Page 37 of Married By Treachery

“You told me life is a game; therefore, I am left to conclude that you do not give freely. There is a reason.”

“You’re right.” Mischief danced in his eyes, but then he looked ahead to the mist and the trees.

Raquel glanced down at her rose, swaying with Jake as they rode. She trailed her thumb over a little thorn and—ouch—yes, it was definitely real. She shoved her thumb in her mouth and sucked the fresh blood from her skin.

“An expert with blades but can’t handle flowers…” Jake mused, and Raquel whacked him on the leg.

Or tried to. He caught her wrist with those lightning-quick reflexes of his and examined her injured thumb.

“It’s fine,” Raquel insisted. “It’s just a prick. Hardly anything to…”

Her words evaporated as he pressed the pad of her thumb between his lips, right against his teeth. His eyes fixed on hers, dark as amber, and Raquel went rigid. Not because she was afraid or because she didn’t like it.

But because shedid.

Far, far too much.

The heat of his mouth was…oh, saints above, it was delicious. She could think of no other word, and when his tongue slid against the wound, her lips grew envious. Her entire body grew envious. His eyelids slid shut, but only for a moment, and when he opened them again, they looked hazy with sleep, or maybe too much wine. He dragged his mouth away from her thumb and asked, “Better…?”

Raquel swallowed, feeling flush all over as she looked at her thumb. The little prick was nowhere to be found.

He put his mouth to her ear and said, “I told you it was real.”

Raquel was not so sure what they were talking about anymore, but Jake turned his attention back to their journey and said something to Banon about altering course, and Raquel sat quietly with her very confusing thoughts.

What in the blazes was going on? She’d been so resolved this morning. So resolved to be patient and learn everything she could while traveling with Jake so that when the opportunity arose, she could sneak away and seek her vengeance on the man who deserved it—Edom. Every moment between here and then was simply a means of reaching that aim. It was her own sort of game. There was no room in that game for romantic detours, no matter howdeliciousthey seemed to be.

Especially with the man who had abducted her!

She had half a mind to toss his rose into the wood, but then she thought Jake’s entourage might consider it a sign of disrespect toward their venerated prince, and also, it was too pretty. It seemed wasteful to sacrifice such rare beauty to a rotten wood, so she kept the rose and secured it to the ties of her corset where she’d previously kept a blade.

The hours passed on, and the mist did not relent. However, Jake kept a steady pace, guiding their company through a maze Raquel could not unravel. It all looked the same to her. Hazy fog and spindly black trees with the occasional cry of a Depraved, and she was very thankful for Jake’s expert navigation. She would not have made it through this wood otherwise.

There were nearly three dozen in their company: seven from the outpost, but the rest had come with Sienne. From scattered conversation, Raquel had learned that Jake meant to keep the bulk of his forces in Little Mignon—the outpost—but those he’d left behind would follow once he gavethe signal, whatever that was. A few of Sienne’s company had stayed back as well, including the three children. Why Sienne had brought them at all, Raquel couldn’t get a clear answer, but Sienne seemed relieved that they were there.

Jake was just guiding Vizzi up the steep slope of a dried riverbed when Raquel pointed to a large mass atop the ground a few dozen paces away and asked, “What is that?”

Jake followed her finger with his eyes, and then he drew Vizzi up short.

“We stopping for the night?” Banon asked, coming to a halt behind them. “Because my arse is starting to hurt, and—”

Jake raised a hand, and Banon stopped talking.

“Wait here,” Jake said to Raquel, and he dismounted.

“Excuse me,” she snapped, swinging her leg over and jumping down from the saddle. “But I am the one who saw it, and you can’t expect—”

Jake covered her mouth with his hand, and his expression warned. He glanced pointedly to the trees above, to the branches swaying strangely in a breeze that wasn’t there, and he looked directly back at her, his meaning clear: Be quiet.

She glowered at him.

He gave her another very pointed look, this one asking: If I remove my hand, will you cooperate?

She answered with a look of her own that said: Yes, but I’m not climbing back in that saddle.

Jake sighed, resigned, then pulled his hand away. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to argue, he gestured at Banon and walked on while the rest of their company slowly caught up.

Raquel licked her lips and followed after Jake. She’d made it halfway to the mound when she froze in her tracks.

---