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“I know, dear heart,” Allera started, reaching for my arm. “I just—” When I snatched my elbow away before she could catch it, she paused and inhaled patiently. “You must get so lonely,” she tried again. “And Indigo is always there, seeing to your needs. If you decided to—you know—pass the time with him to help fill the void, no one would blame you. I certainly wouldn’t, anyway.”
“Well, I would,” I snarled. “Now, never make such a suggestion to me again.”
“Ho there,” Brentley called from the table, finally noticing the tension brewing between us. “Is there something amiss between my favorite sister and favorite wife?”
Great. Now the whole damn family was going to join this dreaded discussion. What better way to end a miserable day?
6
Nicolette
“It’s nothing, my love,” Allera told Brentley, blowing him a kiss before sending me a guilty, apologetic cringe. “I was merely teasing our sweet Nicolette here and, well, you know me. I took it too far. That’s all.”
“Impossible,” Brentley returned. “You could never take anything too far, dear heart. Everything you do is perfectly perfect just as it is.”
Oh bother. I rolled my eyes. “If you’ll excuse me,” I muttered, sickened by their overblown lover’s banter. “I think I’ll retire for the evening.” And go throw up in my bedchamber.
When I turned away to leave, however, the king beckoned me back, sounding confused. “But we haven’t even eaten yet.”
“I’ve lost my appetite,” I answered without pausing, causing Indigo to pop out from against the wall to follow me.
But behind me, my annoying brother boomed, “Halt.”
Brentley rarely used his kingly status to command anything of me, so it always surprised and irritated me when he did.
Grinding to a vexed stop, I fisted my hands at my sides before turning back to cast him a glare. “Yes, Your Majesty?” I fumed.
His brows furrowed with concern. “You are unwell, aren’t you? That’s it; I’m sending a healer to your room posthaste.”
“But I’m not—” I started, only for Allera to cut in, saying, “It’s my fault, husband. I spoke foolishly and upset her.”
Now Brentley looked truly confused. “But what could you say to upset anyone?”
Good Lord. Love truly blinded him to his wife’s more aggravating traits, didn’t it? I adored Allera—I truly did—but she was feisty and outspoken, and she’d pricked more people’s tempers throughout the years than most with her opinionated declarations.
At least she didn’t use the king’s blind devotion to her advantage, though. Wringing her hands, she explained, “I just—I might’ve suggested that she and Indigo were…”
Indigo straightened at my side, seemingly surprised to be brought into the conversation. When I glanced his way, his eyes widened with comprehension and his face drained of color.
Brentley, however, didn’t catch on as fast. Blinking, he asked, “That she and Indigo were what?”
“That they were—you know.” Allera widened her eyes at him some more, until he realized what she meant.
“Oh!” he blurted, only to spin and gape at Indigo and me standing side by side.
My bodyguard immediately backed five feet away, while I exhaled an impatient sigh.
Lifting his hands and shaking them vigorously, Indy hastened to explain, “But we’re not.”
“Though you have to admit,” Allera interjected, eyeing us with a considering nod. “They would make a good union. Such a handsome couple. Their children would simply be—”
“That’s it!” Flinging up my hands, I announced, “Indigo and I are not having sex. Did everyone hear that clearly enough? We are not romantically inclined at all. Good. End of discussion. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m leaving.”
Indigo automatically stepped forward to follow me, only for Brentley to point. “Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere with her, Moast.”
My bodyguard’s mouth fell open. “But she is my ward,” he argued. “By your own command, Your Majesty, it is my duty to go where she goes.”
“Not tonight, it’s not,” Brentley countered sharply.
