Page 14 of The Time Of Kings

“You’re not bathing me

He folded his arms in front of me and stated,

“Am I not?”

“You’re damn straight… I… I have rights, you know,” I replied, making him smirk in a dangerously handsome way.

“Rights you forfeited the moment you entered into a life of crime.”

I snorted a laugh and tried to ignore his obvious amusement at hearing this very unladylike sound coming from me. Instead I muttered,

“Hardly.”

“I think you will find burglary a very serious crime,” he replied, causing me to first make a choking sound before arguing,

“Now just wait a darn minute, who said anything about burglary?!” I asked in outrage.

“Did you or did you not enter into another person’s home uninvited…? Twice, I might add,” he stated, making me jerk against the twisted silken thread. One that didn’t bite into my skin thanks to my long sleeves he had purposely tucked under when tying me up.Forever the gentleman and all.

“Twice? How do you figure that exactly?” I asked and, again, he looked like he was having a lot of fun at my expense.

“Pray tell me, did I or did I not find you hiding under my bed?”

My mouth dropped but because I was incapable of finding a quick enough response to this, it closed and then reopened again. Much to his amusement.

“But you had me kidnapped!” I shouted in outrage that fell on deaf and stubborn ears.

“No, I had you apprehended and as Lord of these lands, I take the crimes against my peoplevery seriously,”he stated calmly, making me argue,

“But I didn’t steal anything.” At this he shrugged his shoulders and told me,

“The interruption of a crime does not disprove the criminal intent.”

I swear my eyes bulged at this and he only seemed to be growing increasingly more entertained by my reactions to this one-man trial he had me facing.

“What! That’s… that’s…” Okay so, I didn’t know what this was other than being totally unfair, prompting me to say,

“So, if a person raises a fist in anger but doesn’t ever use it on another, does that mean their punishment should be the same as someone who attacks another?”

He leaned his shoulder against the post of his bed and smirked at me with his arms still folded.

“I think you will find you are being treated vastly different to another I would punish for the same crime,” he pointed out, making me rattle the chair I was tied to, as clearly, he needed reminding of his version of fair ‘treatment’. However, when he said nothing to this, I snapped the mocking question,

“Yeah, and why is that, because you have a thing for blondes?!”

My retort was definitely one that made him lose his smirk pretty quickly, telling me that I had gone too far in pushing him.

“Enough!”he barked, making me jump before he was storming over to me. Then the second he pulled the dagger from the sheath at his side, it caused me to flinch back… well as much as I was able to when tied to a chair.

However, when he saw my fearful reaction, he took pause, freezing in his movements. This before then looking down at the blade in his hand like he was only just now realising why I would react this way. Then he released a frustrated sigh before speaking.

“Be at ease, for I have no intention of hurting you… I merely wish to free you,” he told me in a softer tone, giving me cause enough to relax my tense shoulders.

Then I nodded down at the blade, as if reminding him where it had been recently and why I had reacted that way. He got the hint, as he looked first to my neck and then down at the blade in his hand again. He released another sigh before placing it back in its sheath. Then he bent to one knee and untied me in a less threatening way with his fingers working the knots free.

“Thank you,”I uttered quietly, causing him to look to my face and our eyes locked in one of those untamed, intimate ways. The type where both parties knew they were only seconds away from ending the silent battle with a kiss. Which was why I was the first to break eye contact, giving up the possibility of what could have happened between us.

Although, with him seemingly intent on bathing me, then I wasn’t sure just how long that would last for. A few more smouldering looks like that and I would be a woman in love, lost to the man of my eternal dreams. Especially when he scooped me out of the chair and once again had me in his arms, carrying me towards a bath.

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