Page 77 of Night Meets the Elf Queen (The Elf Queen #4)

THANE

T oo much wine made Thane’s body uncomfortably warm.

He took off his jacket and undid a few buttons at the top of his tunic.

Valeen danced with Hel in the center of Nerium Oleander.

She giggled at something he said, and he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss below her ear and then they were saying their goodbyes.

He might have been upset, wallowing in his wine, but someone else had him enraptured.

Katana. Even the sound of her name in his thoughts was like a song stuck on repeat.

The way her hips swayed moving around the room. How everything about her seemed to glow, from her bright hair to her golden skin. It had been a day since he’d caught her dancing, and they gave into each other once more on the rug.

They hadn’t been alone together since, and it was eating him alive.

Was she avoiding him after she confessed to Valeen what happened? The only reason he even knew that she told Valeen was because Tif told him. She’d apparently been eavesdropping.

When he asked Katana to dance earlier, their conversation was very… stilted. Almost as if she was regretting sleeping with him again. He took another sip of wine. He shouldn’t have given in a second time, even if he could hardly think of anything else.

The way her hair lit up like a candle… did it mean something? She said that had never happened before.

Gods , he cursed under his breath. I should have left it to one time with no promises . But even that thought made him almost sick. He didn’t want to leave it with no promises at all. He wanted all the promises, and that scared him.

“You look glum.” Fennan slid into the seat across from him. “Is it about the wedding?”

He drank more wine. “No. I’m not upset about her marrying Hel.

” Surprisingly, he wasn’t. At one time he’d have been mad with jealousy, and sure there were some lingering feelings about her, but they were strangely platonic.

The thought of even kissing her felt wrong, as if something deep inside him rejected the very idea of it.

“Alright.” Fennan drummed his fingers on the glass mug in his hand. “Something else you want to talk about?”

“Not really.” He watched Katana dancing with Leif, and the way she smiled up at him had his cheeks burning. Her laugh pierced his chest, sent a tingle down from the nape of his neck to his lower belly.

Fennan turned and followed his gaze. “Ah, Katana. What is going on there? I see all the longing looks, you know. I think everyone can see them.”

Thane leaned back, gazed locked onto her. He couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. Her blonde hair tumbled down her back, almost reaching her plump cheeks. That gold dress hugged them too, not hiding a damn thing. “Nothing.”

“You don’t need to lie to me.”

“There’s nothing to lie about. We slept together and that was that. The end.”

Fennan cocked a brow. “You slept with her? Thane, that’s… she’s Valeen’s sister.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t expect that from you.”

“Why is that?” Thane brought the wine glass to his mouth, peering over the lip of it as Leif dipped her. He didn’t like how low his hand was on her back. A few more inches and it would be inappropriate. A few more inches and he’d be out of this seat and across the room.

He let out a sharp breath and rubbed his temple. He shouldn’t want her this much. She wasn’t his. They weren’t betrothed or committed.

“Well, I’ve slept with a handful of maidens in my day, and that was that, but that’s not you, sire. And I know you all think I’ve gone through half the courtiers but it’s not true. I flirt, sure, but I rarely take maidens to bed. It complicates things.”

“Yeah,” Thane agreed. “It does.” Sleeping with Katana hadn’t put out the fire of desire like he thought it would. If anything, it burned hotter.

“How about instead of staring at her, you go cut in?” Fennan said. “I’ll go ask Piper.”

Thane finished his glass of wine. “Good. You should.” Although he liked Ronan, he would rather see Fennan and Piper together. His best friend’s happiness was important to him, and he didn’t want to lose Piper. If she married Ronan, she’d leave them.

Before he even considered what he would say, he was standing beside Leif and Katana as the song ended. He simply took her hand and pulled her along with him as the next melody began.

They easily fell into step as if they’d been dancing together all their lives, as if she anticipated his moves.

Why wouldn’t she look up at him?

They’d circled around the floor two times before she finally said, “Leif is a surprisingly good dancer.”

“I noticed.”

She lifted her chin. Her lavender eyes sparkled with mystery. “I noticed you noticing.”

“I didn’t like his hand placement. It was bordering inappropriate.”

She tried to hold back her smile by pressing her lips together. “Yours is rather low.”

He slid his hand down until he was full-on cupping her right cheek.

“Now who is inappropriate?”

“It’s not when we’re…” Friends who happened to know carnal knowledge of each other? Maker above, he couldn’t even fool himself with that one. They were more than friends but less than a commitment.

Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.

“What are we exactly?” She arched a brow. “This is a peculiar predicament we seem to have caught ourselves in.”

“All I know is I don’t like seeing other males touching you.”

“Hmmm, well I suppose you will just have to learn not to look.” Her tone wasn’t playful, and she didn’t smile and wink.

She was serious. His jaw clenched and he gulped down his next comment about seeing if she said that the next time he took her to bed and her hair lit up.

But there wouldn’t be a next time. “And how are you feeling tonight about my sister?”

“I’m not feeling anything at all about your sister.”

“Truly?”

“My feelings are somewhere else tonight.”

She searched his face, his eyes, and then slowly smiled. “So, your heart is better.”

“It is.” He wouldn’t admit she might have something to do with that. He cleared his throat. “Are you still having nightmares?” Piercing screams hadn’t woken him in a few days but that didn’t mean anything.

“Last night.” Once more she lifted her gaze to his. “I dreamed that Synick escaped and… came into my room and tied me up. I hate how real the nightmares feel.”

Was this a prophetic dream? In Ryvengaard their rooms were right next to each other, here she was in the same wing of the castle but on the floor below him.

That needed to change.

