Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“You’re going to eat all that—”
“Shut up and just do it.” I walked inside and shut the door in his face.
His voice was audible on the other side. “Pain in my ass…”
Huntley hadn’t moved from his relaxed position, not the least bit afraid of whoever was on the other side.
“You must be hungry.” I carried the tray to the nightstand beside him and set it down.
He seemed more interested in me than the food.
“Ryker is bringing me another one.”
He pushed himself up and propped his body against my wooden headboard. “He’ll suspect you have company.”
“I don’t care if he does.”
“Then you told him about us.”
I sat at the edge of the bed, feeling the puncture of his hard stare. It’d been so long since I’d been the target of his eye, since we’d had these quiet conversations in the middle of the night. We fit together so well, it seemed as if we’d spent no time apart. “No.”
There was a subtle shift in his eyes, a delicate tightening.
“It’s not the time.”
“When is the time?”
“I don’t know…”
“What does he know?”
I inhaled a deep breath, because I’d rather go back to fucking than discussing politics in this fucked-up world. “I told him what happened to your family, that we’re Plunderers by blood. I told him what Father did to your mother, but he didn’t believe me.” I dropped my chin and looked at my hands on my lap. “I don’t blame him. It took me a while to accept too.”
With no expression on his handsome face, he stared.
“He’s conflicted.”
“He rescued a woman from the bottom of the cliffs, a woman put there because she was unlucky enough to win the lottery, a lottery that his father and the king instated. There’s nothing to be conflicted about.”
“He detests the practice, but he believes there’s no other way. Sacrifice the few for the many…”
His gaze hardened, and I knew him well enough to read his thoughts.
“Ryker has a good heart.”
“Does he?”
“Yes.” I held his gaze with my confidence, because I would vouch for my brother always.
“Did you tell him our plan?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Said it was impossible.”
“So, he won’t be much help to us.”
“He will.”
“I can’t depend on someone I don’t trust.”
“You can trust him.”
He gave me a cold look.
“He snuck me into the castle, got me the books to help you, sneaks me food every night, and hasn’t told my father or anyone else that I’m here. That’s pretty trustworthy to me.” My brother and I fought like cats and dogs, but our loyalty to each other was unquestioned.
He absorbed those words a long time, his stare hard.
“He just needs some time to come around. That’s all.”
The same stare. The same powerful eyes. “When you tell him you’re a Rolfe, I’ll trust him. Because that will mean you trust him too.”
Our dinner was finished, the trays on the table near the door. With the window open and the breeze gently flapping the curtains, I worked on the couch, the light from the lamp brightening the pages.
When I felt his stare, I flicked my eyes up. “You aren’t tired?”
He was up against the headboard, his massive body taking up most of my king-sized bed. “Why would I be?”
“Because you climbed all the way up here.”
“I’ve completed harder challenges—like riding day and night to get an army to take on the Teeth.” His eyes hardened a bit, the anger still in his visage. “Like taking the tunnel back to Delacroix without rest and then trekking across the Kingdoms to see the light in your bedroom window. Climbing up some goddamn rocks is inconsequential.”
I shut the textbook in my lap. “I thought we were past this.”
“Never said I was.”
“I told you—”
“I heard you the first time. Doesn’t mean I’m not angry.”
“Then what should I have done—”
“Get your fucking ass back to me as fast as possible.” His voice was raised, loud enough that someone would hear outside the door if they were standing close enough. “So I know that you’re okay. So I can sleep. So I don’t have this goddamn pain in my chest that won’t go away.”
“Lower your voice—”
“Let me save you some time, baby. Don’t tell me what to do. This marriage will go a lot smoother the sooner you learn that.”
“Why do you keep calling me that if you’re so pissed at me?”
“Because you’re still my baby regardless of how pissed I am.” He looked away, tightening his jaw as he ground his teeth together. The undercut of his jaw was sharper now, the cords in his neck thicker in appearance.
“I guess that means you didn’t fuck anyone else while I was gone…”
The look of anger he gave me was indescribable. The rest of his face matched his eyes—livid. “Fucking you twice in one go didn’t make that clear enough for you?”
His stare was too much, so I looked away. My books were thick with boundless knowledge, but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. What I needed was really specific, and there was nothing listed in the appendices.