Page 31 of With Wing And Claw

‘Excellent.’ Naxi beamed at her. ‘Then I’ll just crawl into the bed with you and we’ll both sleep like roses. Was that so hard?’

For the bloody gods’ sakes.

‘Leave my rooms,’ she ground out, because the alternative was thinking for even a moment about that image – lithe limbs tangled with her blankets – and she’d be damned if she let those demon games get the better of her once again. ‘Leave my rooms rightnow. Sleep in fucking Faewood for all I care, but—’

‘Pity I didn’t bargain to obey you,’ Naxi interrupted, glancing appreciatively at the pink bargain mark on her wrist. ‘And since I’m not feeling any pain, I’m going to assume my disobedience isn’t a breach of my promise not to harm you either – funny, isn’t it?’

‘I don’t care what the bargain thinks!’ Thysandra sputtered, her voice growing shrill. ‘I’m telling youIdon’t want—’

‘Oh, of course you want it.’ An eyeroll, visible even in the deepening twilight. ‘But fine, let’s make a deal. I’ll take thecouch, on one simple condition.’

Simple conditions wereneversimple. She felt like a wide-eyed fawn ambling straight into a hunter’s snare as she braced herself and snapped, ‘Yes?’

‘You kiss me first,’ Naxi said brightly.

Her heart stuttered.

‘What?’ She must have misheard. Shemusthave – because that was not a suggestion anyone, sane or insane, would reasonably come up with, right? ‘Did you say—’

Naxi leaned forward in the armchair, pink hair spilling over the black silk of her robe, lips curving into a mesmerising little rosebud smile. ‘Kiss me?’

No.

No.

Her heart was a fluttering mess, and the worst of it was that it wasn’t all repugnance – that she couldn’t possibly deny the little spark of anticipation,eagerness, flaring to life in her chest. Even though they weren’t going to kiss. Ofcoursethey weren’t going to kiss. Kissing would only lead to emotions, and emotions were the last thing either of them needed – and anyway, she didn’t evenwantit, not really. Surely this was just … just …

Just curiosity?

Just memories. Just the day of the Last Battle returning to her, white hills and dying screams and soft, soft lips on every inch of her body—

Naxi giggled.

Fuck.

‘No!’ Thysandra sputtered, realising only then she should have objected at least five stunned heartbeats ago.

‘No?’ The sound of that one word was so infuriatingly knowing it barely counted as a question. ‘Are you really quite sure of that, Sashka?’

‘Of course I am sure!’ The frantic beat of her heart said otherwise. She sucked in a cool breath and hurriedly added, ‘And didn’t I tell you to leave my rooms? We’re done with this conversation. We’redone. I have absolutely zero intention of kissing you or—’

‘You’re such a liar,’ Naxi said fondly, rising from her chair.

‘And stay away from me!’ She scrambled back over the couch, then to her feet, away from those all-seeing blue eyes. Away from every inch of smooth, vulnerable skin whispering at her to come closer instead. ‘Stay where you are. I—’

‘And what if I don’t?’ Naxi’s tiptoeing steps didn’t slow, her movements so light they seemed almost otherworldly, her head tilted at a taunting angle. ‘What if I already know exactly what you want? I could give it to you, you know. All the little bits of indulgence you deny yourself, and—’

Thysandra almost stumbled over her own feet in her hurry to move back. ‘Stopit!’

‘Why?’ A soft, melodious laugh. ‘Because you won’t stop yourself?’

‘No,’ Thysandra gasped, her wings bumping against the overgrown bookshelves. No way to retreat farther unless she were to fling herself out of the window. ‘No, because … because …’

‘Because you can’t stop me, then?’ Naxi was close enough to touch, and yet she didn’t reach out. A head shorter than Thysandra, half as broad, and still her half-whispering voice was the only weapon she needed. ‘That’s why you refuse to sleep in your own bed with me, isn’t it, Sashka? Because I could kiss you, and you’d happily give me those pretty lips of yours. I could slip my fingers—’

‘Shutup.’ It was almost a moan.

Naxi chuckled. ‘Why?’