” He scoffs, flipping another page. “Hate to break it to you, but no man talks like that.”
“He talks toherlike that.” I snatch the book, close the damn thing, and stuff it under my pillow. “She’s the exception because she’s hismate.”
Baze makes a choking sound and draws another swig from his flask, this one much deeper than the last. “That book is toxic,” he bites out through a wince. “You should use it to stoke the fire.”
“Can’t. Tanith lent it to me.”
He curses low and swallows another glug while I stifle a smile, watching dark shapes twist on my walls—dodging the burnt light my blazing hearth is throwing at them.
Moments drag, pulled taut like the anxious band around my chest.
