Page 54 of The Artist and the Dragon

Her heart lodged itself in her throat, and for once, she found herself speechless in front of Malik.

“What are you doing?”

Bronwyn retreated toward the bookshelves. Foolish. There was nowhere to go, not without sprinting past him or climbing out the window.

“I saw you leave suddenly, and I was worried,” he added.

Whatever had leashed her voice loosed, and she said in a harsh whisper, “You weren’t paying attention to us. You were talking with some of the men. Laughing with them.”

He prowled closer, his gaze intent. “I’m always paying attention to you.”

Air lodged in her chest as she backed into the bookcase, startling as some of the books shifted. A door clicked open in the hall. They both looked toward the sound. It shut a moment later. Presumably, whoever occupied the water closet had left. Too bad they’d done it a minute too late.

Malik turned back to her, showing no sign that he planned to leave her alone.

“Shouldn’t you be paying attention to someone else?” Bronwyn asked. “Your future fiancée, perhaps?”

“Fiancée?” He reared back and blinked. “You’re one to talk when Lord Griffith was just talking about taking you to Thorngrove Hall to visit his mother, I presume? And he hinted at needing to pay a visit to your family at the castle before then as well.” If one could snarl through a whisper, he did. “Any thought on why that could be?”

Goddess above.Bronwyn swallowed thickly. Phillip couldn’t really mean to ask for her hand, could he?

“Ididn’t invite him anywhere.” Bronwyn spread her arms wide. “And what about you? Asking to meet with Lady Siân’s father!” she hissed.

“Only to test his loyalties.” Malik was close now, so close she could feel his warmth jumping the space between them.

“Right,” Bronwyn scoffed. “It’s certainly not to request his daughter’s hand, as she suspects. She told everyone tonight that she expects an engagement.”

“She—” His lips pulled back in the beginning of a snarl before settling in a grim line.

“So, if you plan to marry her, you have no business traipsing after me,” Bronwyn snapped. “I’m not some little woman in need of coddling.”

Malik planted a hand on either side of her head, trapping her against the bookcase. He leaned in until his face was inches from hers, but she stiffened her spine, refusing to back down. “Let me make this very clear,Princess. There is only one person I am interested in, and she needs no coddling, no looking after. But while there is air in my lungs, I will protect her all the same.”

The determined look in his emerald-green eyes was meant to make her—anyone—cower. But she would not. Never. She stared right back at him, unblinking. “Then go look after her.”

The sound that tore from his throat was something between a growl and grumble. Malik closed his cage, resting his forearms against the bookshelf and forcing her to crush herself back against the uneven surface lest their fronts press together. “Bloody fool.” He closed his eyes, his forehead nearly touching hers as he hung his head. “Don’t you know? Can’t you tell?”

He couldn’t mean… Her lips parted. Her legs wobbled. Only the heel of her palm braced on the edge of a shelf kept her upright.

“It’s you, Bronwyn.” Malik opened his eyes and stared at her as he spoke. He cupped her cheek, and a shiver raced down her spine. “It’s always been you.”

“But—but…” She stuttered, refusing to believe it. “But you don’t care about me. You all but ignored me. For months!” She snapped her mouth closed, instantly regretting her raised voice.

However, Malik didn’t seem to notice or care. “I did,” he admitted. “I had to, to do what must be done.”

“What—” she started, shaking her head.

“If I knew you returned my feelings, I would never be able to stay away from you. And everyone in this bloody kingdom would know it. They would know where my heart lies. I would never be able to pretend to be the self-assured prince of pleasures they’d known and come to expect. I may have plenty of practice acting thanks to my father, but to fake that?” He tsked. “I’m not that good. I know I’m not. Already, I can barely think whenever you’re in the room. You snare my attention more than a blazing fire, and when you have not captured my attention, you consume my thoughts. If you were mine…” His hand slid down until his fingers curled lightly around her throat, his thumb resting over her windpipe and making every beat of her racing pulse thump harder.

Her heart swelled painfully against her ribs. Night could have switched to day and she would not have noticed for how lost she was in his eyes, in the truth he poured out between them.

Bronwyn swallowed, feeling his fingers flex in response. “If I was yours?”

“Goddess, Bronwyn.” His thumb rubbed distracting circles on her skin. “Tell me you feel at least an ounce of what I do. Tell me you ache, too.”

There was only one thing to say to him. “I hope you’re a better actor than you think you are.” And then she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him down to her, and kissed him.

Chapter 22

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