Page 146 of Blood Curse

“Was that you?” she asked.

“No.”

“Good. It was creepy.”

I kept both hands where she could see them. “My touch made your heart falter.”

“Your touch on the Crown.”

“The difference is too small.”

“It’s the whole bloody point.” Bryony pressed my palm to the middle of her chest. “This is touch. My heart is still beating, and most of me wants your hands everywhere else.”

I moved my hand over her ribs. Her heartbeat remained steady.

“The Crown reacted to the metal,” she said. “If it happens again, pull away from that. Don’t pull away from me.”

“And if your pulse doesn’t recover?”

“You get Elias. We don’t test it twice.”

“Agreed.”

The quiet words went straight to my cock. Fear followed quickly enough to kill the first response.

Bryony noticed both.

“We aren’t doing anything tonight. You need sleep, and so do I.”

“I know.” Her gaze dropped to my hands. “But don’t decide that touching me has become dangerous because the Crown reacted to you.”

“Your heart stopped.”

“When you touched the metal. Not when you undressed me, kissed me or looked at my breasts like you’d forgotten every language you speak.”

“I hadn’t forgotten them. None seemed sufficient.”

Her mouth curved. “There you are.”

I lay beside her without touching the Crown again. Bryony tucked herself against my chest and pulled my arm around her. The choice was clear enough that I let myself hold her.

Her heartbeat remained slow.

It remained human.

I listened until she slept.

By late afternoon the next day, Bryony had eaten twice, sworn at Elias three times and regained enough colour to make me believe she might remain alive out of spite.

The court kept its distance. Food appeared outside the King’s rooms, Mara sent one brief report and Lenora checked the fire without staying.

For several hours, nothing tried to kill either of us.

It felt suspicious.

Bryony stood beside the bedroom window in a black shirt and soft trousers, looking towards the drive. The bandages around the Crown’s deepest points remained clean. Her skin was warmer, and her pulse had settled into a steady human beat.

“What did you do while I slept?” she asked.