Page 63 of Contested Crown

By the time Phelan opened the bathroom door, Cade’s magic was back on his body, far away from the listening spells. We were under the heavy spray of the expensive showerhead, and I was on my knees, sucking on Cade’s cock.

Phelan blinked, and Cade frowned. “Get out.”

Phelan left silently, pulling the door shut behind him.

I stood.

“Well, that killed the mood.” Cade took one of the washcloths from where it hung on the bar of the shower door. He slathered it in fresh-scented soap. “Might as well get you clean.”

“We’ll have more chances.” I reached out, stilling Cade’s hand against my chest. He looked up at me, his blue eyes fixed on mine. “We’ll have more chances.”

Because no matter what House Morrison did, I wasn’t going to let them be the end of us.

ChapterTwenty-One

The next few days were not any more informative than our first forty-eight hours at House Morrison had been. We were allowed to leave the room to visit the library, wander the grounds with an escort, and eat. Meals were divided between those in the cafeteria and one a day with Summer Morrison.

The latter was definitely the most interesting part of our day. The formal dinners always involved her parents and Elizabeth. Summer was on her best behavior, always ready for us, her mother beside her, when we arrived. No more hiding under beds, no more spouting nonsense.

It would have been impossible to tell what was going on if this was the woman we had first met. Still, even though she seemed coherent, able to have conversations about the weather, the food, and our stay at House Morrison, Elizabeth still locked her in every single time we left.

I had assumed, based on Larissa’s comment, that Elizabeth wanted Summer romantically. But there wasn’t a single longing look, a single brush of hands to back it up. Elizabeth seemed fiercely protective of Summer, and any reference to the proposed marriage was met with the most grating hostility.

On one of our walks, tracing a trail over the House Morrison cliffs, I muttered, “It’s not like you actually want to marry her either.”

Cade looked at me, an eyebrow quirked. “Jealousy rarely makes much sense. You hiss at Summer with just the same intensity.”

I grunted, crossing my arms, refusing to admit anything about my behavior. Mine was reasonable. We were kidnapped, and Cade was being forced into marriage.

We paused at a small platform with a variety of seating. There was a fire pit in the center, and based on the char marks, it was used frequently. After a moment’s thought, Cade sat, staring out over the ocean.

Our nanny of the day took a seat close by. “This is where a lot of younger members of the house come.”

“Initiates come here?” I asked.

“Oh, no, they aren’t allowed to leave the barracks after dark until they’re full-fledged members of the house. There’s too much a danger of…” She blinked, going pale, eyes wide.

Something happened after dark to the little baby ducklings who hadn’t become full-fledged members yet. What?

Pretending I hadn’t noticed anything, I took the seat to Cade’s left. “Gorgeous view. If you become king, you’ll have full access all the time to a view like this.”

Cade nodded, his chin jerking up and down. Abruptly, he stood, striding away so quickly that our guide was left scrambling. I was already up beside him.

I leaned over. “We need to find out what happens after dark.”

At House Bartlett after dark, Cade’s magic used to flow out of control, his nightmares turning it violent.

Cade nodded sharply, his face a cool mask of indifference.

“So.” I dropped back a few paces, catching up with our nanny. “Why doesn’t House Morrison like werewolves?”

It was a question I had been asking everyone, probing to find out why my presence here was so strange, why no one seemed to know what to do with me. It was one thing to assume none of them were powerful enough to have a werewolf consort, but I had seen more than enough evidence that almost all of them had enough magic to need one.

My mind flicked to the image of a drowning mouse, their power overwhelming their sanity.

“Oh.” Our nanny cleared her throat. “I mean… Well…”

“It can’t be that you don’t have enough magic. Everyone in House Morrison is too weak to need a consort?”