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Tannin glared at him before turning to me with an apologetic frown. “Ignore him. I know it must be difficult to converse after so long in silence, but you can talk tomeabout whatever you want.”

He put his hand softly on my arm, and a warm tingle saturated my skin at his touch, making me gasp. The way he blinked at our point of contact told me he felt it too. But he didn’t remove his hand right away, instead letting it linger for several seconds then slowly pulling away, lightly dragging his fingertips across my skin in a way that made me ache.

I looked up into his soft green eyes, and he held my gaze for a moment. I wanted to disappear into them, and I found myself leaning closer until Jax loudly, rudely cleared his throat.

I rested back against my chair and chose one of the many questions racing around my mind. “When you came here, you said you were heading to Rodak. That’s the outpost town in the west, isn’t it? Why were you going there?”

Tannin took a bite and nodded while chewing. “We’re from a very small village in the north. Life became unbearable there, so I guess you could say we were on a sort of pilgrimage, looking for something better.”

My heart jumped up into my throat with excitement. They had nowhere to go. They wanted a new home. This could be their new home!

I swallowed against the eager tightness in my throat. “Well, as you can see, there’s a lot of room here. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

Tannin’s responding smile seemed bittersweet, and I wondered if I offended him somehow. Was I being too eager? Did I sound desperate?

“I think that sounds like a fantastic idea,” Jax said suddenly. “Especially if meals like this are going to be a common thing. You may not be good at catching chickens, but you’re fairly decent at cooking them.”

I smiled, deciding to take that as a compliment. Mama always said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.

“Well, if you like the chicken, then you’ll love the pie.” I got out of my seat and stepped around Jax to get to the dessert, which was just past his plate.

He scooted his chair out to give me better access to it, and the gesture surprised me. Maybe he wasn’t a complete asshole after all.

I cut into the pie and set slices onto each of their plates.

“Thank you,” Tannin said, licking his lips as he eyed the caramelized apples spilling from beneath the crust.

I giggled at his response, then tripped on my skirt as I made to return to my seat and fell awkwardly into Jax’s lap.

“Whoa!” His arms closed around me, his hands firmly gripping the sides of my waist.

Just as with Tannin, Jax’s touch sent a hot shiver through me. I looked at his face over my shoulder, finding concern in those icy blue eyes as well as heat.

Smoldering heat that threatened to incinerate me from the inside out. “Are you okay?” he asked, his fingertips pressing into me.

I nodded dazedly, distracted by the telltale bulge nudging at the bottom of my thigh. I knew enough about the bedroom to understand what that was and what it meant, and a thrill throbbed between my legs.

“Mm-hmm... just tripped,” I muttered. “Not used to wearing dresses anymore.”

I pressed my buttocks into his lap, and the quietest yet sharpest gasp escaped his lips. I wanted so badly to kiss them.

Suddenly, he lifted me off him and set me back on my feet beside him.

“Try not to be so clumsy, please,” he scolded, looking pointedly away from me, scooting back into the table with blatant irritation.

But his jagged edges didn’t cut me because I knew the truth, which he was reluctant to admit. He wanted me every bit as much as I wanted him.

I glanced at Tannin as I made my way back to my chair, and the two of them were glaring at each other in a different way than before. In challenge.

Was Tannin jealous? Did he want me too? That would be crazy.

The sinful, frenzied dreams that had haunted me all night came back to me, shooting sharp desire through my center, and I closed my eyes against its potency. The idea of having one of them was almost too much to bear. But both of them... was that even possible?

“No, that would be crazy,” I muttered to myself.

“What?” Jax asked, looking quizzically at me with one eyebrow raised.

“Oh, nothing,” I blurted, internally kicking myself. “I, uh... talk to myself sometimes.”