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Be careful. Be very, very careful.
Yes, she had to be on her guard. He was exactly like her mother, pretty and faithless, and she couldn’t allow herself to be fascinated or intrigued by him. Couldn’t allow herself to get distracted by him physically either. That way lead to weakness. Softness. Disloyalty.
Anyway, he was only playing with her because she’d hit him somewhere vulnerable. He didn’t actually wanther.
‘So you’d be faithful to your wife even when you don’t want her?’ It was a rude and impertinent question to ask anyone, let alone a prince, but she wouldn’t allow him to put her on the defensive. Strike first, strike hard, that was her father’s attitude.
‘Ah, what a question.’ He sounded amused, but a faint bitterness tinged the words. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t expect you to think differently, though. My reputation hasn’t exactly been stellar.’ His thumb glided over a knot in her shoulder and pressed down, easing a tension she’d had no idea was there. ‘But yes, to answer your question, I would be faithful. It may not look like it, but I take my duties very seriously.’ The ghost of a wicked smile turned his mouth. ‘My brother would have my hide if I didn’t.’
Shereallyneeded to pull away from that touch, put some space between them. Yet she didn’t, staring at him instead, caught by the edge of sincerity in his voice.
Did he really take his duties seriously? It was true, his conduct since he’d returned to Axios had been impeccable. But could a leopard really change his spots just like that? People said all kinds of things and didn’t mean them, so why should she believe him?
Of course he can’t change. If he could, he wouldn’t be touching you.
But was that because he was still angry with her and her questions, or was it because he wanted a woman and she was the closest one?
Why do you care?
She didn’t know. Perhaps she was only searching for evidence that he was a leader worth following. A commander she could trust. That her loyalty to the crown hadn’t been misplaced.
‘You always do what your brother says?’ she asked, testing him.
There was the slightest of pauses, his thumb finding and pressing on another knot in her shoulder, and she had to grit her teeth against the insidious wave of pleasure that went through her as the tension was released.
‘Yes.’ There was no amusement now in his voice, no lazy drawl. ‘He’s my king.’ His face was devoid of those empty smiles and there was no trace at all of the charm he used like a weapon. Instead something fierce and bright burned in his eyes,
He meant it. He meant every word.
His sincerity shot through her like lightning and she recognised it. Recognised herself. Because she’d felt that same ferocity when she’d first enlisted, that determination to do her country and her father proud. To prove her loyalty and strength. To give her all to Axios, because if there was one thing she knew to be true, it was that her country would never betray her.
She turned around, looking up into his dark gaze.
He didn’t smile, that fierce thing burning so brightly she couldn’t look away.
‘Is that why you came back?’ she demanded. ‘Because he asked you to? Why do you pretend not to care about anything? What happened to you—’
‘No.’ His voice was quiet, but very firm. ‘No more questions now.’
‘But—’
He laid one long finger across her mouth. ‘No more.’ The light touch was another shock, echoing through her entire body. ‘I meant what I said, Calista Kouros. I’m an unprincipled man. I obey my king, but I don’t take orders from anyone else. And I get what I want when I want it.’ He took his finger away, but the heat in his eyes remained. ‘Which means that you should leave, because right now, what I want is you.’
The blunt statement hit her like a bolt of electricity, making her mouth go dry and anger collect inside her at her own traitorous body.
‘No, you don’t,’ she said, just as blunt, trying to distance him. ‘You’re angry at being questioned and you want to punish me.’
Something rippled over his face but it was gone before she could tell what it was. ‘How astute of you. But also incorrect.’
‘You could have any woman you wanted,’ she insisted. ‘You don’t want me.’
‘Is that right?’ His eyes glinted. ‘Perhaps you’d better leave before I decide to prove you wrong.’
Her heart beat like a drum, a fluttery kind of feeling gathering deep down inside her. A feeling she didn’t want. Why was she continuing this conversation? Because surely it didn’t matter to her why he wanted her? She didn’t want him to want her at all.
Liar.
No, she wasn’t lying. His attention meant nothing. And his touch didn’t make her doubt herself or put at risk the years of iron discipline she’d put herself under.
