will be anything but torture. “Still. Isn’t there something to be done?”
She gives a faint smile. “My nieces and brother are made of sterner stuff than can be broken by this experience, and it’s not in the Paine brothers’ best interest to truly torture them. Every single person picked wasn’t part of the decision-making process that resulted in them being run out of town. That was no doubt intentional.” Her smile fades. “But it doesn’t change the fact that my sister made a misstep. She’ll have lost the trust of some of our people, and that is worrisome, especially when her heir is currently little more than a captive to Broderick Paine. It reeks of weakness for both of them, and that’s something the Amazons will never accept. If something happens…” She gives herself a shake. “It won’t. I don’t know why I’m musing on this.”
Because she’s got the mind of a general predicting the waves of a war. I lean forward, curious despite myself. “What will happen if the Amazons lose faith in your sister and her heir?”
“We’re a matriarchal society. They’ll either skip to Aisling’s second daughter, Thea, or they’ll skip Aisling’s tree entirely.”
Understanding washes over me. “You’re second in line.”
“I am fourth in line,” she says tightly.
“But if they skip your nieces, you’re second.”
Malone looks away. “I don’t want the throne. There was a time when I did; it’s the reason I left, because I love my sister too much to unseat her. But I don’t want it now.”
She left Sabine Valley because she loved her sister too much to stage a coup. I don’t know why the thought rocks me. Everything about this conversation is turning my assumptions on their heads. It doesn’t change the core of who Malone is, but…
I need time to process this new information. That’s the only excuse I have for leaning in and kissing her. I can’t say that she commanded me and I’m obeying. It’s pure instinct. I can’t even pretend it’s entirely to distract—either me or her—because a small, traitorous part of me wants to chase away the lost look in her green eyes.
She goes still for the space of a heartbeat, as if I’ve surprised her, and then her hands are in my hair and she’s taking control of the kiss. I find my hands on her shoulders and, when she doesn’t stop me, I skate them down the slice of skin barred by her shirt. Her skin is so soft. I can’t believe I’m allowed to touch her.
I should be grabbing the knife perched at the perfect angle on the table, should be looking for a way to use this vulnerability against her. I just…can’t.
I have time. There will be other opportunities. I tell myself a thousand lies as I slip my hand into her shirt and cup her bare breast. She’s built small and perfect, and she inhales sharply against my mouth when I stroke my thumb over her nipple. Malone lifts her head a little. “So bold.”
“What? I’m not allowed to touch you?”
She shakes her head slowly. “Why did you say yes, Aurora? I know Hades gave you a choice about this assignation. You hate me. Why agree?”
I kiss her again instead of answering. I have a feeling she’ll see through whatever lie I can come up with, and I’m sure as hell not telling her the truth. No matter how carefully she touches me when we’re not in a scene, this woman is a brutal warrior. If she thinks I’m a threat, she’ll slit my throat and deal with the fallout later. And she can deal with the fallout. Hades might be furious, but he’s balanced too precariously to go to war over a single person, no matter how much he cares about me. He’s not the type to let his emotions get the best of him. There will be consequences, yes, but nothing Malone can’t survive.
She allows the kiss for a few long moments and then moves, shoving me back against the cushions on the floor and pushing up my dress to bare me from the waist down. Malone brackets my throat with one elegant hand and shoves two fingers into me with her other. “You don’t want to answer that.”
“No,” I gasp.
“Just like you don’t want to talk about your exes.” She strokes me slowly. “Do your other partners realize how much you keep back, Aurora? How you use sex to deflect from subjects you don’t want to discuss? It’s rather clever.”
I’ve