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They were not monsters, not even Prince Taveon. She wished he was. It would make this entire thing so mucheasier.
“Here we are.” Rafe flashed her a grin as he held open the door. His quarters were only a short walk away from hers. She took a deep breath and stepped inside, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. The moon would not rise for another several hours, so there was no light to illuminate her surroundings. In the corner, there was a fireplace, but it didn’t even hold a glow of embers. Two beds sat side by side with only a small table situated betweenthem.
Rafe crossed the room and lit a candle on the bedside table, and Bree watched his every move. The ripple of his shoulders as he fussed with the bed, the clench of his jaw from the tension bouncing around theroom.
Bree had come so close to kissing him. She’d come so close to losing herself in his arms. How in the name of the forest was she going to be able to spend the night in his room? At least they weren’t sharing a bed. That might be the very last straw to break the camel’sback.
And by break the camel’s back, she meantend up sprawled across hisbody.
Because it was a very nice body. It was impossible not to notice, even in the dim lighting. She’d seen his back and his chest on numerous occasions during training, but something felt different now. Being holed up in his bedroom with him made every inch of skin that much moredangerous.
“So...” She swallowed hard. “What’s up with the extra bed? Do you have visitorsoften?”
She felt like an idiot for asking, and even more of an idiot for caring so much about the answer to that question. Did Rafe have visitors, particularly of the female variety? She imagined he would be fairly popular with the ladies. He was certainly one of the most handsome men in the entire Court, and he had a roguish kind of charm that often made Breeblush.
Of course, if he did have female visitors, she imagined they did not sleep in that secondbed.
The thought of it all made her cheeks flame, and she wanted nothing more than to take back her stupidquestion.
“No, I rarely have any visitors. I originally shared this room with one of Taveon’s other friends, but he has not resided here for many years now.” He paused. “That is a long story and one not for now. Taveon has offered to move me many times, but I like it here just fine. It feels likehome.”
Bree nodded and glanced around, hating herself for how relieved she felt. He hadn’texplicitlysaid he did not have female companions come to stay here with him, but that was a step too far for her to ask. His room was homey in a way. There was a fireplace in the corner, and he’d set up two armchairs around it. One held a thick blanket, and a book was propped open facedown.
“You’re a reader,” Bree said, if only to say something to stop the crazy tension from driving her mad. If she kept babbling, she might be able to distract herself from the yearning deep in hergut.
“I am a reader,” he said with a nod. “Why don’t you get some rest, Bree? It has been an eventfulnight.”
It really had been. One she wouldn’t mind forgetting, though that would be next to impossible. It was obvious to her now that there was someone—or many someones—targeting this Court and targeting Bree. The attacks kept on happening, and she knew they wouldn’t stop. Not until they had finally taken the whole placedown.
“Do you think the castle is unsafe?” she asked Rafe, knowing the answer to her question before she even voiced it aloud. Of course it wasunsafe.
“Unfortunately, the death of the King has brought the worst of us out from hiding. They will continue to try to seize the crown until Taveon takes it for himself. I hate that you are caught up in this, but it is not surprising that the attackers would target the Prince’schampion.”
“How long do you think I’ll have to stay here?” she asked. “In your room. When can I go back tomine?”
He pressed his lips tight together. “I am afraid that it will not be safe in your quarters until the culprits are caught or until after the Prince becomesKing.”
“And you think the Prince becoming King will stop the attacks? You think they’ll give up after that?” Bree didn’t know why she was asking this. None of this mattered to her. The crown, the throne, the stupid maneuverings to rule. It was none of her concern. She didn’t care who ruled. She just wanted to get this whole thing overwith.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel a strange curiosity about itall.
“Once Taveon is King, he is King. Nothing can dethrone him. They would have no choice but toconcede.”
Nothing could dethrone him. Nothing butdeath.
But Bree kept that last thought to herself, knowing how Rafe would react if he got that horrible thought into his head. Rafe loved the Prince. They were like brothers, bound together in a way that Bree understood. She and Norah had been that to each other. They both would have given their lives to save the other. No matter what Norah did, Bree would always stand by her side, and she knew the same was true inreverse.
She saw that same bond reflected in Rafe andTaveon.
Not that anyone could actuallykillTaveon. But they mighttry.
“Enough about Princes and Kings and thrones and crowns,” Rafe said as he wrapped a hand around Bree’s waist, pulling her closer to the bed. “It is time for you to get somerest.”
What was he doing? Bree’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared down at the place where his hand fit against her hip. It was so strange, how perfectly it slotted into the curves of her body. She swallowed hard, letting her body move with his touch. Her feet shifted forward, bringing Bree only inches away from hischest.
How in the name of the forest had she gotten herself into thissituation?
And how the hell would she pull away when her body was screamingyes?
