Page 24 of Bloodguard

I take a deep breath and swallow as heat flares up my neck and over my face. Leith is beautiful in the scariest way possible. I pass him a thick towel, trying to appear professional and failing miserably.

He drags the towel down his face and wraps it around his waist. “Why did you do all this? I’m nothing to you.”

“That’s not true.” My voice quiets as I sweeten each word. “You’re the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever treated.”

He chuckles in a way that sounds too good.

“Don’t laugh,” I say. “I don’t come cheap.”

He crosses his massive arms. “Jakeb made a blood oath that I wouldn’t owe him a thing.”

“I’m not my father,” I remind him, ignoring his death glare. “And the way I look at it, you owe me for my servicesandfor killing my fiancé.”

“Fiancé?”he asks with one eyebrow raised and annoyance poignant in his tone.

“That’s right.”

When he doesn’t say anything, I take a deep breath and blurt out the question that’s been plaguing me since I first came up with this crazy idea. “Leith, will you marry me?”

chapter 11

Leith

This woman…

A veil of inky lashes rests over blue eyes as exquisite and fathomless as the most perilous ocean. They swallow me whole, drowning me in want, desperation, and need. Strands of her mahogany hair tease the delicate skin of her face, the thickest piece crossing the scar along her jaw. She’s flushed from work and maybe more. She’s beautiful, perfect, and in-fucking-sane.

“Hell no,” I tell her.

Her jaw drops open. “You don’t have to say it like that. Believe it or not, I’m considered a catch.”

Without a word, I turn around, ready to walk back to the barracks.

She rushes to block my path and rams her hands on her hips. “Leith, you need me.”

Is she trying to be funny? “For what?” I ask.

“To become a Bloodguard,” she insists. “You can’t do it without me.”

“Like hell I can’t.” I stomp toward her. I can break her in two, and she knows it, even though I’d never harm an innocent. And pain in the ass or not, she is definitely an innocent. If any royal can be, that is. I take another look at her.

Maybean innocent.

Maeve saw me take out her man in less time than it took him to land his feet in the arena. She saw me win that match with a dragon…and kill my friend. Remembering Sullivan and what he was to me—father, brother,family—pisses me off even more.

She doesn’t move, holding her ground.

“I don’t needyouto become a Bloodguard,” I growl. “I don’t need you for anything. For three beastly years, I’ve managed fine all on my own.”

She scans my body from the top of my head to my feet. “Yeah. It shows.”

I ram my face in front of hers, the fury today stirred in me licking each word. “I’m alive, and I’m three matches away from being crowned.Idid that. Me. With no help from anyone, especially a royal like you. I’m going to earn the money to save my family, and not just without your help—I’m going to earn it inspiteof your kind.”

Maeve’s jaw tightens. I’ve offended her. Well, sugar breeches, just returning the favor.

Chunks of wet hair splatter water down my back when I whirl and reach for my discarded clothes. I barely have my pants tied when she speaks.

“Vitor won’t let you become a royal,” she says softly.

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