Page 32 of Ruthless Scoundrel
“Don’t do that,” she snaps.
I still my hand and give her a little more space.
“I don’t know why,” she says, and I can tell she’s lying by the way her shoulders tuck up to her ears.
“The chances of being struck by lightning are fairly low.”
She looks up at me with blue fire in her eyes. “I don’t fear death.”
I chuckle. “I didn’t say you did. You can be struck by lightning and survive, or so I’ve heard.”
Her expression softens again as a thought flitters across her face.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Do you think my sister is dead?” she whispers, her eyes glossy.
The lightning that tore open the palace—that must be it. She’s traumatized from seeing her sister covered in blood, the electricexplosion that ended with her being stolen from her home. Of course, it’s irrational—much like my need to breathe in her scent—but it’s unstoppable all the same.
“I don’t know.”
She scrutinizes me. “You think she’s dead.”
I sigh. There’s no escaping her shrewd gaze. “She’d bled from every orifice on her face, and she smelled of death. That doesn’t mean she’s dead, but…”
Lightning strikes the sea and Reina tucks her face down against my chest. She sniffles and shivers, her grief penetrating her fiery exterior. My hand moves of its own accord, stroking up and down her back.
“Stop that,” she whimpers.
I hold her tighter. “No.”
A sob wracks her body and she curls into me. “Why?”
“Because you’re safe right now and I want you to know it. I’m not going to let you get hurt.”
She looks up at me, her cheeks ruddy and eyes watery. “You’re such a bastard.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “But I’m not lying.”
Her eyes search mine. “No, you’re not.”
I can see the next “why” forming in her mind. She wants to ask me again what I need her for. She’s still not ready to hear it. She doesn’t trust me yet. If I tell her and she escapes, or somehow gets word to the king of my plan before I arrive, or any other number of ways she could fuck things up…I would hate her, and myself, forever.
She sucks down a breath and starts to speak, but I cut her off.
“Huge boat, mansion, and beautiful women.”
She rolls her eyes with a deep sigh.
“Try to sleep. We have an early start tomorrow.”
“If you wake me before sunrise, Iwillkill you.” She wiggles in my hold, but only to get more comfortable, not to escape.Something about that feels incredibly good. The pang deep in the pit of my stomach swells, overtaking more of my body.
I take a slow, steady inhale and some of the hunger is quenched by her scent. There’s a tinge of smoke, and sweet coconut milk mixing with it, but I can still smellher.It simultaneously abates my ache and drives me mad.
It only takes a few minutes for exhaustion to pull Reina into Nol’Ther’s dreams. I hang on to consciousness a little longer, relish the feeling of her safe in my arms just a little more, and hating myself for what I’m putting her through.
I promise I’ll save you. All of you.
