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“If we are not friends, I would hate to see what you would do with a friend in your bedroom,” Cord mocked as his hand moved under her covers and trailed lightly up her leg as if proving his point.
“You can stop touching me,” Tegan grumbled as she pulled her legs away from him completely.
“I really wish I could,” Cord murmured as they watched each other.
“You slept here?” Tegan just noticed that he had sleep clothes on too. The sleep T-shirt pulled taut across his shoulders, and his sleep pants sat low on his hips. Tegan hastily looked away when she saw his knowing smirk.
“With Sloane,” Cord confirmed. “It was a one-off.”
“You don’t need to be defensive with me, Castor,” Tegan said to him gently. “It’s not a weakness to admit you love your brother.” She watched as the corner of his mouth hooked up in a small smile.
“I am not weak,” Cord answered her. Why was she so alluring? So distracting?
“I never for one minute thought you were weak, Castor, but I see your defences are up and ready because of the admission that you love your brother.”
“You can read me so easily, little tiger?” Cord’s look was mocking, but Tegan saw the vulnerability behind it before he looked away.
“No, I find you very difficult to understand,” she admitted. “But I am learning.”
His eyes flashed back to hers and held. Tegan watched him as he looked her over one more time, and when his gaze met hers again, the usual mocking was gone and something else filled his eyes. Her breath caught as she returned his stare, completely conscious of the fact that his hand lay gently on her leg. Tegan swallowed as she looked away. Her head was foggy, and she didn’t know what was happening or why she was feeling like this.
“You’re nervous, little tiger?” Cord asked as he bent down slightly over her. “Do I make your heart race and your mouth dry?”
Tegan tried to muster a glare, but his grey eyes held a promise she desperately wanted to know. Her tongue wet her bottom lip as she shook her head and looked away again. “No, I need to move and start my day, and you hold me up.” Tegan forced herself out of the bed and on the opposite side. She needed away from his intensity, away from him.
“And now you run?” Cord crossed his arms over his chest, his hands tucked in his armpits. She noted that his legs were spread apart, his back straight and his muscles on prominent display. A fighting stance. “You getting a good enough look?”
“You are ready to fight me?” Tegan asked as she stood across from him.“I don’t understand you.” Shaking her head, she walked around the bed to go to her bathroom. “You can go. I know not why you were here, but you can let yourself out the same way as you came in.”
His warm hand clasped her upper arm, and Cord pulled her into him. Her shoulder touched his chest as he held her. Tegan kept her gaze straight ahead and stiffened when she felt his forehead rest against the side of her head.
Cord inhaled her scent. Her hair always smelled of wild lavender and vanilla, and it was inebriating. He knew herbs and flowers; he had been making potions since he was old enough to know what they were. Why would lavender and vanilla on this female make his legs weak?
“You can let me go.”
“I don’t think I can,” he laughed softly.
Tegan turned her head slightly until they were looking at each other. Cord’s usually guarded look was replaced by a warmth she wasn’t used to seeing from him.
“Castor—” His finger pressed against her lips, stopping her words.
“I have to leave.” His finger pressed harder when Tegan went to speak again. “You are intoxicating, and I fear I cannot think straight with you near me.” He felt her discomfort, and he regretted his honest words, even as she turned fully to face him. “Youmake me weak.”
“I do not mean for it.”
“I know, it’s the bond.” Cord’s forehead lay against hers as they stared at each other. Her indigo blue eyes searched his for answers. Answers he could not give her. Answers he did not have.
“What if it’s just us?” Tegan whispered into the quiet of the room. “What if we blame the bond too easily?”
“Then we are in deep trouble.” Cord gave her a small smile, and she returned it.
“Well, we have Drakhyn armies, Drakhyn shapeshifters, three meddling ancient Sisters, inner Court politics, and your father’s plan for genocide to contend with. What more trouble could we be in?”
“He is not my father,” Cord corrected.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Cord shut his eyes as he pulled Tegan deeper into his embrace. His arms wrapped around her, and he lay his head on her shoulder. After a moment, he felt her arms slip around him, and her head rested against his chest.
