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“Now, I want you to tell me what’s really wrong, and no lying, Goldfinch. I’ll know if you do.”
“Don’t be dismissive. We do not lie to one another.” I let out a snort. “I’m pretty sure our entire foundation was stacked with lies.” “Maybe in the beginning before we knew we could trust each other, but we’ve moved past that now.”
“For twenty years, I’ve been caught beneath the will of another. What if I want to just … leave? To escape all the bullshit and stay in a little cabin in the middle of the woods where no one can find me? Or what if I want to travel all of Orea, never setting down roots, never staying anywhere long enough to outstay my welcome? I could … learn something new. Climb a mountain. Practice music. I could get a job somewhere. Build something. Get a pet. I could go flirt in a pub. Swim naked in the sea. Go dancing. Make a friend. Kiss a stranger. Maybe that’s what I want.”
“Well?” I demand. “Aren’t you going to say something?” Gold slips along my wrist, spilling from the crease of my hand. “I just told you I want to kiss someone who isn’t you. I’m freaking out about the fact that this whole newfound independence might not even be real, all while realizing the public is calling me a seducing, king-hopping thief, and you’re just sitting there!”
“Do you want me to yell at you? To get pissed off?”
“Your aura is quite erratic right now,” he says, his tone conversational. As if it’s completely natural for me to be on his lap.
I reach up, sifting my fingers through his thick hair, twining the black strands in my grip. I tug hard, jerking his own head, making his neck bend too. And he meets me with a flash of a grin that makes that kindled fire start to spark.
“Oh, Goldfinch.”
“You haven’t been paying attention. Not at all.”
“That’s what you promised me, isn’t it, Goldfinch?”
“Do it.” His instruction tightens my stomach with arousal, and I swallow hard. “Bossy.” “King,” he drawls.
But he chuckles. And I know that chuckle. “Don’t get too comfortable. We’re just getting started.”
“I shouldn’t have even let you do what you already did. What if someone sees? Hears?” “Yes, what if?”
“It’s about time,” she teases as she comes up, just as her umber eyes flick to me with curiosity.
“Not that I didn’t enjoy your harp playing,” he adds with a grin. “I’ve gone off that instrument, truth be told.” His keen eyes gleam. “I’m sure you have, Doll, and I don’t blame you in the least.”
” he practically growls. “I will rot her land from march to beach, leaving nothing in its wake. Or maybe I’ll just rot you, right here and right now, and really send a message.”
but Ryatt grows quiet. I know my brother. The quieter he becomes, the more furious he is.
“Fuck you!” he bursts out, foot swinging back to smack into the chair, sending it flying across the room and crashing into the wall.
“It’s far too late for that,” he purrs darkly. “The fae instincts in me will not rest until the threats on you are eliminated, and the king in me will not sit by while others threaten my people.
Shoving at me like that, making demands.”
because, once again, he’d distracted me with sex. This seems to be a theme.
“They do like to spend all their time there, don’t they?” she replies, looking put out. “Captain Oaf is always down there.”
“I know that too,” I say before Os and I share a look. “Which is why I’m going to officially name you as the new army commander of Fourth.” My brother lurches back, shock crossing his face. “What?”
