AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Luka?” she says, startling me back into the present. I almost wrench myself away when she lifts a hand to my shoulder and draws me down. Pushing up on her toes, she kisses my cheek. “Thank you.”
I clear my throat, not appreciating the need to swallow back a nonsensical rise of emotion. Mush indeed. “They’re waiting,” I say gruffly, snubbing her thanks.
“They?” Her voice rises with concern as she follows me from the room. “Who arethey?”
“Not to worry, just Noé and Eldon.”
“Oh.” She hurries to keep up with my pace down the stairs. “Are we not going to talk about the kiss?”
“No,” I growl. “We are not. At least not right now.”
She makes a little harrumphing noise and I have to repress a twitch of humor.
“That is last on our list.”
“But itison the list?” she asks, sounding cheered. “Because I’d like to experience it again before the end.”
I pull up short in the middle of the hall. “The end? Is that what your stunt was about?The end?”
Though she recoils slightly, her answer rings with resolve in the torchlight. “Everyone has an end. I know that.”
Huffing, I take her hand and practically drag her down the hall. She’s not only infuriating and reckless, she’s also ridiculous.
In the map room, Noé and Eldon sit with their feet up on the big table in the center of the room, drinking ale. “Is her highness finally ready to talk?” Noé complains. “Has a bit of clothing loosened her tongue sufficiently?”
I’m about to tell him to shut his mouth, but Rina beats me to it.
“Noé, let’s not pretend you’d last longer than five minutes, naked, with your balls frozen to your thigh.”
His boots drop from the tabletop with a threatening thud and he gets to his feet.
“Oh, sit down,” Eldon laughs. “She’s right. You wouldn’t last, and neither would I. She’s been through a lot.”
I pull out the chair for her across from them and point to it. I’m not sure if it’s her newfound disregard for her own safety or courage she’s always had, but even with Noé trying to intimidate her, she takes her place. That glow in my gut gets a little warmer as I sit next to her.
Noé sinks back into his chair, grumbling, “Let’s get on with this sham. We’ve already wasted a day.”
Pulling the letter from where it’s been folded between my shirt and my vest all day, I toss it down in front of her. “Read it again.”
Her eyes narrow.
“Can it not be read more than once?” I ask, not having considered such a thing. This act of readingdoesseem like it belongs to the dominion of the supernatural.
“Yes,” she says tightly. “It can be read as many times as one wishes. But you could ask nicely.”
My jaw clenches. “You cannot be serious.”
“Why not? It costs you nothing to be polite.”
Leaning forward, I take hold of her chin and pull her toward me. “Oh, it costs me. It costs me time and patience. I suggest you remember who I am.”
“How could I forget, my deve?” she says sweetly, not cowed in the least.
Tamping down on the urge to have another taste of those full lips, I let her go. “Get on with it.”
“Fine.” She picks up the letter, trying to hide her little smile.Is she baiting me? On purpose?She starts reading and I close out everything from my mind except the business at hand.
“To Kharon, First Deve of the Bear Realm.”
