AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rook twists his mouth as if he’s struggling not to smile. “Want more stale bread and hard cheese?”
“Hell no.” I’m careful to sip my next bite of stew. “This is good.”
And it is. I can’t remember the last time I’ve eaten stew by a fire, the heat seeping into my bones and chasing away the damp chill of rain. It’s more comfort than I thought I deserved. I stare into the flames until my gaze turns distant.
“Pyrah?” His voice breaks my trance.
I glance at him. “Why did you do this for me? Guilt? Pity?”
He sets down his spoon deliberately. “You deserve better than what I did to you before.”
A knot tightens in my stomach. “Are you attempting to apologize?”
“Possibly.”
I stare coolly at him, then pick up my spoon again and devour my stew.
All too soon, we’re done with dinner.
The busty barmaid returns and smiles only at Rook, denying my existence. “Your bath is ready, milord. Follow me.”
She brings us to our room. There’s a wooden tub big enough for two. Candlelight glimmers on the water, which has been perfumed with a scattering of rose petals.
It’s uncomfortably romantic. This has nothing to do with dragon courtship, where a male might bring treasure for my cave. I want nothing so delicate as flowers.
“Need anything else?” asks the barmaid. She leans against the doorframe and flicks the end of her braid over her breasts.
Rook doesn’t even look. “No.”
“Are you certain, milord?” she murmurs. I hate how she keeps calling him that.
“Very.”
The barmaid pouts. “Aren’t you an incubus?” She glances at me. “One girl would hardly be enough to satisfy your appetite.”
When she runs her finger along his chest, a rush of possessive jealousy hits me. How dare this wench touch him?
Rook ismine.
I bare my teeth at her and let them sharpen into fangs. “Get the fuck out.”
Her eyes fly open wide, and she scurries away as if I lit her ass on fire. Rook locks the door behind us with a soft click.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he says.
“Done what?”
“Snarled at her. She may suspect you’re a dragon.”
“I may suspect she’s a whore.”
He snorts. “I have no quarrel with whores. My mother was the queen of whores, courtesan to the king.”
“Is that what the innkeeper meant? When he asked if you were hungry?”
“He wouldn’t be the first innkeeper to fancy himself a pimp.”
“Would you have said yes? If you were alone?”
