Page 29 of Courting the Tiger King

What the Hel was going on?

All four of them held parchment scrolls, but Neah couldn’t risk getting any closer to see who the seal might belong to without getting caught. Their murmurs were too quiet for even her sensitive hearing and she was just debating whether she could climb atop of the closest building, a tailors, and get closer via the roof when a hand fell to her shoulder.

She jumped, too intent on the four unknown assailants ahead of her to notice the person coming up on her from behind.Sloppy, she chastised herself, before grabbing onto the hand that had touched her and squeezing hard enough that she was surprised the bones didn’t grind together.

“Ouch, fuck.Fuck. Neah—it’s me.”

No.She dropped the hand like it had stung her and spun to take in her attacker.Fuck.How did she keep beating up the king? Or, perhaps the better question waswhat the Hel was he doing here?

She asked him as much and he looked at her incredulously. “Following you.” He said it as if the answer was obvious and she wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or impressed that she hadn’t sensed him tailing her.

“Go home, Your Majesty.” She kept the words cold, stiff and unyielding. The last thing she needed was to be responsible for the king’s murder while she was actively trying to hunt down his would-be attackers. Although… he would make good bait.

She dismissed the thought as soon as she had it. Too risky.

“After you,” he said, and she glared. Too loud, he was going to get them both caught.

“Shut. Up.” She hissed the words and his eyes widened, like nobody ever talked to him that way, and she couldn’t deny the pleasure that gave her as she turned her back on him. “Go away.”

“Not until you tell me what you’re doing here.” He leaned in closer, the smoky warm scent of him filling her senses and, for a damning second, she enjoyed the smell of it—until she realised he was peering around her and into the alley.

“Hey!”

“Fuck.” He just had to call attention to them, didn’t he? “Now you’ve bloody done it.” Neah could hear footsteps approaching, the vibration on the cobblestones echoing the pounding of her heart in her chest. Wren, for the most part, looked alarmed,more so when she grabbed him with fistfuls of his white shirt. Goddess, he wasn’t evendressedfor subterfuge. “Not a word,” she growled, and then crushed her lips to his.

He gasped into her and she groaned. The rough brick of the tailor’s shop bit into the back of her head as he pressed her against the hard surface, not so much as a breath between their bodies.

She had enough sense to open her eyes and check for the approaching assassins before realising if they were going to do this, they needed to sell it.

Neah yanked the side of her cloak up and, for once, cursed her decision to wear trousers as a slip of leg would have been far more effective in that moment. But she gave it her all, regardless.

One leg hooked at Wren’s hip, her hands pressed into his hair, mussing it as she dragged him closer, devouring him with her mouth as she coaxed him closer with her body.

His heat pressed into her, surrounding her as one rough hand closed around her throat, cradling her with enough pressure to hold her in place but not to hurt, before his mouth coaxed hers open. Wren kissed like he was starved, desperate, and when he plundered her mouth, taking what he wanted, she melted.

“Nothing,” she dimly heard the man who’d come to check on things say, “just a couple who couldn’t make it back to their room.” His laughter was harder to ignore and for a second it seemed like he would stay to watch the show. Thankfully, a few seconds later he walked away—just in time, because Wren had finally noticed their observer and a growl rumbled through him strong enough that she felt it as if it were her own, the sound sending a bolt of heat straight between her legs.

As soon as the man disappeared, she shoved Wren away, panting hard. He made to step back toward her, as if in a daze, and halted abruptly when she snarled.

“Enough. Let’s get out of here before they decide to come back and watch us fuck.” Her words were sharp, but Wren looked relaxed, at ease, like he’d just had a question answered. “We need to talk,” she said, more slowly, and he nodded, stepping toward her like he might take her hand. “Let’s not, okay? We did what we had to in the moment.”

His nostrils flared but he maintained the distance, a smirk on his face that unnerved her. “If that’s the way you want to play it,caritas. But I think we both know what I just smelled on you.”

“Heat of the moment,” she lied. “Now let’s go, before I change my mind and turn you over to them.”

He chuckled and she grimaced as they began the walk back to the palace. The small town wasn’t too far away, about a thirty minute walk at best, she just hoped they could delay the inevitable confrontation until they were safe from prying eyes and ears.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

WREN

By the time they arrived back at the palace, Wren’s heartbeat had settled into a more regular rhythm. His mind still felt a little foggy from the drugging effect of Neah’s mouth on his, but he was doing his best to shake it off, needing answers more than he needed to taste her lips again.

For now, anyway.

He’d guided her to his rooms, seeing as Zennon was staying in hers and this was one of the few places he could guarantee privacy. Skye had spelled the rooms for him to ensure that what was said inside couldn’t be heard in the hall, and that anyone who entered his rooms without permission would find themselves uncomfortably detained. The spells needed refreshing every few months so they’d opted to wait and do them all in one go before the ceremony so they’d be at full strength while discussing the sensitive information.

It was strangely nerve wracking, having Neah in his rooms, eyes roving over the design choices and widening at the vast array of books that took up one wall in his parlour.

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