Jessamine
I collapse onto the floor of my room, panting hard. I don't bother rising as I throw off the torn cloak and pull off my gloves aggressively. Hopefully, I never have to do that again. Ever. The stupid wolf male had walked for miles, making me follow him around, knowing I had been.
He was expecting me even. Had leered as he knocked me back against a tree and said, "Atticus said to look out for you. Beautiful, little thing. Like what you saw?"
I shudder as I recall the exchange. I'd pushed him off and shoved the letter into his hands. He'd gripped my wrist, pulling me forward and he tasted my neck, dragging his sloppy tongue over my skin.
I'd familiarized my fist with his face and ran like hell. He didn't follow. Doesn't matter. I'm never, ever, doing that again.
My feet hurt and my muscles protest as I try to stand, and I settle for crawling, feeling out the space before me in the dark. I can barely see the outlines of the objects around me, and the moon isn't offering much of its light tonight.
Need to get the can--
A flint strikes and a torch comes on. "Where were you?"
I freeze on all fours, staring up at a frowning Kier. His lips are drawn and his eyes are very, very dark. I blink at the light trailing the outline of his face. His chin is free of stubble and my heartbeat ratchets up at the sight of his hair. Kier is a beautiful man. Kier with a messy bun is downright sexy.
"How did you get in?" I ask, pushing myself up on aching feet.
His breeches thud into the floors as he walks around, lighting up my room. "I broke the lock," he says absentmindedly. "Where were you?"
My eyes flick to the door, to the broken lock. The broken door. "Why--"
"Jessamine," he growls in warning.
"I went for a walk. Why the hell is my door broken?"
"I was worried!" he yells, his eyes simmering. "I knocked and you didn't respond. I couldn't even feel you. I panicked. Where THE FUCK did you go and why would you leave without telling anyone?"
"Stop acting like you care," I hiss, stepping around him to grab a pillow and blanket. I'll have to stay in Az's room. I'd hate to inconvenience him, but I won't risk sleeping with my door open. Not in this place.
Kier grabs my arm. "I care. I've always cared. You won't even give me the chance to prove that to you. You avoid me, and now you're clearly lying to me. There's a male's scent on you." His eyes suddenly drop to my neck. "Whose is it?"
I smile cattily. "Whoever said women couldn't get bored and visit taverns to sate their desires?"
A muscle jumps in Kier's jaw and he tears the pillow from my grip. "Do not taunt me like that. I know you're lying." He spins me around, patting me down in seconds, stripping me of every weapon. "What are you hiding from me, Jess?" He asks, retrieving the sharp pin I kept hidden in my hair, and he throws it out the window. "You don't visit a tavern armed to the teeth if you're looking to get laid."
Moving to get away from him, I fall back on the bed, nearly crashing into--my head tilts at the trays by the edge of my bed, and my anger recedes temporarily. "What is this?"
Kier sighs heavily. "You didn't come down to the hall, so I brought you dinner."
I start to tell him I'm not hungry and he can go fuck himself, but my stomach growls loud enough to startle us both. Still, I say, "I'm not hungry."
"You're mad at me," Kier says, taking off the lid on the stew and the delicious aroma of spices fill the air. "Don't take it out on the food."
When I do nothing but stare at him oddly, he picks a spoon and thrusts it into my right hand. "I'd feed you, but I fear we're not quite there yet." The bed dips at the edge when he sits, crossing his ankle over his knee. "Not everything has to be a battle. Or a fight. You can relax, talk to me. Allow yourself a smile with me. I won't hurt you. You're safe with me, I promise."
My palms start to sweat. I don't like his words. They're getting to me. I don't like that at all. When did he learn to speak like that? I could've sworn his head was an empty space, save for the part that screamed, I must do what my mother and the council need me to. Since when is he like this? I watch him watch me and it suddenly clicks and I laugh, dumping the spoon in the stew.
"I can't believe it didn't occur to me before."
His frown deepens. "What?"
"You want to sleep with me again, don't you?"
