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“You do look healthier,” he said, with approval in his voice. “Your ribs are nearly hidden. But the other humans had more curve, so you still need to eat a lot.”
With that, he dropped my dress.
My face burned. “So you looked at the other women and then decided I wasn’t good enough?”
His eyes narrowed at me. “No. I saw your ribs, and then looked at the other women to see if theirs were visible. My attention was purely scientific. I felt no desire for them.”
My responding gaze was skeptical.
“I was standing right next to the other kings. Either of them would’ve attacked me if they thought I was looking at their mate with interest. Take the fact that they didn’t as your evidence.”
“Kaelle doesn’t think Vayme is even attracted to her,” I countered.
“She’s wrong,” he said bluntly.
The look I gave him said I didn’t believe him.
“Even if he isn’t, fae are territorial. Having a mate makes that worse.” Kierden added another plate to the crowd of them he’d already put in front of me.
“Are you saying you feel territorial of me?”
“Of course.” He looked at me like the question was ludicrous.
I looked at him the same way.
Neither of us gave in for a long, long moment.
I was waiting for him to clarify vocally. The fact that I was still sleeping in his room at his insistence seemed like evidence enough of him being territorial, but I wanted him to say that.
He was waiting for… me to call him out, maybe?
For me to say I didn’t believe he was territorial?
When another minute passed without either of us giving in, he finally looked away from me just long enough to cut into my chocolate-covered cake and lift the bite to my mouth.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He narrowed his back.
Reluctantly, I took the bite.
“You’re mine,” he finally said. “The feelings and emotions behind that knowledge are complex, but the certainty remains. You belong to me. All else seems inconsequential, unless it puts your life at risk.”
“And that’s why you’ve been an asshole to me?”
“Moreso than I typically am,” he agreed. “My kindness could be your end, and that made the distance between us a necessity.”
Damn.
Death started to stir beside me, but I stroked his head, and he fell back asleep with a rumble of contentment.
“If we were to be together, we’d either have to let our bond break with the eclipse or seal it and keep it a secret,” I said.
“We would.” Kierden didn’t deny it.
“Well, I don’t want to be anyone’s secret mate.”
He lifted another bite of food toward me, and I snagged the utensil from his hand so I could feed myself.
