Page 31 of Blood On His Lips

We had no bond. He should not be able to link with me, especially so subtly that I didn't feel it. Or maybe I underestimated my own transparency and his experience in reading facial expressions and body language.

A slight smile on his lips, but this time it was more amused than cruel. “No? Are you so certain?”

I frowned. “Certain of what? That I'm not yours, or that you shouldn't have access to my mind? I'm certain of both.”

“Yet here you are. Some part of you accepts the truth though you lie to yourself. Come.” He held out a hand, waiting.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced down once, annoyed. “Did you have to dress me in something this sheer?”

Blue eyes danced with open mirth and uncensored desire. “I could have failed to dress you at all—though that would be presumptuous of me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Renaud. You've already won the race of presumption and are miles past the finish line.”

“Take my hand.”

“No.”

“Is this what you wish to fight me on? So small a request? I promise I only wish to hold your hand, Aerinne.”

The patience in his voice set my teeth on edge. He made me sound like an unreasonable child or hysterical, and I was neither. “Gaslighting me isn't going to win you any battles, either, Renaud.”

The Prince stared, unblinking, unmoved. “It's a small thing I want. A small thing I need.” He paused, eyes narrowing a fraction. “Please.”

The protest bubbling in my throat melted away. This was not a male accustomed to pleading for anything.

I sighed, accepting his hand, and he pulled me forward to his side. Resting my head on his chest wasn’t entirely onerous. I struggled with the idea that I was the only one who could do this for him. That I cared.

“You do know I'm not responsible for you, right? I don't care how deep you've spiraled into a heat. That's your problem, not mine.”

“Spoken like a good human girl,” he murmured. “Point taken. I don't disagree with you, on principle. But our natures are what they are and will not change.”

“Things can change.” But he kept his word and made no further move towards me, and slowly, I relaxed. “Why did you bring me here tonight?”

“To offer warning.”

A warning? “What kind of warning?”

“Be careful at the faire,” he said finally. “You would have been in danger even if you were merely Aerinne Capulette. But now you are also known as mine and there are those who seek advantage.”

Nothing about his words stank of omission. But my instincts began sharpening their knives. Renaud wasn't telling me something important, but some tiny part of his mind still wanted to give me a sporting chance.

“Are you plotting?” I tried to pull my hand out of his.

His fingers tightened. “Thatis a foolish question. I am what I am.”

In other words, when was he not plotting? “When you're sleeping. Wait, no—I take that back. I take that back with avengeance.”

“Do you understand vengeance?” He released my hand. “I gave you the warriors who would have seen you dead against my orders, and I am told they yet live.” His eyes flashed with annoyance. “You've set a dangerous precedent. You make it known there's no consequence for crossing you. I allow you to make this mistake.”

“Preserving life is never a mistake, Prince. That's why you and I will never work.”

“That is one of the reasons why wewillwork.” Renaud lifted a hand, cupped my cheek, and then slid the fingers into my curls. “It is your life I wish to preserve, my halfling. Tell me this, if you knew it was a choice between the lives of those traitors and the life of your father, would you still choose mercy?”

Clever. He didn't ask me to choose between myself and others. He must have known me well enough to guess I would never preserve my own life at the expense of another person. Not because I thought they were worth any more than me, but because I wouldn't be able to live with myself afterwards. Maybe that made me naive, but that part of my youth hadn't died yet.

I never wanted to look into the eyes of another male dying in my arms and see him offer me both pity and forgiveness. I stiffened.

“If you knew what I'd done, Prince, you would not be asking me that question.” I hovered on the brink of speaking those words which would be my last.

---