Page 105 of Moonmarked

Thankfully, he got it.

“Hi, Lyall.” I tried not to sound irritated, I really did.

“I came as soon as I could,” he said, and when the door fell closed behind him, he bowed his head. “I never actually thought I’d say this ever in my life, but I apologize for the kiss I gave you last night. Believe me, I had no choice.”

Rune’s voice rang in my ears all of the sudden. “Oh.”

“You see, the fae challenge others all the time in the Whispering Ball. It’s one of the reasons why the tradition still lives,” he said, straightening up again. “And I was challenged to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room. Truly—I had no choice.”

A hand to his heart.

He looked good when he lied—just like when he did everything else, I guessed. Dressed impeccably in dark red velvet threaded with gold, a silk shirt underneath that matched the lightest color of his eyes, his hair as if made of the same fabric, sleeked back, not a hair out of place.

He was indeed one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen in my life, and yet he irritated the shit out of me because of his lies.

My God, Rune really did know him. “Of course,” I said with a nod. “But the next time someone challenges you like that, find another beautiful girl, won’t you?” My voice was as polite as I could make it. “I’m your Lifebound, not some random chick you can kiss whenever you’re…challenged.”

Yeah, in the end I couldn’t keep the bite from my voice.

“I will keep that in mind,” Lyall said, and if he was as irritated by what I said as I thought he would be, he didn’t show it. “I take it you didn’t like it—which is another thing I never thought I’d say to a woman.”

“I didn’t,” I said. “I don’t much like to be kissed out of the blue, in a place full of masked strangers, and by someone I am not attracted to physically.”

This made him laugh. “Oh, my heart! You really are quite cold, beautiful Nilah.”

“I’m really not.” I went for a smile, feeling a bit awkward now.

He was here to apologize, and I really did want to be in his good graces, considering he was the only thing keeping me alive and safe right now, so…

“I don’t mean to be cold, Lyall. Merely honest.”

This time, when he came closer, I didn’t move away. “And I admire that. I admire a lot about you, Nilah,” he said, and I could have sworn that he was genuine just now. “I want to know more about you. A lot more. I think I want to knoweverything.”

Oh, God…

“Listen, Lyall, I?—”

“Please, don’t take this the wrong way. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I just want you to feel right at home here.”

Home,he said. “You know what—we should talk about the unbinding ceremony, I think.” Fuck, did it suddenly get so hot in this room or was it just me? Seriously, I was sweating.

Lyall flinched. Actually flinched.

“There is no rush, really,” he said. “We can talk about it later.”

“I thought you wanted me to agree to it right away—remember that? When your soldiers first brought me in front of your mother?” In the throne room, no less. The same throne room where I’d been on my knees blowing Rune just last night.It is definitely toohot in here…

I cleared my throat. “It was important to you then to separate yourself from me right away. I’m just wondering what changed, that’s all.”

“You,” Lyall said without hesitation, and he took half a step closer to me, but again, I didn’t move back. He was still a good distance away, and he didn’t look like he might suddenly kiss me like he did last night. “There’s so much more to you than I realized then, Nilah. You…” He looked down at my body and suddenly I felt uncomfortable as hell, like my body already knew what he was going to say before he did. “To start with, you have magic in you, which you shouldn’t have.”

Fuck.

I swallowed hard, fisted my hands until my nails sank into my skin, and my instinct was to deny it. To hell with all of it—magic? What magic? I don’t have magic! No sir, not me!

But Lyall knew.

I could see it in the curiosity painted in his eyes, in his attention—he knew, and no matter how hard I tried to deny it, it wasn’t going to make him believe me.

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