AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I cringe at the sight of the pink flower inside, wrapped in delicate papers. One of them is halfway smoked, charred at one end.
“You know I don’t—”
“You’ve done it before, and it’ll do you some good,” he says. “I presume this has something to do with Penn, given that I can smell her arousal all over you.”
Of course he can; even though we didn’t consummate our relationship, I did all kinds ofotherthings to her in that room. I sigh in resignation and take one of the cigarettes, using my Gift to light it with a snap of my fingers.
“See?” he says. “You still know how to do that, so obviously you’re still a pro.”
I chuckle and take a drag—but as soon as I exhale the aromatic smoke, I start to cough. Keon laughs loudly, the sound echoing out across the valley.
“Okay,” he says. “Maybe not such a pro.”
I finally stop coughing and lower my hand to hold the cigarette in stiff fingers, my body shaking slightly. Keon’s eyes dart down to observe how I tremble, and he opens his mouth to remark on it, I’m sure—but I cut him off.
“I don’t know how I feel about you fucking her bodyguard,” I say.
Keon rolls his eyes. “I fuck your bodyguards all the time.”
“Buthersare different,” I say. “I need Shayd on task, not…distracted.”
“So you think I’m distracting,” he grins.
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “I think you’re a nuisance.”
“A helpful nuisance,” he says. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
I chuckle, even though it makes me cough. “True enough,” I say. “Fine—I’ll leave it. But I want you to tell me what he was doing there.”
“Keeping his mind off our dear Penelope,” Keon says. He taps some ash from the end of his cigarette, smoke settling over us. “He’s smitten with her. As am I…and you, too?”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, the panic surging again. Rather than let it get the better of me, I take a heavy drag on the cigarette in my fingers, feeling it relax me right away.
“I left her,” I say.
His brows rocket toward his hairline. “You what?”
“Not forever,” I clarify. “But tonight…I was going to finally consummate the marriage—to breed her, and she was looking forward to it, and so was I. But the moment I touched her…I panicked.”
Keon gives me an understanding look, nodding slowly.
“Well,” he says. “You haven’t been touched in ten years. It makes sense.”
“You don’t think I’m a horrible person?” I ask. “You don’t think she’ll be angry at me?”
“Quite the opposite,” he says. “I think you’re right to exercise caution.”
I raise my eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Keon inhales deeply, then leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He locks eyes with me, and his eyes flash a dangerous red—a threatening color, one he’s never shown me before. I don’t know if it was intentional.
“You have to promise me you won’t freak out,” he says.
I shudder at those words…because ifKeonis freaked out, that means I definitely will be. He’s usually unflappable.
“That doesn’t seem like a good sign,” I say.
“It isn’t,” he says. “But…it’s about Penn.”
