Page 30 of King Elijah (The Zemiran Chronicles 2)

One of them, at least.

She placed her hands on his chest, light but firm, and pushed him farther away from her.

“I want you to leave, Elijah,” she said firmly, trying to convince herself more than him to leave the room.

He stepped back and stared into her eyes intently, his silence making her feel more uneasy.

“I’ll leave, but you need to get some sleep. The pirates will be arriving tomorrow, and I need to get this house in order. I’ll send for you when it’s time for breakfast.” He turned and walked back to the exit, leaving an emptiness in the air around her.

Elijah placed his hand on the door before leaving and turned around. “Oh, and Janelle,” he said. “Please don’t touch my daisies.” A smile crept on his lips. “I would hate for the poison to seep into your bloodstream through your fingers and make you defenseless from your enemies.”

She kept her eyes locked on his, refusing to blink and too afraid to address the obvious.

Elijah quickly made a habit of walking a thin line between making her feel alive with desire while hinting at threats to her virtue. She didn’t believe he would do it, not one bit, but that contradiction was starting to make her feel insane. How could her body be so drawn to someone that her mind was telling her was a threat? But still, when he turned that dark, hooded gaze on her from the doorway, she felt something in her hum with pleasure at being the focus of it.

“That is three times now you have tried to kill me,” he said. “I would hate to have to tie you to that bed from here on out.”

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