Page 26 of Their Queen

“Let’s just say I don’t ever want a repeat of it. We need you as much as you need us. I don’t get why we couldn’t come along,” Lennox said from his spot on the couch where Arryn was still tending to him.

At some point, Cyerra, Jude, and Jonathan had slinked out of our suite, leaving us to hash this out by ourselves. It was a good thing because, over the last several days, I had been going over all the methods that I could use to punish our resident troublemaker. The punishment had to be done in such a way that might make her think twice about leaving us behind again.

“Great, when did this become a ‘gang up on Rhowyn’ meeting? Guess I didn’t get the memo,” she snapped, turning away from us. “It’s not like I had a choice in the matter. I had to leave.”

“And why was that?” I pressed her, stalking her down as she tried to escape our scrutiny. I wasn’t going to let her get away that easily.

“I just told you why!” she snapped.

I stalked forward, backing her up until she was against the wall with nowhere to go. Putting my hands on the wall on both sides of her head, I leaned in. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling us the full story? Hmmm?”

Running my nose along her neck, my words came out in a harsh whisper, taunting her into a straight answer. Instead, her arousal hit my nostrils as I inhaled her scent. Fuck, she smelled so good. My eyes drifted closed as I pushed my own arousal back until I could get the answers I needed.

“I am,” she said, her heart no longer in the protest as her mind switched to other things.

“No, Trouble, you aren’t,” I pushed further, leaning my body in as I dropped my face closer to hers, my words teasing her lips.

Finally, she met my eyes, the truth swimming in the depths of her gorgeous eyes, the colors the same but more. “There it is,” I said, easing up on the pressure, my tone softening but still firm.

“It’s my fault,” she admitted, shame flaming on her face as she tried to push me away.

“No,” I told her, both in denial of her claim and to let her know I wasn’t letting her run away from this. From us. We’d been dancing around this for too long now. I was the only one who had yet to take her, to join with her, and it was all I’d been able to think about when she’d been gone. How I might have let my opportunity slip through my fingers, too afraid to grab hold of the chance while I’d had it.

By some stroke of luck, I had her back here with me, and I refused to make that same mistake again. Deciding to take this further, I grabbed her narrow waist and slung her over my shoulder in one fluid movement as I stalked across the room. Kicking open one of the doors, I strode through it, slamming it shut behind me before tossing her onto the massive mattress.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded, scrambling to her knees.

“That was me getting to the bottom of this,” I told her, gesturing between us with one hand.

She huffed out an indignant laugh. “Is that so?”

I closed the distance between us quickly, pinning her back against the mattress with my arms. “Yes,” I growled out. Running my nose along her neck again, I pushed her again. “Why did you leave us?”

“This again?” she said, fighting her own arousal as her irritation at my needling peeked out in her words. Her chest heaved as she panted with anger, frustration, and desire.

“Trouble,” I growled out in warning, meeting her eyes as my beast pushed forward. My hand clenched around her wrists as I kept her in place, waiting patiently for her to give in to this.

Her own anger flashed as she wrapped her legs around my waist and twisted her body to dislodge me. She flipped me onto my back until she was straddling me. Instead of pressing her advantage, she tried to run. I followed her, rebounding from the movement quickly to catch her, slamming her back into the wall, cushioning her head and pinning her with my hips.

“Rhowyn” I whispered, my hardness pressing into her stomach as I begged her, lowering my own guard to get her to open up and tell me the truth. “I need to know the real reason you left. Please.”

Chapter Eighteen: Rhowyn

“Please.” His words whispered across my skin, reaching deep into my soul and pulling the truth from me. If it had been one of the others, that word probably wouldn’t have swayed me. If it had been one of the others, I would have been able to keep hiding from the truth. But not with Callum. He was relentless in his pursuits. Pushing every single one of my buttons until he riled me up to the point that I didn’t know if I was coming or going.

When I didn’t answer, he pinned my hands above my head. “Rho,” he pleaded with me, flaying me open and baring my soul to him.

Meeting his eyes, mine watered. “Maybe a part of me left because I was afraid of what might happen if you stayed with me. Maybe I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt because of me. But it wasn’t the only reason I left,” I told him. “I wasn’t lying when I said that it was something Avalonia wanted me to do alone. You happy now?” I bit back, wanting to escape his gaze that saw too much.

“No,” he told me, holding my hands tighter as I struggled against his hold. “Like my sister told me, what happened to Baer is not your fault.”

I barked out a harsh laugh. “How’s it not?” I bucked my hips, trying to get him off me again, needing to escape more than ever, but he was expecting that move now. When I couldn’t break free from his hold, I continued, “He was only there because of me. Only in harm’s way because he was cursed with being my consort. If not for me, he’d still be on portal duty, probably safe on Earth with both hands. Now, he’s suffering, and it’s all my fault.” Once I opened the flood gates, it seemed that all of my thoughts wanted to tumble out.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” he growled again.

I wrapped a leg around him and twisted my hips, maneuvering myself out from under him when he relaxed his hold, but he rolled with the momentum, slamming me back against the wall. “You’re not running this time, Trouble. I won’t let you.”

“Fuck you!” I spat at him, my eyes watering as I wanted to crumble before him, but my pride wouldn’t allow me to be so vulnerable.

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