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Marius teeth chattered as he smiled. “You interest me, Jak. I cannot deny that.”
I forced my own smile and bowed my head. “I am no more than a boring, simple Claim. I am certain you have had far more interesting company than what I can offer.”
“Perhaps,” he mused, “there is time left for that to be determined.”
I held his stare, and he kept mine, as I pulled my chair out and sat.
“I trust you slept well,” he said, still standing long after I took a seat.
“I did.”
He lifted his chin, nostrils flaring. “And you took up the not-so-subtle offer to wash?”
As his gaze traced me, I lifted a gentle finger and ran it across my collarbone, slowly until I was certain his eyes followed my every move.
“It was glorious.”
Marius sighed as I dropped my touch and picked up the silverware beside the empty plate. Without looking back at him, I began to fill my plate with the delectable foods that waited around me.
Our conversation was a string of short sentences. I found conversation hard to start as I busied myself with the food, whereas I felt Marius was silent for other reasons.
“Not that you need me to offer, but please help yourself.” Marius finally sat, which settled the nerves that itched beneath my skin. “You must be hungry.”
“Famished,” I said, picking a charred leg of cooked meat that must have been chicken.
Marius whispered, enough for me to hear, “You have no idea.”
He sat watching me, his stare burrowing into my soul. But not once did I look up, focused on piling my plate even more just to keep myself busy.
I usually preferred the quiet of silence, but as time went on I could not bear it. “Are you not hungry?” I questioned, flicking a forkful of meat at him. Marius had not touched anything, his hands remaining in his lap as he watched me.
“Starving.”
My blood chilled, the skin across my exposed neck tickling beneath his stare. “Then eat.”
Marius groaned, rocking back in his chair. “There is not a single item on this table that would satisfy me, Jak.”
I shrugged, keeping my gaze low. “Suit yourself. I trust you did not prepare all of this for me? Or all the food presented to me since my arrival?”
Marius raised his hands, both of them in surrender. “Do these hands looked overworked?”
I scoffed, taking my time to chew on the chicken that dangled from my fork.
“It seems that little has changed in the way of conversation, Jak. Still your kind discuss small matters such as weather, or in your case, food. Let us have more of a deeper, more interesting conversation.”
His comment was an insult buried beneath his posh accent. As though I had been slapped with a feather.
“Then please, ask away,” I told him, swallowing the lump of food that struggled down my dry throat.
“There is something about your participation in the previous evening’s events that do not sit right to me.”
I almost choked.
“Would you be so kind as to explain what happened again. Truly, it is extremely… interesting to me.”
I held Marius’s stare. He wanted me to trip up, I could sense his distrust. “Is it hard to believe I do not have the bravery to take on one of your hellish beasts?”
Marius huffed, rocking back with his arms behind his head. Muscles flexed, threatening to rip his jacket. “I do not doubt your bravery. You raised a hand to me only moments after I welcomed you into my home.”
