Page 60 of Fall of Ruin and Wrath

He’d asked that question after grabbing me in the barn, but it still caught me off guard. “You only startled me.” I told the truth. “If you knew it was me, why did you grab me? Or do you always grab women who enter your chambers?”

He snorted. “At one time, I welcomed soft and shapely women entering my chambers, expected or not, but that was before more than one had come into possession of aluneablade and entered my chambers with the intentions of drawing my blood and enriching themselves.”

I supposed after what he recently experienced, I too would react first and ask questions later. “At this point, you have to know that I have no interest in your blood, body parts, or— ”

“My come?” Lord Thorne tacked on. “I think that has changed since we first spoke of it.”

I briefly closed my eyes. “Are you ready to release me so that I can better service you?” I asked. “And perhaps turn on a light?”

His chin grazed the top of my head once more. “I believe I’m ready to be serviced.”

I didn’t know what I should be more concerned about in that moment. That his arm remained around my waist or that he made “serviced” sound like the most decadent, wicked word ever to be spoken.

His lips suddenly brushed against my temple, causing an unexpected hitch in my breath. “But just to be clear,na’laa,I trust your baron less than I do the ones who created thenix.No matter what aid you have given me, if you try anything, I won’t hesitate to retaliate.” His arm tightened around me. “Do you understand me?”

CHAPTER 14

My skin had gone cold as my thoughts flashed to the small pouch in my pocket. This was the kind of Hyhborn lord I expected. Icy. Deadly. Not teasing and laughing, claiming to be a protector. It was a good reminder of exactly what I was dealing with. “I understand.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.” His mouth touched my temple again. “I’d hate to have to end you when I’ve been quite . . . enthralled by you.”

He sounded like that surprised him, as it did me. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of enthralling anyone, let alone a Hyhborn who’d threatened my life. “I think you’ve confused being enthralled with amusing yourself by irritating me.”

“Possibly,” he remarked. “I do find pleasure in that.” He paused.“Na’laa.”

I sighed.

Lord Thorne then released me, and the sudden freedom caused me to stumble. His hands curved briefly around my upper arms, steadying me. When he let go this time, I was expecting it, but I could still feel the . . . the heat of him standing behind me as the wall sconces flickered to life, the two framing the doorway and one near the bathing chamber.

He’d done that without moving, instead using the very air we breathed to flip a switch on a wall several feet away.

I sucked in a shallow breath. Even though I knew he was a Hyhborn lord and I’d seen what he was capable of, his power was still as shocking as Claude expecting me to gain information— to manipulate it out of such a powerful being.

Panic threatened to take root and spread, but I couldn’t allow it. I needed to pull myself together. It wasn’t just my life riding on it.

Taking a moment to calm my heart and mind, I fixed a smile on my face. “It’s a good thing I cannot turn lights on without touching them,” I said, turning around. “I would never rise from a . . .”

Words failed me as my gaze crawled up long legs and strong hips encased in supple dark brown leather, the loose dark tunic and the leather of his baldric crossing the broad chest I had already known he had. A dagger I hadn’t felt was sheathed and strapped flat. Seeing him now in the light of the chamber, where I could get a better look at him, left me unsteady.

“You’re staring.” One side of those full lips rose as he walked toward a narrow table by the entry to the bedchamber.

Feeling my cheeks warm, I ordered myself to pull it together. “You’re . . . nice to stare at, as I’m sure you’re well aware.”

“I am,” he said without an ounce of arrogance. It was just a statement of truth. He withdrew a dagger from the baldric and then another from a sheath above his hip. There were dual flashes of milky-white blade before he placed them on the table.Luneablades.

“That wasn’t the only reason I was staring,” I admitted after a moment. “I was . . . I was worried about you.”

An eyebrow rose as his hands halted along the other side of his waist. “For what reason?”

“I heard there was a violent battle in the gardens the night I last saw you. Theni’meres.” I watched him slide another blade from his other hip. “A few of the guards were killed.”

“Their loss was unfortunate. A damn shame that shouldn’t have happened,” he said, and he sounded genuine. “But I was not harmed.” A pause. “And I would not call that a battle,na’laa.”

“Then what would you call it?”

“An inconvenience.”

I blinked, thinking that something which resulted in scattered body pieces could not be considered just an inconvenience. But what I thought didn’t matter. I focused on him, opening my senses. I pictured that string connecting us as I asked, “Why . . . why did they come? Was it because of the other two Hyhborn?”