Page 61 of Crown of Darkness
Really?
His expression darkens. “I have a wife, and she knows it, and yet she’s constantly trying to touch me in places she shouldn’t.”
“Should I know about these places?” I tease.
“I nearly shoved her off a cliff this morning,” he says with a sigh, raking a hand through his hair, “when she put her hand on my thigh.”
This timemyeyebrows arch.
“Don’t look at me like that. Lucere reminds me of your mother. Because she knows she has something I want, she pushes me. I’m not her fucking pet, but she’s trying to treat me like one.”
I didn’t think of what it would be like to deal with that from the other end.
“If you push her off a cliff, who’s next in line for the throne?”
He looks at me. “Corvin. Though it will probably go to Imerys. They’re very matrilineal here, and he’ll back his sisters.”
“I like Imerys.”
“I’m not murdering a crown princess,” he says dryly. “Even if she has grabby hands.”
“I’m fairly certain Eris would volunteer if you gave her the eyebrow.”
“The eyebrow?”
I mimic one of his favorite expressions; cool, calculating, off-with-her-head…. “I jest. We need Ravenal—ruling princess aside. And I don’t like to think that I’m starting to sound like my mother, so no pushing anyone from the battlements. But if she touches you again, I can’t promise I’m not going to draw my dagger and challenge her to a duel.”
“Mmm.” His voice drops. “Now tell me what’s wrong. The guards are gone.”
“I think there was a fetch in the library.”
He goes so still, I wonder if he heard me. “They shouldn’t be able to find you while you’re wearing that bracelet.”
“I know,” I whisper, stroking his arm. Just two lovers stealing a kiss in the gardens. No one from Ravenal needs to know that one of the Heartless might be stalking the shadows of Ravenspire.
“Are you certain it was a fetch?”
“The bracelet felt cold, and it was almost tugging me toward whatever was in the shadows. Imerys thought she saw something too.”
“Did you see it?”
I shake my head. “Just a shadow.”
Thiago’s thumb rubs over the back of my hand. “You don’t go anywhere without either myself or Eris from now on.”
“It might not have been the fetch.”
His eyes narrow, and he leans down, close enough to kiss me. “I don’t care. Nowhere, Vi. Not alone. I didn’t spend thirteen years winning your heart only to lose you now. Promise me.”
With a sigh, I wrap my arms around his neck. “It shall be a great hardship, but I shall glue myself to your side until we leave Ravenal. All day. All night….”
“Mmmm.” His gaze drops to my lips. “Why don’t you tell me about these nights?”
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Chapter Twelve
Ican’t sleep.
