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She wrapped her body with the towel and dried off, squeezing the drops from her hair into the tub. Like I wasn’t even there, she didn’t look at me, ignored my presence entirely. The food was right next to me, but she didn’t make a move for it.
“Don’t expect me to change the circumstances of our world. I can’t—nor can anyone else.”
She turned to me, her damp hair flat against the back of her neck.
“My birthright was taken from me, and I must take it back.”
She rubbed the towel between her thighs, down her legs, between her breasts, catching the drops everywhere. “People are sacrificing their eternal souls so Necrosis will maintain their immortality, and you care about keeping your ass warm on a throne? Children are the first line of defense for the Plunderers, and your one and only concern is a crown? I’m sorry about what happened to you, but there’s nothing so cruel that would justify your selfishness.”
Now I was on my feet, stripping off my clothes so I could bathe next. “And you would do anything different? If I returned you to Delacroix, you would be back in your villa, your servants waiting on you hand and foot, appreciating the warm sun on your face. You wouldn’t do a damn thing for the people below—and don’t pretend otherwise.”
“I would do something—”
“What? Piss on Necrosis?”
“I would tell my father that something needs to be done.”
I released a laugh, a genuine one, but also a sarcastic one. “And what would that do? You really think your father would agree with you? Go to King Rutherford and pitch this wonderful idea, and then in a week, all the armies of the Kingdoms would march on Necrosis? How naïve are you?”
She inhaled a breath, like that was a slap to the face.
“It is what it is.” I grabbed the bucket and filled the bath with water, dismissing this conversation.
“It is what it is?”
I dumped another pail full of water into the tub and looked at her.
“If believing that everyone has the right to live free of suffering makes me naïve, then I’d rather be naïve than heartless like you.”
“I’m going to ask for another room.” She headed to the door.
“No, you aren’t.”
“There’s no reason to share a small-ass bed if there are other rooms.”
“I just said no.”
She turned back to me, murder in her eyes. “I do what I want and don’t need your permission.”
“You do, actually. Because let’s not forget our circumstances. You’re my prisoner.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She gave herself a tap on the forehead. “Prisoner first. Fuck buddy second. Got it.” She turned to leave.
I crossed the room and planted my palm against the wood, barring it shut so she couldn’t open it again. “They don’t get a lot of women at the outpost. Understand me?” I had to look down at her every time I spoke to her because she was a head shorter, but her scathing eyes made up for her lack of height. “This is for you, not me.” I released the door once I knew she’d stay put and headed back to the bed.
She stayed there, even after I got under the covers. There wasn’t a fireplace, so it was dark, the fog outside casting a glow through the windows.
She finally gave a sigh and came to the bed, getting on her side of the small hay mattress, pushing herself to the very edge.
It was warmer inside than it was outside but still not warm enough for her liking. I could tell by the way her muscles spasmed in her back, the way her body gave small convulsions to create heat.
“You’re that stubborn?” I asked, my eyes on the ceiling.
She pulled the sheets tighter against her body. “Damn right.”
My arm hooked around her waist, and I dragged her to me, pulling her right to my chest, my face against the back of her head.
She rocked her hips into me, as if trying to buck me off like a horse. “Get off me.”
“You’ll be warm.” I kept my arm secured over her body, planting her right against me.
“Well, I’d rather be cold than close to you.” She bucked again.
I rocked with her as I kept her close to me. “Are you trying to get me off or turn me on?”
“Oh, fuck you.” She grabbed my hand on her waist and tried to pry it off.
My fingers curled underneath her body against the mattress, secured in place so she couldn’t move them. “Just go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow. You can be stubborn all you like then.”
“You bet your ass I will.”
My face was in her hair, breathing her scent, my dick hard against her ass. “Would expect nothing less.”
TWENTY-ONE
Ivory
When we took the stairs, we headed deeper into the rock down below. The fog was still pressed to the windows the whole way down, trying to get inside and freeze us all. The closer we came to the bottom, the more I heard it, the sounds of waves lapping against rocks.