Kier stiffens, his eyes lowering once to skim over my body. "I'm not--I don't--I mean, I do, but that's not why I came here. The past few days have been hectic and you barely come down for breakfast, never for lunch, and rarely for dinner." He reaches forward and I flinch when his thumb brushes under my eyes. He drops his hand against the bed. "They're sunken, and you seem leaner. I just needed to know you were fine, even if you won't tell me what bothers you so."
I want to tell him his mother poisoned him, and I just saw her in the wilds, fucking around with the enemy, but he'll probably not believe me, and I don't think I have to patience for a fight tonight. So, I take the spoon, shove it in the stew and taste it.
Goddess.
If I wasn't already sitting, I might have fallen. There aren't words enough to describe how it melts in my mouth, eliciting a moan from me. I've never tasted anything so odd, so good.
Only after I've taken a few bites does Kier say, "I cooked it." Then he adds with a slow, grating smirk, "That is not how I imagined making you come for me again."
The food goes down the wrong hole and I start to cough and wheeze, my eyes watering. A glass presses against my palm and I gulp down cool water, glaring at Kier as he chuckles, fire dancing in his eyes. I point at the tray. "This means nothing."
His smirk only widens. "Of course." But he sobers up quickly. "There's something else I wish to speak to you about." His gaze drops to the ring on my finger and his eyes sharpen with predatory focus, his annoyance at the symbol of Darrock's soon to be ownership of me unhidden. "Moira and I will be separated when the war is over."
The food turns to ash in my mouth. "I suppose congratulations are in order."
Fully facing me, he lets me see the hope in his eyes. Foolish, if you ask me. "We could start over. I know I fucked things up, but I'm working to make things right. We could be together, Jess, like it should've been from the start. Fuck the council, and Moira, my mother and Darrock. Be my Luna."
My elbow digs into my thigh as I prop my chin on a fist, all innocent curiosity. "And Moira agreed to this? To be separated after the war?"
He angles his head in a tight nod, obviously displeased at my utter lack of interest. "Yes."
I laugh. "You're setting me up to be murdered. There's only two reasons why Moira would agree. One, she thinks I'll die before or in the thick of the battle. Two, she'll make sure of it." I scoff. "What are you? A simpleton?"
"She will not touch a single hair on your head," he declares, fury darkening his eyes.
"You're a trusting fool," I say, pushing the tray aside, my appetite lost.
He snarls at me. "I say that, not out of trust in her. Anyone who tries to hurt you will meet a gruesome death by my hands."
"You don't say," I mutter dryly, flopping onto my side as I lay against the mattress, pressing my thighs together awkwardly. "Take your leave, Kier, and no, I don't want to be your anything."
A hiss of pure temper escapes him. "Of course you'll flee from this conversation, and I'm the fucking coward."
One moment I'm nestling deeper into the pillows and the next, the lid of the stew bowl is hurtling towards his head. He simply plucks it out of the air without effort and levels me a cool stare as I steam, "I'm fleeing? Do you have any idea what you've put me through? Shall I jump on your cock and express my gratitude for your oh, so kind offer? Go on then, strip, you fucking idiot."
His brows quirk up and his hands fly to his belt buckle. "Seriously?"
A guttural snarl accompanied with the toss of my nearest dagger sends him off my bed. The dagger sinks into the bed post where his head had been a few seconds ago and he barks a startled laugh, prying it out of the wood. "Did your father tell you I had his blessings?"
"He clearly had too much to drink." When I return to Dawn, my father and I are going to have a long conversation about Kier, if I live after he finds that I lied to him.
He gestures towards the plates. "This is all so new for me." He smiles a little. "I must be doing a terrible job at winning you over, because all you do is cuss at me. But that is better than nothing, Jess. Every plate and dagger you hurl at me is a testament of your undying love for me. Every cuss you utter with that beautiful mouth tells me you want me just as much. Every glare you pin me with is proof of your worry that I might just succeed in this. For all your hate and irritation, it is only I you treat this way. That must mean something, and I'll be fucked if I can't read between the lines."
I gape. "Read between what--what the hell are you--Goddess, he's gone mad."
Kier lifts the tray and shoots me a dazzling smile. "That's my line, witch." He inclines his head towards the door. "Come. I'll show you to where you'll spend the night until your locks are fixed."