Page 24 of Contested Crown

Then he plunged forward, kissing me hard, and every muscle in his body clenched, warm, hot, sticky come coating my hand.

He shivered, jerking, and when he stilled, I gently pulled my hand out. He twitched again, a tremor that I wanted to comfort away. Wrapping my arms around him, I drew him against me, hot come and cooling sweat making us both sticky.

“I trust you too,” I said into his hair.

The words were foreign, and it was impossible. How could I trust him, the heir of the family that had killed mine? But I did.

I trusted him, and I wanted to protect him, and I needed him in a way that I hadn’t needed anybody for eleven years. He was my pack. He was… Cade. Not Prince Bartlett, not heir to House Bartlett. He was Cade, and I was Miles, and I screwed my eyes tight, believing in the fiction that we could just be that—we could just be two men who cared about each other and wanted to protect each other from a world that wanted them dead.

“We should clean up,” Cade said sleepily. His stomach growled, and I realized we would need to deal with that too.

“What? You don’t want to be glued together? I thought you liked me.” I pretended to pout, even as Cade groaned, getting to his feet and stretching uncomfortably.

I went to the small bathroom, barely more than a closet with a toilet and a sink. Using paper towels, I washed as best as I could before letting Cade have the space. He grumbled, saying that this was even worse than the place we’d stayed where the cockroaches had taken over the entire minifridge.

“At least that place had a shower.”

“The water came out brown,” I said. “I’m pretty sure it could give you tetanus just from looking at it.”

“Luckily, we’ve both had our shots. Youhavehad your tetanus shot, haven’t you?” Cade was still shirtless, and he pressed his hand to the tattoo on his chest.

It moved, swirling and curling in on itself before stilling. I leaned against the doorframe, and Cade caught my eyes in the mirror. He frowned and turned, pressing his fingers into my skin.

“The pieces of Basil have moved,” he said, tracing one on my chest. “But they haven’t disappeared.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, trying to hold on to a coherent thought when his hand was on me.

“I don’t know, but the magic I was getting back wasn’t from Basil.” He frowned, his eyes tracing over me, then looking up, catching my gaze. “We shouldn’t do that again. Not unless we have to.”

“What are you worried about?” I asked, going still. The postorgasm warmth faded as he swallowed, pulling away.

“I’m not sure about the actual details of how consort bonds work. We don’t even have one. But I worry”—Cade wet his lips—“that whatever we did will affectyou. Do you feel any different?”

I shook my head slowly. “No.”

“Well, still. I don’t want you hurt.” Cade didn’t look reassured.

“I thought you were paying me to take your lumps for you,” I joked.

“I’m not paying you at all,” Cade said honestly. “And you’re still here. I won’t risk your life for myself. You’re worth more than that.” I stared at him, and color rose on his cheeks until he finally pulled away. “What doyouwant?”

His question put me off-balance. When was the last time someone had asked me that?

Something of my confusion must have shown on my face because Cade took a step forward, placing one hand on my chest. “Miles?”

I shook my head. “I just want to know what he’s up to—Leon, I mean. Why did he develop a drug that could take away werewolf abilities? What’s his larger plan? Whatever it is, it isn’t going to be good for werewolves.”

Cade nodded, wetting his lips again, but before he could say anything else, I put a hand up.

“I also want you to get a fair shot. He took that away from you. Because of the way he maneuvered things, no one ever took you seriously. No one ever let you be a leader. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. You deserve a chance.”

I ended there, lamely. I couldn’t voice what I really wanted, what I wanted when all this was done and Cade was back at the head of House Bartlett. When all this was done, I wanted a chance to take the position my mother had never been able to.

I couldn’t even put words to it, but I saw it clearly.Lupus Imperator. Emperor Wolf.

What Leon was doing with the drug was wrong, and if there was an Emperor Wolf, it never would have happened. The emperor would have stopped him.

Iwould have stopped him. Even without knowing what his overall plan was, what he was doing was wrong and evil.