Page 49 of Crown of Thorns
“It’s—” I start but have to clear my throat and then start over again. “It’s not that. Trust is not something I’m solid on right now with everything going on but that’s not why I never said anything.”
“Why would you not mention a life threatening allergy to bees?” he asks quietly.
“Because they told me not to.”
“Who? Who told you not to tell? Because that information could have been dealt with privately, but now everyone knows and Leo is beside himself on how to keep you safe,” he says so quietly it scares me a little.
“My uncles… I mean, Paul and Fran. They knew,” Iexplain. “I had no idea before my parents died so if they knew, they never shared with me. But I was young and got stung on a school field trip. Paul and Fran were beside themselves. Afterward, I switched schools, and they told me to never tell but keep an EpiPen hidden on me at all times, I guess I just stuck to that plan, until I couldn’t.”
“That’s insane,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “You could have died.”
“I didn’t.”
“But you could have,” he says.
“Then we’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
“That is not fucking funny.”
“If I don’t laugh about it, what else am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe tell me about a life threatening allergy to fucking bees so that I can learn to use the fucking pen right and make sure you don’t bloody die on me,” he snarls.
“I didn’t.”
“That’s grand because you’re no’ fucking going to for a very long time,” he says drolly.
“Okay,” I agree because what else am I supposed to do? “Can I have some water?”
“Of course you can have some bloody water,” he snaps.
I know he’s not really mad at me, he’s mad that I had another mishap. Maybe I trust him more than I thought I did…
He grabs a glass from the bedside and holds the straw up to my lips so that I can sip from it. He does it so gently, being careful not to hurt me more, and my heart melts just a little bit more.
Dammit.
When he’s like this, where he wants to take care of me and protect me like I’m everything to him—or at least I could be, if only I let him—I could easily get attached. More so than I already am. It’s an addicting feeling to be pulled into his orbit like this.
We settle into a weird silence, and I don’t hate it, though I also kind of want to be alone with my thoughts for a while.
Rhys sits there, clutching my hand in both of his while he watches me. To anyone else, it would be unnerving, but I guess I’m used to how intense he can be. Enough that before I know it, I fall asleep. And when I wake up, reality sets back in.
One of these days, it’ll all be just a dream…
Chapter 16
A Little TLC
Iam better within a few days.
Damn.
I was hoping my little mishap with theapis melliferawould buy me some time to get a plan together to disappear before my impending doom… I mean, nuptials. But alas, being the next queen of a small but powerful nation, not to mention the much beloved fiancée of the king of that same stronghold, comes with the best medical care in the world.
Who knew?
A few days of rest and whatever was being delivered to my nervous and immune systems via IV and I’m back in action… unfortunately. I have also been told that my face has been printed on the newest batch of tea towels so there’s no turning back now, not that I ever had a choice.
