It was easier to deal with him when he was angry. The other side, his softer side, where he gave me warm looks and his hands grazed my skin, drove me crazy. That was the side of Xander I feared the most.
“If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead already,” he said simply. “Plus, why bother when we swore a blood oath that as soon as you save my kingdom, you leave. If I kill you, you can’t help. And after all, you saved my mother when you could have let her die. You helped save a village from a troll. I’m inclined to believe you will try and save my kingdom.” Xander crossed the room and sat on the bed next to me. His leg pressed into my thigh, and his nearness made my cheeks burn.
“I… I think we should leave.” The pain from my shoulder was driving me batty, making my thoughts not very coherent. I would probably regret everything I was about to say if we continued talking.
Feeling brave, I slid to the edge of the bed, stood up, and tried to walk to the door, but the floor betrayed me again by moving. I wasn’t going to make it, felt myself falling.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Xander growled as he caught me and carried me back to the bed. The scent of cedar and leather tickled my nose, his pleasant aroma drawing me to him. Ever so gently, I was laid back on the bed, and the barest of fingers brushed my hair across my forehead. “It’s already dark. I’ve stabled my horse for the night. We will be safe until morning.”
Safe. Safe from whom, exactly? There was only one bed, and Xander had already stretched out next to me on top of the quilt, his arms bracing behind his neck and his eyes closed as if to sleep.
“I don’t think you should sleep here.”
“Hush, woman. There’s plenty of room for the both of us.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Xander turned on his side, bringing us even closer together. His amber eyes slowly roamed over my cheeks and then stopped on my lips. I couldn’t breathe. He had sucked all of the air out of the room with his hungry look.
“Oh, I see.” He smiled. “You want to finish what we started the night of our wedding? I could most definitely oblige.”
“No!” I said adamantly. The pain of our sham of a marriage hurt more than the arrow. “If you touch me, I will curse you.” Turning, I buried my head into my pillow and closed my eyes, praying he kept his distance.
Xander’s fingers trailed along my cheek, brushing back my hair behind my ear. “Like you did to Yasmin and Gaven?” He chuckled.
I sucked in my breath at being caught so easily.
He leaned in, his breath tickling along my neck, his voice husky. “For you, I would take that chance.”
It took every single ounce of my willpower to not respond to his touch, not turn and raise my lips to his and kiss him truly. But I dared not, knowing he would throw me away as soon as I saved his kingdom. The kiss would be fleeting, for it was not love. He’d said it himself, he could not love.
Do not fall into temptation, Rosalie. You are stronger than this.
In an uncomfortable silence, we lay next to each other. I was extremely aware of every breath he took, each sigh and every time he shifted on the bed. Neither of us was going to sleep soon, and I almost wished he would kiss me again. Not out of drunken lust or because he was bespelled by my beauty but because he wanted to kiss me—for me.
Anything that would happen now wouldn’t be real, because he didn’t love me. But did I love him? I had to ask myself the question, and it only created more uncertainty. I had feelings for him when I wore the guise of a servant, but when I was his wife, he was absolutely despicable toward me, thus making me despise him. Now the charade was gone, and there was only me—the real me. The daughter of Eville. Only time would tell if the prince could love my inner darkness.
My legs were restless, and I was about to turn over and give in, throw my arms around Xander and kiss him, truly kiss him, and see if he ran away or returned the gesture. I wanted to feel his lips on