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“I told you already. No one.”
He tilted his head, sending a wave of hair across his jaw. “Has anyone told you that you’re a terrible liar?”
“Has anyone told you that you know not what you speak of?” I snapped.
“Never.” His chin lifted, a quizzical look to his expression. “And no one has ever spoken to me like you do.”
That should’ve been a warning to watch my tone, but I huffed. “I don’t believe that for one second.”
“And I don’t believe you.”
“I think we’ve already established that,” I retorted.
White streaked across the blue of his eyes, then spread into the green. “Does the Baron treat you kindly?”
“Yes, he does.”
Another starburst exploded along the blue of his eyes. “What little I know already tells a different story.”
“How so?”
“I don’t think I need to explain how reckless he was with your life last night,” he said, a muscle thrumming at his temple. “But just in case you haven’t realized this— the Baron sent you into the quarters of a Hyhborn prince that was unaware of your arrival. My men could’ve killed you. I could have. Another of my kindwould’vedone that and more.”
My skin chilled, not at his words but because I knew he spoke the truth.
“And he did this when it is clear that you’re not as experienced as you wanted so badly for me to believe,” he continued, and I jerked at the graze of his fingers along the curve of my arm. His featherlight touch kicked off a riot of confusing reactions. I should be angered that he was in my chambers, touching me and demanding answers of me.
Except I didn’t feel anger.
All I felt was the tight, shivery wave that followed the path of his fingertips over the curve of my elbow. How my skin suddenly felt hot as he caught hold of the loosened sleeve of my chemise, and . . . and anticipation.
“So, I already know the answer to my question,” he said. His eyes never left mine as he paused to brush the strands of my hair back. Nor did they lower as his fingers drifted down my chemise, straightening the dainty lace there.
I struggled to gather my scattered thoughts. Without my intuition to guide me, I had no idea why this prince cared about how I was treated. I also didn’t know what he’d do to the Baron, and while Claude sometimes behaved as an overgrown man-child who had made more bad decisions than even me, he was the best many of us had. “The Baron treats me kindly.” I held his gaze, not even allowing myself to consider telling him it had been Hymel. Not because I sought to protect that bastard, but because I knew Claude would react very unwisely to his cousin being harmed. “He treats all of us kindly.”
“All?”
“His paramours. Ask any of them, and they will tell you the same.”
“So, that’s what you are? A paramour?”
I nodded.
“He sends his favorite paramour to the chambers of other men?”
“We are not exclusive.” We weren’t really anything, but that seemed like a moot point at the moment. “None of his paramours are.”
“Interesting.”
I raised my brows at him. “Not really.”
“We will have to disagree on that.” Prince Thorne’s head dipped, and my breath caught at the feel of his mouth beneath my ear, against my thundering pulse. He kissed the space there. “Who bruised you,na’laa?”
Pulling back, I gained some distance between us. “No one,” I said. “I likely caused it while . . . while gardening.”
Slowly churning eyes lifted to meet mine. Several seconds passed with neither of us saying a word, as if we both had fallen prey to a sudden trance. It was he who broke the silence. “Gardening?”
I nodded.