The possibility of Synick escaping was very real. He hadn’t even checked on him since his return. Had Hel been keeping a close eye?

“Katana.” He paused, waiting for her to meet his gaze again. “Remember when I promised to protect you?”

She smiled. “I do.”

“I intend to keep that promise. If you are ever afraid, you can stay with me. It wouldn’t mean anything, and we don’t even have to sleep in the same bed. It would be to keep you safe.”

Her brows furrowed with hurt or confusion. She pulled away and they stood unmoving on the dance floor. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I just want to live without being afraid and… and the thing I’m even more afraid of than Atlanta or Synick is that… nothing we shared means anything to you.”

His breath seemed to rush out all at once.

His heart stopped.

She pushed a hand through her hair and frowned. “You want to keep me close to keep me safe because I am broken . And I can see it’s in your nature to protect and fix broken things but it’s not because you…” She whirled and hurried for the bar top.

“You’re not broken. Katana.” His heart began to pound. His mouth went dry. “Katana, wait.” He dashed after her.

She made a quick turn to hop onto a barstool in front of Evalyn. “I would love a glass of wine, Evalyn. That pink one looks delicious.”

“Coming right up.” She turned and reached for a tall-stemmed glass on the shelf.

Thane plopped down next to her and his leg began to bounce uncontrollably. “You’re not broken.”

“Yes, I am.”

“No. You’ve had terrible things happen to you but that doesn’t make you broken. What else were you going to say?”

“Nothing you want to hear,” she said under her breath.

“‘Not because I’, what? Not because I care? I do care about you.” More than a friend should.

She turned on her stool, and her knees bumped against his. “We cannot sleep in the same room. I won’t.”

“Why? Do you suddenly find me repulsive?”

She laughed and put a hand to her chest, drawing his gaze to her collarbones, then her cleavage. “Oh, Thane. I know you are not naive when it comes to ladies. You know exactly why I won’t, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you being repulsive .”

“I can control myself, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll have a second bed brought in. Easy.” He tapped his chin. “And we can put up a curtain, so you have privacy.”

The strap of her dress fell from her shoulder, drooping the fabric and exposing the swell of her breast. He quickly lifted it back into place and let his fingers linger too long on her soft skin.

Her eyes fell to his hand sliding down her arm and the corners of her plump lips curled upward. “Well, I am glad it would be so easy for you to resist me, but no.”

His fingers dug into his thigh. “I didn’t mean it like that. I think it might be the hardest thing I’ll ever do but I’ll respect your wishes.”

Evalyn set the wine in front of Katana with a raised eyebrow. She no doubt heard every word, even if they spoke quietly.

“Thank you so much, Evalyn.” She took a sip and leaned in like she was going to tell her a secret.

“Oh, it’s as delicious as it looked. I do not think I’ve told you yet, but you have the most beautiful brown eyes.

It was one of the first things I noticed about you.

And Valeen told me all about you of course.

I absolutely loved that you raised her in a cottage with a round door and taught her how to gamble. ”

Evalyn smiled. “Well, I probably shouldn’t have taught her the gambling so young, but I did what I could with what I had.”

“It’s truly selfless to take on someone else’s child without complaint.”

“I’d do it again, if I had to.”

Katana grinned and put her hand over Evalyn’s. “I know. You have a splendid aura.”

“A what?”

“I call it the color of your soul. Yours is mostly orange. It’s the rarest. You like freedom and independence but are also selfless when it comes to helping others. You are a good multitasker and are not afraid to speak your mind.”

“True,” Thane added. “Especially the last part.”

Evalyn laughed. “I don’t know how you did that, but I’ll just accept it. Can I get you anything, Thane?”

“No, but thank you. I’ve had more than enough for one night.”

“Maybe you have, but I haven’t. Not when Layala has married the Black Mage and I have to simply sit back and accept it.”

“He’s not as bad as you think he is.”

“I can’t believe you’re standing up for him.”

“It’s complicated.”

“So I see.” Evalyn moved down the bar and started washing dishes in the sink.

Katana took a long drink of wine then turned back to him. “You know, those aren’t only my wishes. You were the one who said, ‘only once’, then seduced me the second time.”

His mouth dropped and his cheeks warmed. “Seduced you? Did you not want to?”

“No, I did. That is the problem, isn’t it?

Because I warned you my feelings would get involved.

” She pressed her palm over her heart and her eyes softened.

“But truth be told, my feelings were involved before the first time. I am drawn to you far more than I should be. I shouldn’t have come to you that night.

It was a mistake.” She took another gulp of wine like the confession pained her.

His heart was about to beat out of his chest. “A mistake?” That one bloody hurt.

Felt like a damn knife to the chest. This—no strings attached—whatever it was, was all muddy now.

He didn’t sleep with his “friends”. He didn’t feel like he couldn’t breathe without his “friends”.

If he didn’t do something he was going to lose her, but he was terrified of what could happen to his fragile heart.

Deep down he knew she already had the power to crush it. “You think I was a mistake?”

She cupped the side of his face and leaned closer.

“I did not say that to hurt you. I’m sorry.

You said not to involve our hearts, and I broke that on my end, but you’ve held up yours.

So, it’s done now.” She dropped her hand and smiled sorrowfully at him.

“I won’t live in Valeen’s shadow, Thane.

” She picked up her glass and walked over to sit beside Leif.

Shit, shit, shit. A storm of emotions ripped through him. He shoved his fingers into his hair, messing up the careful braids and tried to calm his erratic breathing.

Evalyn was suddenly there again and pushed a shot glass of amber in front of him. “I think you do need this after all, High King.”

He downed it and pushed it back. “Thanks.”

“Tell ol’ Aunt Evalyn what’s going on.”