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He frowned. He should have known there would be a catch. But he had little that would be of use to her. He certainly didn’t have enough money for all of this. “What do you want?”

“A… kiss,” she said.

He thought he’d misheard her. “What?”

“A kiss. That is my price.” She glanced down, then up at him again, her lips taut. She said nothing else. Nero stared at her, not understanding. She couldn’t be serious.

But she did not look like she was joking. She looked like she was afraid he’d say no. She attempted a smile, her expression hopeful and vulnerable. It almost felt like an apology.

Slowly, understanding dawned on him.

Maybe she had enjoyed having his tongue in her mouth, after all. Maybe she’d like it again, if the circumstances were right. If she didn’t feel cornered.

“That’s what you want?” he asked.

She crossed her arms, looking him up and down. “Yes.”

“Fine,” he said, as if it were a hardship. He took a step closer, putting him in uncomfortable proximity to her body, but didn’t touch her yet. She looked up at him, waiting expectantly. He could see her chest rising and falling faster as she waited, her anticipation building. His stomach was twisting with nerves. He hadn’t kissed anyone in a long time. “How do you like it?”

“I do not know,” she said softly. “Surprise me.”

Suddenly he was thinking of a dozen different ways he would like to touch her.

“Do you promise not to stab me in the middle of it?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “I stabbed youonetime.”

“And yet every time I see you, I get the feeling you’re considering doing it again.”

“Keep your blade always at the ready,”she replied. Another Varai proverb.

He considered grabbing her and kissing her roughly and passionately, the way he had in the camp. That was probably what she was expecting. And the thought of her lithe body writhing and moaning beneath him was enough to make his pants feel tight. But that wasn’t what he wanted to do. He didn’t know if he’d have the confidence to do something like that anyway, even if he’d wanted to, without the added pressure of having their lives on the line.

She deserved something kinder—the opposite of what they’d been coerced into the other day.

“Close your eyes.” He tried to sound confident when he said it, and not like he was saying it because her eyes on him made him nervous.

She did as he asked. He took the opportunity to gaze at her face. Then his eyes wandered downward, over the hollow of her throat, the swell of her breasts, the gentle inward curve of her waist and flare of her hips. His hands itched to run over each of those curves and learn them intimately. But perhaps there would be time for that later. He got the feeling that he would be coming back to the village again soon.

He leaned in and touched his lips to hers, the contact light enough to set his nerves tingling. It was enough to bring to mind the memory of the taste and shape of her lips, but not quite enough to experience them again, not enough to satisfy. It made him want more, and left him with not enough.

He paused there just long enough for both of them to wonder whether he would deepen the kiss. And then he broke away, pulling back an inch.

“Was that to your satisfaction?” he asked.

She wasn’t smiling anymore. She looked startled. Her gaze darted from his eyes to his lips and back, like she was considering kissing him again.

But she didn’t. After a moment, she picked up the bottles and held them out to him without a word.

Chapter 20

She had expected him to be annoyed with her for demanding something in exchange for the medicines she gave him, and she had also expected him to enjoy kissing her again.

But she had not expected… that.

No one had ever kissed her softly like that. He kissed her like he actually liked her. She was shaken by the tenderness of it.

She was also well aware that he was intentionally teasing her. He wanted her to ask for more.