"There's no need. I don't care."
"Well, evidently you do!"
And then for the first time in years, I fight with my brother and spend the night in guilty tears.
Chapter11
An Error in the Forest (Rexxan)
Ihave officially lost my fucking mind.
That is the only explanation for what I did last night. I’m eight hundred years old, and I’m behaving like I’m eighty. The only reason Renna isn't in my prison just to keep her out of my way is the memory of finding her half-dead in her cell. I cannot remember ever wanting someone so much, or so intensely.
I've been hard since she stepped foot in my palace. But she's everything I need to avoid. She leaves a trail of trouble everywhere she goes. Iwillget rid of her, because the only thing that burns hotter than my desire to be inside her is the intensity of my dislike for her and the web of lies that comes out of her mouth.
Ascan escorts her into my study, and the temperature of my blood rises instantly. Will I always feel this drawn to her? Like there's some otherworldly magnet that's making me desperate to touch her, to feel the heat of her skin beneath my touch. I want her crying out my name. Fuck that, Ineedher crying out my name. It only worsens when I look up at her.
The legs that plague my nocturnal thoughts are clad in black hunting trousers. Three differently sized blades strap against the athletic curves of her thigh. Her waist is cinched by a black leather belt, her hair loose and glossy down to her hips. What looks like blood from a wolf splatters her neck and face, but it could be human for all I know. I've been having her closely watched, and she gets up to all sorts of shady activities whilst the world around her sleeps.
"I've just got back from the forest," she says, by way of explanation.Unashamed, her eyes roam over my arms and shoulders in my shirt, biting her lip to control a smile.
"Trespassing, which is an imprisonable offence, as you well know by now," I say, coldly.
She pulls awhat-can-you-do?face, shrugs, and takes a pear from the bowl in my study. I am not going to imprison her. I need this woman as far away from me as possible. I open a drawer, laying out a contract in front of her, and she squares her shoulders like she means business. It’s sweet.
I spend an hour going through it with her, ensuring she understands each step. She's far more intelligent than she lets on, and I realise that this is deliberate. She's underestimated and it gives her the upper hand. Even the fact that she speaks multiple languages is odd, given she was never educated and is only in her twenties.
She scrawls notes across the contract, and after three and a half hours of negotiation, we reach an agreement. Even more incredibly, despite the stifling tension between us, we make it through the meeting without me laying her over the desk in front of us and eating her like I’m starved.
I am starved.
She signs both copies, taking one for herself and reading it through once more. White teeth nibbling on a fingernail draw my attention to her mouth, and I continue the perpetual fight to keep my thoughts professional around her.
"This will work for us, Rexxan. My people will be happy."
"Good. We'll revisit this in six months. If I'm not happy with how it is working, this will be null and void."
She sighs, rolling her dark, dark eyes but nodding her agreement. I don’t miss the wordmegalomaniacwhispered under her breath, though.
"I have a healer looking into your sickness."
Beautiful but deceitful eyes meet mine and for a split second there’s a flash of panic, but it’s gone as fast as it came. She's a liar and an assassin, so whilst I'm not shocked by the constant falsehoods that leave those intoxicating lips, they still disappoint me every time.
"That's not necessary, Rexxan."
I stretch back in my chair, crossing my legs and interlacing my fingers. "Call it curiosity, then.”
Yes, Renna, I'm onto you. She lets out a shaky sigh, saying nothing in return. She is quiet today. Something is bothering her, but she doesn’t tell me what, and I don’t press. I don’t ask her whether she is leaving today or staying for the week, because I shouldn't care.
We speak very briefly about the threats of war over the Vault break-in and the rising threats in the South. Once again, I am struck by how wise she is for someone so young. She stands up, and for the first time since I'd met her, bows to me.
"My lord," she nods her goodbye, her voice unintentionally seductive. “Thank you for your time."
She leaves with Ascan without another look in my direction.
* * *
I havea problem saying no to Lynna. That is why the two of us sit on opposite sofas in one of my libraries, deep in conversation. I'm glad she's the only woman in my life because I cannot handle another. Why do they analyse every detail of every conversation?
