Page 63 of The Fae Kings' Bargain

But although her steps slowed automatically as they approached, Toren didn’t so much as glance at her door. Instead, he led her straight into his and Mehl’s suite without a moment’s hesitation. She was so stunned by the shift that it took her a moment to notice Mehl hurrying ahead to speak to the healer waiting on the other side of the room.

“You are staying with us,” Toren said in a low voice as he drew her to a halt.

Ria’s heart pounded harder in her chest, but she wasn’t certain if it was in anger or anticipation. “During Mehl’s healing? Or for longer?”

“All night, or what’s left of it.” Somehow, Toren managed to appear both exhausted and imperious. “And each night after. We will see you safe.”

Oh gods, but the fierceness in his tone made her chest squeeze with ill-advised hope. “I suppose I am not safe alone?”

Toren inclined his head. “No room is entirely secure, it seems, while my brother stands against us. He would do anything to prevent me from producing an heir.”

His heir. Of course.

“It seems so,” Ria said softly, her shoulders sagging like a wet bolt of fabric.

Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed—any bed—and sleep for a solid year. Maybe then she could untangle it all. Her abduction, her tumultuous feelings, her new place in life—so many things weighed heavy on her heart. Both body and spirit needed rest.

“I told you I was nearly healed.”

At the sound of Mehl’s voice, Ria blinked, her attention slow to shift his way. When had he reached them? Yet there he stood, close enough that he could have taken her hand and Toren’s to form their own little semicircle. Already, the healer crossed behind him, stifling a yawn as she ducked out the door.

Then once again, they were alone.

“Let me see,” Toren demanded.

With an indulgent smile, Mehl extended his arm, and even Ria felt a spark of amusement at the way Toren studied his husband’s skin for signs of lingering injury. Only when he was satisfied did true relief cross his face. Some of the tension eased from his demeanor as he released Mehl.

Surreptitiously, Ria eyed Mehl’s arm, but she also found no hint of injury. The torn and bloody state of his sleeve, though—that struck her. He’d truly been hurt trying to capture the woman who’d abducted her.

“There.” Mehl’s smile shifted from Toren to warm her, too. “Let’s go to bed. We’ve merely an hour until the dawn.”

The simple walk to the bedroom door felt like a slow, awkward trudge, and she couldn’t prevent her skin from heating in a fierce blush at the sight of her nightgown on the foot of the bed. A servant must have brought it here. They’d known before she had that she’d be sleeping with the kings.

Mehl rubbed her shoulder soothingly before heading for a door over to the side, but Toren circled the bed, tugging his tunic over his head as he walked. His gaze flicked her way before he draped the tunic over a chair, and that small gesture had amusement taking the place of awkwardness. It was certainly something to have the ruler of the kingdom picking up after himself to avoid displeasing her.

Carefully, Ria took off her own bedraggled gown, but this time, she was the one who had to drop her clothing to the floor. At Toren’s lifted brow, she grimaced. “It would dirty the furniture. I hesitate to consider the state of the sofa I rested on, but at least it was brown.”

“Perhaps that’s why the guard took you to the Bronze Room,” Toren said, his voice light but his brows drawing down. “I should have thought to show you the bathing room. Your hair…”

Her hand darted to the dried, matted mass at the back of her head, and her grimace deepened. “Yes, please.”

“Come with me, then.”

Ria followed him to the door where Mehl had disappeared, and her gaze caught and held on the lean, well-formed muscles of Toren’s naked back. Her fingertips tingled with the remembered feel of those shoulders beneath her grip. And the flex of his arse with each step… Swallowing hard, Ria jerked her attention away and commanded herself to behave. They all needed sleep.

A resolution that was sorely challenged by the sight of Mehl, completely nude beside a dressing table.

“The gods are testing me,” she muttered beneath her breath.

Toren’s back muscles went taut a moment before his head whipped around. “What?”

Mehl laughed. “Perhaps we should all bathe together.”

Her mouth watered—actually watered. Had she thought she needed sleep? As heat flared in both kings’ eyes, rest was suddenly the last thing on her mind.

* * *

Mehl tooka moment to savor how the surprised consideration on Toren’s and Ria’s faces shifted to desire. Unlike the two of them, Mehl wasn’t particularly tired. It would be hours before the adrenaline from Ria’s abduction and Tes’s capture wore off, and healing sessions always left him full of energy—a useful side effect unless it was bedtime. That meant he’d have to find a way to use the excess if he hoped to sleep.

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