Page 19 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

“Sleep?” I frowned. “Where?”

“I’ve got a guest bedroom you can use. Come on, I’ll get you settled.”

“I’m not comfortable with that,” I managed.

“Well, sugar, that’s too fucking bad.”

“Is this because you still don’t trust me?” I demanded, rising to my feet. Because the feeling was mutual.

“You’re the best lead I have. So I think I’ll keep that cotton candy head of yours around a little longer, hmm? Come on.”

I clenched my teeth. My feet stayed planted where I stood. I glanced at the windows again. It’s not like I was getting out.

“I want to go home.”

“Tomorrow, perhaps. I’ve got some thinking to do first.”

“Your thinking is what got us into this mess,” I called after him as he disappeared through the arch. One second of silence ticked into two, into three⁠—

“Damnit, Eleanor, get that cute ass over here. I’d like to get some sleep sometime tonight.”

I was tired too, and trapped. Despite every instinct screaming at me to keep fighting, I recognized defeat when I saw it. I wouldn't be going home tonight—and maybe that scared me less than it should have. Still, I needed to set boundaries. I wasn’t some lap dog who jumped on command.

So I planted my feet and crossed my arms, not moving an inch.

Bastian’s dumb face reappeared in the doorway. “Looks like we’re doing this the hard way, then.”

I was fully prepared for him to wave his hand, do some fancy magic, and put me into some kind of invisible binding like he’d done before. Prepared to hate him all the more for his manhandling. What I wasn’t prepared for, was for him to sling me over his shoulder and march out of the room. Waving a hand to dim the lights as he went.

“What the fuck?!” I screeched, hammering him with my fists. “Put me down, asshole.”

His palm came down on my ass—hard. Accompanied by a loud slap and a sting that made my stomach flip. Heat rushed through me—not from anger. "Behave," he growled.

“You did not just⁠—”

“I did. Now then.” Suddenly, everything heaved upright and I was placed back on my feet. I stumbled and he reached out an arm to steady me, wrapping it around my waist until we were chest to chest.

My breaths came faster, eyes locked on his. They were so green. So… pretty.

For a moment, it was like before, back in the alley, where everything else disappeared and time seemed to stretch around us. Then my brain snapped back into reality and I gave his chest a hard shove, putting as much distance between us as possible.

Because I was not attracted to a goblin bounty hunter. Especially one who thought I was a useful tool for his latest case. And certainly not one who trapped me inside his house.

7

Bastian took a deep breath, trying to clear Eleanor’s scent from his nostrils. He’d forgotten himself for a moment. Throwing her over his shoulder had been the worst idea. And punishing her with a slap to her ass? What the hell had he been thinking?

He hadn’t.

Because something about her scrambled his thoughts.

Made all his critical thinking fly right out the window.

Fuck.

Thankfully, the guest bedroom was on the first floor, which put plenty of space between them. Even if he had a feeling that being on opposite sides of the same house wasn’t nearly enough distance. “There’s an extra toothbrush and…other things in the bathroom,” he found himself saying. “You should have everything you need.”

She glanced down at herself. “What about PJs?”