Page 174 of The Nightmare Bride
“Yes, for fun. Besides reading, that is. I haven’t the patience for that.”
“Whatdoyou have the patience for?” I said, then caught myself. Why was I even engaging in this?
“Not much, I’ll admit. I would’ve liked to find out what kind of noises you make when a man touches you properly, but if that’s off the table, I’m open to other suggestions. I mean, this is our life now, isn’t it? I’d rather not lie here night after night, talking about our feelings. Not if there’s something more interesting to be explored.”
“I never talk about feelings,” I growled.
“Wonderful. And I don’t have any, so that takes care of that.”
My thoughts rolled around in my skull like loose marbles. None of this made sense—not the half-naked stranger in my bed, not the quips that kept leaping from his mouth, not the many ways in which Eliana’s foreboding letter failed to match the reality.
Harlowe, he will fool even you.
She’d warned me, but still, I couldn’t escape the sense that I was one step behind this man, struggling to catch up but never actually making it. Moreover, I felt like I’d missed something. Something crucial.
“I know.” He thrust a forefinger into the air. “Why don’t we go into town?”
“To...town?”
“Yes. Oceansgate proper is only a stone’s throw away. We could go to the theatre. We could go out drinking. We could do whatever we want.”
“You want to go to the theatre,” I said flatly. There was that feeling again.
“Well, why not?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you just married someone who then tried to kill you?”
He waved an airy hand. “Oh, you didn’t actuallytry. If you had, I’d be gasping about on the floor right now.” He cinched two hands around his neck and pantomimed dying horribly.
I watched his performance to its conclusion. “You are absolutely the strangest man I’ve ever met.”
“You must have led a very boring life, then.”
Wow. That was rich—the pampered prince accusing the handmaid of being sheltered.
“Look,” I said. “You can go into Oceansgate, if you want. But I’m not. Half the people there hate me, for one, and two, I’m tired.”
“Come on, where’s the fun in that?”
“We just married each other out of obligation. This isn’t supposed to be fun.”
He held my eyes for a beat, then pouted. “Well, town sounds much less enticing if you’re not going to come along and let me loosen you up a bit.”
My whole body went taut. “I never loosen up.”
“Clearly.”
I slitted my eyes. “I definitely should’ve stabbed you.”
He laughed. “You’ll have plenty more chances, I’m sure.”
The offhand remark sent me down a rabbit-hole of what ifs.WouldI have more chances? Was I squandering my best shot at protecting Amryssa? What would happen when Olivian—and Kyven himself, no less—discovered he’d married the wrong woman?
Something burbled in my stomach, then sprang from my lips in the form of a hysterical laugh.
Kyven cocked an eyebrow, but soon joined in. When our laughter died, we stared at one another.
“What was that about?” he said.
