Page 9 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Valen

I searched the chateau from top to bottom, but no one had broken in. A spy doing reconnaissance, then. Or perhaps a burglar, but my return had scared them off before they could sneak inside. It couldn’t be an assassin—they would have already struck.

Emmeline’s voice from the bathroom cut off my train of thought. I couldn’t make out the words, but she sounded upset.

I hurried down the hall.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

The water had drained from the bathtub, only wet flower petals remaining inside, and candles flickered from an artful arrangement on the stone floor. Emmeline stood wrapped in a linen cloth, her hair wet. Nin looked unusually sheepish standing in front of her.

“I have nothing to wear,” Emmeline said through gritted teeth.

I shot Nin a questioning look.

“The state of her dress— I wouldn’t use it as a rag to wipe the floors.” Nin wrung her hands. “I didn’t realize she hadn’t packed a wardrobe.”

“So you…?”

“Burned it,” Nin finished helplessly.

Emmeline groaned and pulled the linen cloth more tightly around her body.

The sight filled me with yearning and regret.

When I’d chatted with her at the party in her guise as Lady Celestine, I’d wanted nothing more than to have her naked in my chateau.

But I’d destroyed any chances of romancing her when I’d swooped down on my pegasus and chased her through the forest. She would abhor the cruel knight who’d coerced her into coming here.

Which was for the best. Even if we’d met under different circumstances, she would’ve learned my true nature eventually. Better to reveal it now before we grew close enough for it to hurt. Besides, we need a professional relationship for the heist, no romantic complications.

“Don’t worry, dearest.”

Emmeline clenched her jaw at my calling her “dearest.” We needed to discuss her acting skills.

“I planned to have the seamstress come tomorrow anyway,” I said. “I’m sure I have something lying around that you can wear in the meantime.”

I went to my chambers and rifled through a chest of drawers, finding a soft white chemise. I couldn’t remember who had left it here. Not Aurea. No, I’d returned all her belongings, unable to bear the sight of them.

“You’re not lending her that ?” Nin hissed, coming into the room behind me.

“It should fit her.”

“Loaning her clothing from a former lover? You think that’s a good way to start a new relationship?”

“You’re the one who burnt her dress.”

Nin covered her face with her hands. “Oh, stars. The first woman you’ve brought home for more than a night in years , and I’ve ruined everything. You’ll never marry now. You’ll die miserable after a long, lonely life, and it’s all my fault.”

I cleared my throat. “I’m not lonely—”

“Of course you are. You don’t even have a partner to play chess with.”

“Playing against myself is an intellectual challenge. It—”

“It’s sad.” She paused. “And why didn’t you bring her wardrobe? This isn’t all my fault, you know.”

“We left in a hurry. She didn’t have time to pack.”

Nin looked at me sharply, drawing the conclusion I wanted her to. “Her family doesn’t approve of the match? Oh, Sir Valen .”

I didn’t squirm at her scolding tone. No, definitely not. I was her employer and a terrifying knight. She didn’t intimidate me in the slightest.

“What’s she going to do if things don’t work out between you?” Nin demanded. “Her family might not take her back. My cousin took a human bride, you know. Some of the things she’s told me about how they treat women on Earth…” She shook her head sadly.

“I’ll see that she’s taken care of,” I said, more defensively than I’d intended.

Nin pierced me with a look. Gone was the happy servant; she resembled a mother bear debating whether to maul me.

“See that you do,” she said simply.

We returned to the bathroom, and I handed Emmeline the chemise, stepping outside while she dressed. She emerged a moment later, hair still wet.

“Again, I’m so sorry about your dress,” Nin said.

Emmeline yawned. “It’s fine. Just warn me before you set something on fire next time.”

Nin hastily agreed. Then, after checking that we needed nothing else, she bid us goodnight and departed.

Without her bustling around and babbling, the atmosphere in the room shifted.

Tension filled me, an awkwardness I hadn’t felt since my first time offering flowers to a pretty maiden.

Being alone with Emmeline in my home carried a different air than chasing her through the forest or plotting on a plateau, the privacy more intimate in a domestic setting.

Faking a courtship had seemed like such a simple plan when I’d conceived it, but perhaps I hadn’t fully considered the implications.

“Did you need anything else before bed?” I asked curtly.

“No, just leave me alone and let me sleep.”

I led her to my bedchamber, and she stopped on the threshold to stare.

It was a nice enough room, dominated by shades of blue.

The bed stood opposite wide glass doors that opened onto a balcony overlooking the garden.

A sleek chandelier hung from a ceiling painted—like half the ceilings in the Moonlit Court—to resemble the night sky.

I walked across a carpet with matching celestial designs and made use of the crystal washbasin and pitcher.

When I finished, she still hadn’t moved.

“This is your bed?” she asked. “It’s big enough for five people!”

“The most I’ve ever managed was three at once, and that involved an unreasonable amount of wine.”

I pulled off my boots and unclasped my surcoat. Emmeline tensed, looking ready to bolt. I stripped down to my breeches but didn’t approach her.

“You’re in no danger from me,” I said. “You said you wanted to sleep, so sleep.”

Her gaze darted from the bed to my bare chest and then to the window. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No. One of the servants might notice. You agreed to pose as my lover. That means sleeping in the same bed.”

I walked to her side of the bed and pulled down the blankets for her, gesturing pointedly.

She muttered to herself, and I caught the phrase “controlling asshole.” But she moved cautiously to the bed and climbed in.

“Oh, God and Goddess.” She lay flat on her back, voice thrumming with pleasure. “It’s like lying on a cloud. How are you such an angry bastard after sleeping on something like this every night?”

“Glad you like it,” I said, and shackled her to the headboard.

“The hell?” She shot up into a sitting position, staring at the silver manacles that chained her left wrist to a gap in the decoratively carved wood.

“I don’t trust you not to loot the chateau and run off while I’m asleep.”

Judging by the fury and frustration plain on her face, she’d been considering exactly that.

Her movement would wake me, and I was confident I’d be able to catch her. Tonight. But she’d be here for weeks, and I couldn’t go that long without a single good night’s rest.

“You don’t think the servants will notice this ?” She jerked her arm, yanking the chain tight.

“They’ll assume it’s erotic play.”

I turned my back on her scowl and tapped a crystal on the nightstand, which dimmed the lights in the chandelier. Then I crawled into bed beside her.

“If you try anything,” she said in the darkness, “I’ll cut off your dick with my teeth.”

And wasn’t that a lovely mental image to fall asleep to?

“You have nothing to fear from me,” I replied, then considered that wasn’t quite true. “Unless you betray me or fail to steal the jewel.”

She rolled away from me with a huff and pulled the sheet over her head.

Not exactly a tender goodnight between lovers, but she was here. She couldn’t escape. The plan was in motion.

I lay on my back, waiting for her to fall asleep first. Her scent swirled around me: soft, slightly floral, but not too sweet. Almost herbal. It was unlike anything I’d smelled before.

Her breathing deepened all too quickly as sleep took her.