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‘To protect Axios.’ The look in her eyes changed, the spark of temper becoming one of pride. She looked like a new recruit, on fire with the desire to throw her life away for her country. Such patriotism. He’d once felt that same urge and it had nearly destroyed him.
‘I see.’ His temper coiled, shifting unexpectedly like a sleepy beast inside him. ‘You’re a zealot, then.’
‘If wanting to serve my country to the best of my ability makes me a zealot, then yes, I am.’ Her back was ramrod straight. ‘Better to be a zealot than a...’ She stopped herself just in time.
‘Than a selfish playboy once exiled for cowardice?’ he finished for her.
A muscle twitched in her jaw, the coppery glints in her eyes bright. She looked even more goddess-like, golden Artemis in full flight, hunting with her bow drawn. ‘If the shoe fits.’
There was a sudden, deathly silence.
No one spoke of his exile. Not the generals, not the army, not the people of Axios. Not the press. His father had silenced them. But not entirely, because rumours had spread all the same. About how he’d refused a mission. How he’d gone AWOL. How he’d cowered like a dog in the street while his men had been shot all around him.
He’d never bothered with the truth because he’d convinced himself so completely that he didn’t care. But he did care. For some reason, staring into this woman’s beautiful eyes, he found he cared rather a lot. And he wasn’t sure why. His brother knew the truth and he was the only person in the entire world who Xerxes cared about.
What did it matter what this woman thought of him? Why was her judgement so important? She was only a guard, burning with that same blind loyalty and dedication to her country that he remembered feeling all those years ago. She needed to be careful. Those emotions could be used, could be manipulated. Could lead to betrayal.
Better not to care about anything at all.
But what would that passion look like in bed?
The thought was instinctive, sending a raw heat coiling through him. Yes, far better to think about sex than his own destruction. That was simpler, easier, and a whole lot more pleasurable.
What would she look like naked and beneath him? Would her eyes glitter with the same dedication and pride as he pushed inside her? Would she apply that zealot’s fervour to making him come?
A rush of colour flooded her face, as if she’d read his thoughts. ‘My apologies, Your Highness. I should not have said that.’
Oh, yes, that was right. She wasn’t thinking of sex. She’d just insulted him.
‘You disapprove of me,’ he said, deciding he wasn’t going to let her off the hook. And he didn’t make it a question, either, because it was obvious she did.
More emotions flickered over her face, as if now she’d let her mask slip, she couldn’t quite put it back on. ‘It’s not my place—’
‘Don’t lie to me.’
Her lovely mouth compressed. ‘Your Highness—’
‘It’s a simple question, soldier,’ he drawled. ‘Yes or no?’
She was silent for a long moment and he thought she wouldn’t answer him. But her gaze was defiant, clashing with his in the mirror as she said, ‘Yes. I do.’
There was no denying that challenge.
She’d flung the truth at him like a gauntlet, daring him to pick it up.
Well, if she thought he wouldn’t, she was wrong.
‘You forget yourself,’ he murmured, anticipation rising inside him. He liked a fight, always had, and fighting her would be...
It should be nothing. You must step away.
But he couldn’t. And when she lifted her chin higher, not backing down, he knew he wouldn’t. ‘You wanted the truth, Your Highness. What does it matter what I think anyway? I’m just one guard.’
Good question. Perhaps it was her idealism he wanted to confront, the idealism he’d once had long ago. The idealism that had led him to a capsule in his hand, the weight of what he knew was expected of him weighing him down, the knowledge that he was utterly and completely expendable.
You should have taken it.
No, he shouldn’t. He’d done the right thing in not taking it. His mistake had been letting himself care and he would not make that mistake again.
