I guess the ladies of Novoro don’t leave home much.
He slowly approaches me, his gaze locked on my body. My nipples prick under the fabric and I carefully set down the goblet of wine again and rest my arm on my hips. I’m half reclined on the couch and pillows, propped up on my side so I can show off my body. And he’s looking, all right. He’s looking real, real hard.
“New dress?” he finally says.
I smooth the fabric over my thigh. “Thought I’d wear something pretty since I’m going to be sitting around here until we leave.” Remembering Yulenna’s advice, I lick my kiss-swollen lips.
His gaze flicks there and lingers for a moment, then drops back to my nearly bared body. He’s seen me naked before, but this is different. Things are slowly changing between us, and we’re both utterly aware of it. “Is this because of our conversation last night?”
“Maybe I just wanted to enjoy a nice day of pampering?” I keep my voice light.
Aron snorts and strips off his tunic, holding it out to me. “You can be pampered in something like this just as easily.”
I ignore it. “So you don’t like my dress?” I slide a hand up to my breast, almost touching my nipple, and love that his eyes follow me. The air’s getting heavy, and I can practically feel it crackling with the force of his internal “storm.” For some reason, I find that sexy as hell.
“You will not wear this?”
“Nope.”
He shrugs and turns toward the door, pulling out his knife.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“To remove the men’s eyes so they don’t look upon you.”
I yelp and scramble for the tunic he tossed to the floor. “Aron, don’t you fucking dare!” I snag the tunic and hold it to my chest. “Just wait, okay?”
He turns around slowly as I hurry over to him in bare feet, his expression impossible to read. “If you will not cover your body, I’ll make sure they can’t see it.”
“I’m getting dressed, you son of a bitch,” I mutter, pulling the tunic over my head. When I slide it onto my shoulders, it hangs over me like an oversized sleeping bag. “Heaven forbid a girl want to look sexy,” I mutter, and then to my astonishment, his lips twitch.
That asshole. He’s teasing!
I reach out and smack his arm. “You jerk! You scared the shit out of me!”
“Did I?” His smile grows wider. “That wasn’t your goal, then? To entice me in a jealous rage to blind the others?”
“No, you ass.” I give his arm another little swat. “Maybe I just wanted you to enjoy looking at me. Dick.”
He grabs my free swinging braid and wraps it around his hand, dragging me forward. It tugs gently on my hair, but he knows his strength and he’s utterly careful. “Faith, I always enjoy looking at you. It does not matter if you’re covered in mud and wearing a monk’s clothing, or wearing nothing but suds from your bath. I always enjoy looking.” His voice is a silky, low caress that makes heat pool between my thighs. “Which is why I don’t like the thought of others doing so.”
“You being a jealous dick should not turn me on,” I tell him, breathless. I’m fascinated by the nearness of his hard mouth, the way he’s pulled me so close that I can feel the heat and electricity coming off of him in waves.
“I’m not jealous.”
“Then you weren’t going to cut out Markos’s eyes?”
“He doesn’t look at you. Now Solat and Vitar…”
“No,” I say, smacking his bare chest lightly again. I want to put my hands all over that chest, but he’s made it clear where I stand with him. Still…this is flirting, isn’t it? And it’s making my heart race with excitement even though he says we can’t be anything. “No eyeball removal.”
“Their cocks, then.”
“No.”
“Then you’ll wear my tunic and stop showing off what’s mine?” He arches that arrogant brow at me.
I sputter. “Yours?”
He pulls me closer to him, until our mouths are almost touching. “Aren’t you mine, Faith? We’re connected in every single way.”
“Not every way,” I point out, and touch a finger to the ab line just above his belly button. I’m shocked at how quickly we’re progressing. It’s like the Novoran party broke something open between us. Before it was just sniping and a bit of casual flirting. Now? Now it seems to be a lot more. I trail my fingers up the muscled ridges of his belly.