Page 14 of Royal Ransom

I hated this. Hated being a royal. Hated that my very existence put everyone around me in danger. If I hadn’t moved to this blasted Hollow, none of my friends would be in danger. If the Morgans hadn’t adopted me, my brother would never have been threatened by a murderous faerie queen. If I hadn’t adopted Sean and Charlie, they’d be safe. I felt like a plague. I was hurting everyone I cared about.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with either one of you,” Roland said, shaking his head.

“You aren’t going to do anything with us,” I answered, facing him in all my faerie glory as my words lodged inside his brain, forcing my will. “You are going to continue acting like everything is normal. And you aren’t going to worry about what I told you earlier. It won’t even cross your mind again.”

“Right,” Roland said as he nodded and the concerned expression he’d been wearing blanched. He then turned around and walked out of the office, repeating to himself that he wasn’t going to worry about anything I told him. It was just as well because I didn’t have the wherewithal to handle him at the moment. Not with this newest bomb to land in my lap.

“Are you going to be okay?” Mav asked me tentatively.

“No,” I said honestly. “I’m just...so tired.I feel hollow, scraped out, empty…”

I risked a glance up. The storm-cloud gray of his eyes was captivating, and the look on his face was softer than I’d ever seen it. That was probably a bad sign. Maverick wasn’t the type to let his feelings show. The last time I’d seen him fawn over anyone this much, he’d been looking after his recovering undeadsister. The feeling in his eyes made me want to melt into his gaze forever.

Maverick put his hand on the back of the chair, and wherever he touched, the ice melted. There was just an edge of autumn, the last warmth of the year in his magic. It thawed not only the chair but the ice in my stomach. Our hands rested close together, just barely and not touching. The energy between us was charged with something stronger than static electricity. It was almost palpable. He leaned forward. I did the same, inching steadily closer. He took my hand, and I gasped quietly. For a split second, it felt like his hand had sunkintomine.

“Mav…” I breathed his name. “What’s happening?”

He shook his head and pulled his hand away for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said, brows furrowed. “I wish I did.”

Though I felt oddly naked without his touch, I held myself back from reaching out to take his hand again. The air was still so thick with that strange charge. It was like I was suspended in a room with no air.

Maverick leaned toward me. I had ample time to step back or push him away. He watched my expression carefully, some emotion I couldn’t name flickering far back in his eyes when I stayed perfectly still. His hand wrapped around the nape of my neck. He pulled me close, rested his forehead against mine for a moment, and we breathed each other in. I almost asked him what he was doing, but the question died in my throat. I didn’t care what was happening so long as it didn’t stop.

We’d been warned that being bound had certain implications, but the reality of it all was overwhelming. My skin tingled wherever he touched me, leaving this ice queen ready to melt. It simmered into a mild burn, making me worry my whole body might catch fire from the heat between us.

“I’m worried about you,” he said, sounding strained, almost angry.

Poor Maverick, always put into situations he had no control over. It was enough to drive a blood warlock up the wall. Couldn’t fate be kind enough to hand us an easy win, at least once?

I pulled back an inch to meet his gaze. It was hard to hold it for long. The intensity of those stormy eyes was staggering. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see lightning arc in their depths.

“What is it?” I asked, mirroring his touch, sliding my hand along the back of his neck. He leaned into my hand, but his face stayed pinched. Softly, I asked, “What’s the matter now?”

I don’t know how to worry about you... I don’t know how to handle it.

The words were as clear as if he’d leaned in and whispered them in my ear. Except... I didn’t see his mouth move.

“I don’t know how to worry about you either,” I said, more to myself than to him.

Maverick looked up at me, startled. Maybe even a little angry. “What did you say?”

“I was just answering you,” I replied, a little defensive. “You said you didn’t know how to handle—”

“I didn’t say it out loud,” he said. We stared at each other, understanding dawning on us.

My mind rushed with the implications. A tidal wave of fears, hopes, and insecurities attacked me with the force of a tsunami.I can read his thoughts,I thought.But can he read mine?

Tentatively, I asked without speaking,Can you hear me?

Maverick flinched so hard he nearly upended the chair he was leaning on. The motion was so violent that I practically jumped out of my skin.

“Yes,” he said aloud, his voice and eyes filled with wonder. “My goddess...”

Holy hell. Maverick almost never swore to the goddess. He was the closest thing to an edgy atheist I’d met in witch circles.He observed the traditions with all the enthusiasm of a lapsed Catholic, more culturally invested than interested in the religion.

I pulled myself up to my full height, trying to resist the urge to curl in on myself. I felt more exposed now than I had the first time we’d had sex. The idea that we were in each other’s heads, that the boundary of our minds had been breached, was terrifying. A little romantic if you squinted. But to the purely sane, it could be a nightmare. The last time someone had been in my mind, he’d messed with my head. Jonathan had done worse than assaulting me all those years ago. He’d warped me into someone unrecognizable. How could I let someone else in like this?

Apparently, Maverick didn’t agree with my assessment. He leaned back into me, a stunned smile curling his full mouth. He ran a finger along my jaw, under my chin, and around my cheek.

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