Page 27 of The Horned King

While his teasing is evident, there's a tightness in his jaw, a tenseness that leads me to believe he's genuinely rescued her from something far worse than spending a week in a drunkard cell.

"Are you kidding? I could sit here and listen to these stories all night." Raya's eyes sparkle in the candlelight at the prospect of telling me more sordid tales. "But first, you must tell me one of the king's more embarrassing moments."

"YES." She reaches a hand out to rest on my forearm, and I flinch, the involuntary motion unnecessary due to her gloves. While I'm grateful she missed the reaction, the king's narrowed eyes make it clear that he did not. "Okay. Ummm… Well… Fuck. Quite frankly, I can't think of any."

"Oh, come now." I laugh. "There must be something."

Raya stares off, suddenly seeming a million miles away, before her eyes dart to the kings, then back to mine. "I can't seem to recall a single one."

He simply shrugs. "I do not have embarrassing moments. And if I do, I kill all the witnesses."

At the cavalier reminder of who I'm supposed to be sharing a room with, the last of the humor I was finding with Raya vanishes, replaced completely by the trepidation I was trying— and failing— to wash down with more wine.

With a sigh, Raya stands. "If he's standing here, that means it's time for me to get back to work. Your bedroom is almost finished. You just looked like you could use a friendly face. Clearly, he won't be any help in that."

I catch the almost smirk he tries to hide just before it vanishes. Once again, that slimy feeling fights its way into my stomach, the toxicity of it something I've never felt before. It's unfamiliar and uncomfortable, making me dislike Raya, though she's been nothing but pleasant.

Easing her way into the room I'll be sleeping in, she quietly gives orders to the maids already there. Though I can't make out what they're saying, it's quite clear that she's the one in charge.

The king doesn't say anything, and for a moment, neither do I. He seems more than happy to let me stew in angry silence.

"So, you and Raya are close." Once again, I can't keep my mouth closed against the thoughts running rampant.

His noncommittal hmmm makes me want to throw something at him. Barely containing an eye-roll, I finally look up to find my new roommate already looking at me.

"You flinched," he says, to which I repeat his infuriating hmm from before. "Why?"

I dig my nails into my palm to calm my nerves, this being a conversation I've had countless times before. A semi-lie that sits on my tongue at all times, waiting to be unleashed. "I already told you. I have a difficult time with physical contact."

He tilts his head slightly. "I thought it was only in large crowds."

"It's not."

"I see." He continues to look at me, his intensity seeming to look right through me. "And when you dress? Does touch bother you then?"

"I do not let anyone help me dress."

His voice falls into a taunting lilt, his eyes filling with that fearsome fire again. "And when you undress?"

A laugh I can't contain escapes me then. "I don't allow anyone to help me do that either."

"I find that hard to believe," he pushes, pressing buttons I didn't even know I possessed. "You've never let someone undress you?"

Suddenly, I find that looking into the actual flames in front of me is less scalding than the eyes of the man standing behind me. The double meaning in his words doesn't escape me, and part of me wishes to run and hide, but I can't deny I feel a powerful, drugging sort of pleasure from the way he seems to crave my answer to his question. With confidence I certainly don't feel, I confess, "I'm perfectly capable of undressing myself, Your Majesty."

Dear every god in existence, please forgive me for not-so-subtly insinuating to The Horned King that I pleasure myself. It's not something to be ashamed of, but still, my cheeks heat.

After a moment's pause, one that seems to hold all the air in the room captive, he chuckles. "That I do believe." The dark sound walks the line between sinister and seductive, sending goosebumps up my arms that I wish I could blame on the cold, but if anything, it is blazing hot in here.

"Raya seems to have taken a liking to you," he changes the subject, freeing me from my mortification.

"She's been wonderful." I add, "Certainly easier to get along with than some occupants of this castle."

He smirks, sitting in the armchair just barely within my peripherals, admitting, "She has always been the more charming of the two of us."

Disbelief fills me. "You had every person at that market charmed today."

"Yes, but none of them knew me." He shrugs. "Not that it matters. I've never set out to be liked or charming. I've always known that, above all else, I had to be a great leader. And great leaders cannot also be great confidants. Not to everyone, anyway."

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