Page 23 of Captive of the Stolen Empire

The feather grazed her cheek as she rubbed the quill between her fingers. Her eyes lit with excitement as she bent over and wrote a line across the top page.

A sinful grin tempted my better judgment as Ilya handed me the paper, that delicious-looking tongue flicking out ever so slightly again to moisten her lips.

Unexpected relief surged as I took in the handwriting. Her drunken scrawl was more looped and flowing than the maid’s stiff letters. Although I doubted it to be Ilya’s hand, I’d been worried all the same. More than I realized. Far more than I should be. The idea of seeing her punished sat poorly with me, though the idea of anyone suffering such measures was unpleasant.

I squinted at the page, reading the words aloud as I interpreted her scribbles. “Lucien would be…so much more fun if he…drank too.” A deep rumble of laughter bubbled up from within as I folded the paper and set it back down. “Perhaps.”

Her lips parted as she stared back at me, something like surprise written on her features. She squirmed under my gaze but didn’t look away. Brave woman. So much fire and spirit.

“One more request for you.” I pulled us back to the task, away from the unhealthy thoughts her brown eyes lured me to. I tugged out a folded and crinkled letter I’d concealed under my armor. “I hoped you might be willing to look at this.”

“What is it?” Her legs slid against mine against as she reached for the paper. The faint blush on her cheeks deepened as if the touch affected her too.

“A letter. One someone convinced a maid to send, though the poor girl wouldn’t admit who.”

Her back straightened, eyes widening, as she glanced at the note still in my hand. “It’s not mine.”

“No.” I gestured to the page she’d written on. “I don’t believe it is. But if you want to prove your innocence, then you can tell me whose it is.”Help me, Ilya.The same stubborn fire that made her my enemy pulled me to her. But if she could be turned? If she would submit to our emperor fully, she could make a valuable ally. It would be worth the effort to try, especially while she stayed in my quarters.

She pulled away. Her lips thinned as she hugged her arms around herself. “If I don’t know who wrote it?”

I tapped the paper on my leg. “Then you don’t.”

“And if I tell you, you’ll trust me?”

“If the information is truthful, helpful, then perhaps.”Not a chance.

I held my breath as she held my gaze.

“Fine, give it to me.”

A sigh of relief rose in my chest as I passed over the paper.

Tension fled her form as she read over the words. She didn’t recognize the handwriting. Despite her swift relaxation, she continued to study the letter, no doubt reading it over. Most of the information she would know already. Attentive as she was, she’d probably noticed our lack of a strong force stationed near the castle, only the household guards and a few extras. She knew my fellow captains resided within the castle. The letter also contained hints of where the army was encamped, though that information would be inaccurate as soon as my orders to move reached them.

“I don’t recognize it. Perhaps the maid wrote it herself,” she said, meeting my gaze and thrusting the wrinkled page back to me.

An honest response. I didn’t bother to hide the hint of a smile that stretched my features. “I think you may be right. But whom did she write it for, I wonder? And why protect them?”

“I don’t know.” She bit out each word with a measured space in between.

Her gaze slid away. I reached forward and grabbed her chin, forcing her attention back to me. A soft gasp slipped from her as I closed the space between us, close enough for her scent to tease me once again. “Don’t you?”

“No.” She held my steady gaze unblinking. Truth.

I released her and refolded the letter, tucking it away out of sight. I expected her to leave. To snap out another retort or berate me. I’d prepared for anything but her delicate fingers sliding down my arm again.

“You don’t believe me?” Her voice was soft, sweet like honey.

“Should I?”

Without invitation, she slid into my lap.

Oh, fuck me.

My entire body went rigid. Her soft backside occupied one thigh as her legs draped across the other. Part of her dress rode up, revealing lightly tanned legs and sandaled feet.

“I think you want to.”

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