Page 89 of Elven Throne

She scrambled off the bed and to her feet before she even knew what she was doing and was at Maxwell’s side the next second.

“You couldsmellhim coming?” she whispered.

His flashing silver eyes were glued to the motel-room door. “I have grown particularly familiar with his stench.”

Well, that made a lot more sense, no matter how horrendous Rowan Blackmoon’s timing.

Another knock on the door, followed by Rowan’s voice. “I know you’re in there! And we’ve got alotto go over before we make this happen, so open up. Let me in.”

Fury and murderous intent surged out of Maxwell as he stormed toward the door, ready for blood. And with good reason.

Rebecca slipped in front of him and stopped him with a hand on his bare chest. If he’d really wanted, he could have easily blown past her.

The gentle pressure and another electrifying jolt bursting between them was apparently enough to capture his attention again. The shifter lowered his gaze from the door, glanced at her hand on his chest, then met her gaze again.

The rest of the world seemed on the verge of fading away again. They could pick up right where they’d left off. They could ignore the asshole elf on the other side of that door and everything else that might have mattered once.

The option was there, sizzling between them. Both of them still flushed and breathing heavily as they leaned in toward each other…

“Rebecca!” Rowan pounded on the door with both fists. “Come on, now. People are starting to stare out here,Kilda’ari, and Iknowit’s not the getup. I made sure to change before stopping by.”

That did it.

Rebecca hauled herself away from Maxwell and seethed at the door. “I told him not to fuckingcallme that.”

“What does it mean?” Maxwell rumbled.

“When it’s usedcorrectly?” she snarled. “It’s a term of endearment.”

“If he thinks…” Maxwell stormed toward the door again, fueled by a possessive fury and a need to leave Rowan bleeding out in pieces on the motel-room floor.

But Rebecca slipped in front of him again. “Don’t. I’ll handle it.”

Then she was at the door instead, wrenching it open with a violent jerk to find Rowan right there, grinning at her.

Only when he looked her up and down and cocked his head did she realize she stood in the doorway in her jeans and bra and nothing else.

Probably would have been better to put something else on first, but here they were.

Then Rowan peered past her into the semi-dark room, first taking in the sight of Maxwell, also shirtless, then the state of the room beyond.

The broken picture frames that had fallen off the walls. The furniture shoved haphazardly from their places. The lamp from the bedside table lying broken and useless and halfway shoved under the bed.

“Well,thisis interesting,” he crooned. “I’d definitely call this a bad time to interrupt, but we’re running short on that now. Time, I mean. So…”

Rebecca couldn’t think of anything to say. She was so infuriated by his shitty timing and the fact that he still treated everything like a fucking game.

She peered outside, up and down the ground-floor row of motel rooms, and then across the parking lot, as if a single glance from the doorway would help her confirm they weren’t already surrounded by even more enemies.

“Don’t worry,” Rowan cooed. “I left theHakalini’irbehind this time. Bringing them by just to say hello would certainly be awkward to try to explain, don’t you think?”

Blue Hells.

She snatched a fistful of his shirt and hauled him into the room before slamming the door shut behind him.

Rowan’s laughter set her nerves on edge. She gritted her teeth and held her anger in check as he sauntered about the room, finding hilarity in everything.

“Not that I’m complaining, exactly,” he said. “But you gotta admit it’s pretty cozy in here now, just the three of us.”

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