Page 16 of The Mountain King
"A liaison with me would be foolish?" White teeth flashed, and she wasn't sure if it was a smile or a challenge. "Very well, mistress. I will not approach you with any foolishness." He paused. "Your eldest daughter. The fey one. Is she..."
Kailigh watched him attempt to find a delicate word and after a minute decided to help him out. "Sane? Yes, she is. I don't think your men will fare well with her, however. She learned at a young age to distrust." And that was all Kailigh would say on the matter.
Maddugh's eyes chilled, and she realized he didn't see her, but was looking inward. "I see." He stepped back, and to her consternation, bowed, hair slithering over his shoulder. Stone and Steam, these Dwyrkin were pretty. "I will see you at the first meal. We don't break fast until later than is human custom."
She nodded. "That's fine. We tend to do chores before eating, anyway. Don't trouble the kitchen on our behalf." She paused. “Do you have a telegraph?”
“Of course. There is a business office open for use for the entire household on the first floor.” He studied her. “Who do you need to communicate with?”
His mild tone didn’t fool her. But she was in his home. She gave him the courtesy of a reply. “The town constable. He’ll want some kind of report until I can get to town to make a formal statement.”
“You won’t be going into town anytime soon.”
Kailigh stared. “Excuse me? I think I misheard.”
He smiled. “No, I think your hearing is just fine. You may not leave the city until I’m certain there is no danger to you or your daughters.”
“Our bargain wasn’t for you to decide when I come and go, Maddugh.”
“I cannot collect toll from a dead woman. And if this enemy truly wants our daughters, he is now aware that the only way he may procure them is over your dead body. And now, mine.”
He stepped forward, a subtle entrance into her personal space. Kai remained where she was, refusing to play the cat and mouse game by backing up. Or by demanding he step back. She wouldn’t let him know he affected her.
“I said you interest me, Kailigh,” Maddugh said. “I find myself wondering…” he lifted a hand, brushed a finger over the line of her jaw, down her neck. Kai tensed. Not acknowledging that the feather light touch branded her skin even through the cloth of her jacket. “Wondering things only a husband should wonder.”
Kailigh inhaled. “You play with serious words like they are candy.”
Maddugh smiled, though his eyes remained dark, intense. “I’m a serious man—and much older than you. I know what I want when I see it—and I rarely wait long to claim something I’ve determined belongs to me.”
“I am not a mine to be claimed.”
“No? Well, then I must revert to gentler means of persuasion.”
He led her to the office, inclined his head, and left her in private. Kailigh forced her mingled temper and growing lust to simmer down, practicality winning over anger. In the end, it didn’t matter what Maddugh wanted—short of locking her up, he couldn’t control her. So let him entertain his delusions all he wanted. She would waste no emotional or mental energy arguing with him.
She sent a brief message and waited. It wasn’t a long wait, and she cursed when the reply was final. The airbus was gone—and so was Ruthus Adjrius.
