The damn woman enjoyed frustrating me. That was fine; I got a kick out of provoking her too. We were going to have plenty of fun bickering with and picking at each other far into our golden years, once we were finally living out our happily ever afters together, I could tell.
Watching her turn the book around, upside down, and then front to back, I let a smug grin hitch up at the corner of my mouth.
“Figure out how to open it yet?” I taunted.
She sent me a glare. “I don’t suppose you’d simply tell me,” she tried.
I chuckled, but answered, “Sure. Just get these damn things off me…” I lifted the cuffs holding my wrists together and shook them before returning my gaze to her. “And I’ll be an open book. Literally.”
With a sniff, she went back to ignoring me and examining the journal.
“What’s the point of the shackles, anyway?” I finally asked. “If you wanted me to stay with you, you could’ve just asked.”
Another glare vibrated from her as she refocused on me. “But I don’t want you here. And I told you already, you’re a prisoner. You have no control over what happens to your life until we’re done needing you. I might be whatever I am to your stupid mark, but you’re nothing to me. Understand? Nothing. You’re not our guest, or friend, or companion. You’re a simple prisoner. Got that, High Clifter?”
“Sure,” I answered easily, not quite able to stop grinning. She was just so freaking adorable when she was like this, all take-charge and obey-my-authority-or-I’ll-hurt-you. Made me hot and bothered just to watch the irate flush stain her cheeks. “And my name’s not High Clifter,” I added, hoping to goad her into saying Indigo.
She didn’t even look my way. “Don’t care.”
I frowned, only to grin again, countering her with, “Well, maybe you should. Maybe…” I added with a wink. “That’s all you have to say to open my book.”
Her eyes lifted to me in surprise, and then her scowl deepened. “As if I’m going to fall for that.”
I spread my fingers as if to say, your loss. And then I sat back against the tree again, enjoying the show as her irritation deepened. “Good luck opening it, then.”
Her eyes narrowed and jaw set as she glared at me. But then her gaze shifted back to the object in her hands. She lifted it a little, just enough to cover her face from my view so I couldn’t see her mouth move when she spoke, saying my name so softly I barely heard her. The whisper of Indigo floating back to me was like honey on toast or warm milk in the stomach after a cold, nasty day on the battlefield. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, enjoying the resonance of it in the air.
But then Quilla hissed a foul curse, breaking the moment because my suggestion hadn’t worked. The book remained locked shut.
I shrugged and dug my teeth into my bottom lip, fighting back a laugh. “Sorry. I guess that wasn’t how you opened it after all.”
“Bastard.”
I laughed, enjoying myself all too much as I stretched my legs out on the ground in front of me and crossed my feet at the ankles.
“I’m really going to kill you one day,” she seethed. “And I’m going to enjoy it.”
Ah, my bloodthirsty mate. She knew how to make my dick stir.
Sure, the ruthless sadism between her and her aunt could be alarming. I found myself worrying at times, wondering just how far they’d go with their callous and hostile act—and I’m sure almost most of it was an act to protect the softer, more vulnerable places inside them from the dark, unkind world they’d seen. But it was also nice to know I would never have to guard my words around them and stick with banal, polite platitudes merely to protect their tender sensibilities.
I was a soldier, no stranger to brutality and bloodshed. I’d seen things and done things that no one would dare talk aloud in a formal sitting room during teatime. So it was a relief to know I didn’t have to feel as if I had to shield my darker, rough side from her. I liked being completely open and transparent about who and what I was. And I wasn’t always the friendly, easygoing, neighborhood Indigo. Feeling free to share all of myself with her would be nice.
Glancing toward Quilla as she furrowed her brow in thought—which was completely adorable too, by the way—I almost told her how to open the book so she could read all my secrets and know me completely—the good and the bad—but then I realized the puzzle of it intrigued her.
Interesting. She enjoyed solving mysteries. Just like I did.
In that case, I couldn’t ruin this one for her. So I sat back and watched her in her element. “So we’re headed to Tyler, huh?” I asked.
She ignored me, that thoughtful crinkling in her brow telling me her brain was working in overtime.
“What’s important to you in Tyler?” I didn’t expect an answer and didn’t get one. “I’m familiar with the village there, you know. Lived there for nearly three years with the family of my mother’s brother, Everett. So if there’s anything you need assistance with finding, I would gladly—”
“Will you shut up for three full seconds,” she snapped. “I’m trying to think here.”
I grinned. “Yes, I could tell. It’s absolutely delightful to watch, too.”
She sliced a nasty scowl my way. I blew her a kiss.
With an aggravated sigh and roll of her eyes, she returned her attention to my book, the knit in her brow forming all over again as she ran the tip of her finger slowly over the bindings that kept it closed.
Damn. Swallowing, I watched the single digit move in a transfixed daze. I knew of something else she could run her finger across with that kind of gentle intensity.
Heat collected under my clothes and the throbbing from between my legs grew heavy and intense. Swollen and tight, I curled one hand into a strained fist. Even the slight shift of fabric against my cock when I lifted my knee in order to create a bit more room in my trousers caused me to bite back a groan. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to embarrass myself in my britches.
Glancing away so I could stop watching that precious round face deep in thought and calm myself a fraction, I rested my cuffed hands over my lap to hide the evidence of my raging arousal.
“Say,” I said, thinking it must’ve been at least three seconds since she’d demanded three seconds of peace. “Why are castles so dark inside?”
She ignored me.
Cracking a grin, I snorted. “Because they’re full of knights.” That one got me every time. But Quilla didn’t even twitch a facial muscle. So I tried again. “What’s the most groundbreaking thing of all time?”
Her gaze veered my way.
I lifted my hands as if revealing a surprise and called, “A shovel.”
Brow furrowing, she went back to studying the book.
I sighed and dropped my hands in defeat. Someday. Someday, I was going to get her to legit laugh at one of my jokes. And it was going to be the best day of my life.
Until then, I grew serious as I let my mind wander, until something she’d said earlier to Melaina meandered back through my memory banks. “Hey. What did you mean when you said only Graykeys could travel through the portal, so no one could reach or hurt your cousins or aunt on Earth?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Quilla bit out.