Ryker hesitated for a breath before nodding, then left without a word or glance at Rynn. There’d been a good crowd around the bar when I’d walked out, all of them trying to order food before the stew ran out. I was confident I had at least eight minutes before he returned.
I waited until I heard him hit the stairs, and then I was across the room with a dagger at Rynn’s throat.
“We’re going to have a quick chat, beautiful,” I purred.
She went completely still, and I saw the uncertainty and apprehension in her expression. It was what I’d been going for. To throw her off enough that lying would be more difficult. Normally, I enjoyed this sort of thing, but part of me was pissed off at Rynn for having this reaction.
“You’ve had Ryker’s teeth at your throat, and you weren’t the least bit frightened,” I said coldly. “And yet I see fear in your eyes now.”
Her throat bobbed, and a bead of blood formed where the blade pressed against her skin.
“Ryker would never hurt me,” she said quietly but firmly.
I arched a brow and briefly glanced at her neck where he’d bitten her. A few white marks still remained from Ryker’s teeth. They would eventually fade completely, but Velesian healing was always slower with bite marks from mates or potential mates on that area of the body. Either Rynn didn’t know that or this was the first time Ryker had bitten her in that particular spot.
Pink stained her cheeks. “He wouldn’t hurt me in a way I didn’t enjoy,” she amended.
Unlike Rynn, I was extremely good at hiding my emotions, which was why she didn’t see an ounce of the lust that punched me in the chest at those words.
“Our budding friendship seems to already be on shaky ground.” I made a noise of disapproval. “First, you lie to me so you can sneak off to visit the Moroi, and now, I learn that you believe me capable of hurting you.” A smile curved across my mouth. “In a way you won’t like.”
Despite her fear, defiance flashed in her eyes. “We were never friends. You were playing me.”
“Was I?” I tilted my head.
“Yes,” she spat. “To get me to trust you or fuck you. Probably both. There is no world we can dream of where you and I are friends.”
Okay, her throwing a version of my words back in my face stung a bit. I had been playing with her, showing her a carefully curated version of myself to get past her prickly defenses, but that night . . . that foolish, wishful dream where we were actually a pack, maybe more . . . that had been real for me, and I knew it had been real for her too, because if it hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been so pissed off at me right now.
“Besides,” Rynn continued, “a friend wouldn’t have stayed in that stable and watched.”
I chuckled. “That all depends on the friend, Princess.”
She turned a lovely shade of red. “You going to hold the dagger on me all night?”
“Did you tell Ryker that I know? That I was there as he pounded into you but all your attention was locked on me and my co?—”
“I wasn’t thinking about you at all!” She leaned forward, forcing me to ease up on the dagger a little so I didn’t cut her throat too deeply.
“Sure you weren’t.” I smirked. “Seems you’re both a voyeur and an exhibitionist, or were you thinking about what it would be like if I joined you two?”
Her eyes widened, and I knew I’d guessed right. I’d definitely be dreaming about that later, but Ryker would be back any minute, so I needed to move this along.
“Answer the question.” I watched a drop of blood drip down her pretty pale neck. “Did you tell Ryker?”
“No,” she said flatly.
“And I take it you don’t want him to know?”
“No,” she repeated. “Ryker and I . . .” For the first time since I’d pressed the dagger against her throat, Rynn looked away. “It’s a mistake. One I need to stop making.”
“And how many times have you made it?”
Her gaze snapped back to me. “Fuck off.”
“Many times then.” I chuckled. “If you want me to keep this secret, you’ll have to give me something in return.”
“You expect me to believe you’re not going to tell him right away?” she scoffed. “I know where I stand with you assholes. There’s no way you’re keeping this from him.”
