“Well, I’m honestly a bit shocked that Cal actuallyhasa girlfriend. Not that we both don’t swing both ways, but still.”
“Well, he does.” I fight the urge to elbow him.
“I can see that. And secondly, I would have thought he’d end up with some submissive noble girl of the King’s choosing.”
“How do you know I’m not noble-born? Or submissive?”
A deep laugh tumbles out of Rafe. “Oh, you’re definitely not noble-born. You’re far too blunt for that, and no offense, your manners are atrocious in comparison. If you were raised in a noble family, you would have greeted me as ‘sir’, no matter who I was.”
I raise one shoulder. “Fair enough. I take that as a compliment.”
“As you should. As for being submissive,” Rafe lowers his mouth to my ear. “To be determined on that front, I guess. I bet you might enjoy being thrown around a bit and told what to do, if the circumstances were right.”
He casually leans back, as if his words didn’t directly go to my core, making me wet.
“Too bad for you that you’ll never find out.”
“We’ll see.” I can hear the smirk in his voice.
“Why are you so angry at Callum?” I decide to jump straight into the question I’ve been wondering. Rafe seems to appreciate my honesty, so I figured it couldn’t hurt.
“What relic are you hunting?”
“Those aren’t equal questions.” Neither Callum nor Ginna provided much detail to Rafe about the Eternity Stone, so I’m not sure if they’d want me to tell him.
“Both are questions that only Cal can provide the answer to.”
“Callum is the one who should be upset. You told him you loved him, and then you left him. And you never came back. Never told him anything!”
I’m getting heated now, my voice rising. I’m mad at Rafe for doing the same thing to Callum as my parents did to me. Abandoning someone they loved, never to return.
Rafe stills behind me. “You don’t know the full story.”
“Then tell me.”
“It’s not your problem.”
“What if I want it to be?”
“That’s enough for today, Elia.”
The tone of his voice told me that I had used up all my questions for the day. We ride together in silence until nightfall.
Chapter 29
Callum - Ten Years Ago
“What did you do that for?”
I had pulled Rafe in the closest supply closet after the council meeting had ended. Rafe waits for the footsteps to pass until he responds.
“What did I do what for?”
Being around Rafe is making me go insane. We had kissed up on that balcony almost a fortnight ago, and we never directly spoke about it afterwards. It was like that moment was a secret never to be talked about, a dream of mine that I kept replaying in my head.
“You- youwinkedat me across the room,” I splutter.
Rafe is trying to contain his laugh, biting down on his lip. The one I had gotten the chance to lick. “I winked at you?”
