Page 62 of Obsidian Throne
He turned to go. For the first time since all of this happened, I reluctantly forced myself to consider this situation from his perspective.
And for the first time in years, I couldn’t quite bring myself to hate him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
ROWAN
My day was marginally less unpleasant than I thought it would be, if only because Ava stayed in her rooms with Aleksander.
Galina seemed to dislike me less than before, and she showed a quiet, surprising wit, now that she wasn’t busy glaring at me.
Still, I was more than ready to escape to the solitude of my rooms, and readier still for Evander to join me. His face was grim when he entered.
“Fun day with the council?” I asked from my spot lounging on the bed.
“Isn’t every day fun with Iiro as an almost king?” he asked.
His eyes landed on me, then, assessing me with something unusually close to hesitation. “You never did tell me…what happened...with Korhonan.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I told you whatdidn’thappen. I wasn’t aware you wanted details of the rest.”
Darkness flashed through his gaze. “I can assure you, I do not. I meant when he left Lochlann.”
“Oh.” I examined Evander’s features, wondering where this question was coming from. “I asked him in so I could tell him what I had already decided, but he got there before I did.”
Evander nodded, but he clearly wanted more, so I relented. Sharing pieces of myself may never come easily for me, but I would try, for his sake.
“He said that you and I were inevitable...that he could see it from the first time we danced,” I added, not quite meeting his eyes. “Which is...ridiculous, obviously.”
Evander crossed over to me, putting his finger under my chin and forcing me to meet his gaze. “Is it?”
All of the breath left my body, my lungs refusing to cooperate with me when I was looking into his perfect, unusually sincere gray eyes.
Whatever he saw in my features must have been all the answer he needed, because he brought his lips against mine. Warmth spread through me, burning hotter as it scorched through every part of my body.
He ran his hand along my side, and I arched toward him, wanting more, as I always did from him. And as always, he was more than happy to deliver.
His lips were on my neck and his fingers trailed possessively down my waist, along my hips and down to my thigh...where he abruptly froze.
“Where is your dagger?” He lifted his head, looking at my face.
“Um…” I tried to make my brain work well enough to think of anything but Evander’s hands and his mouth and his body on mine. “I think we knocked it behind the dresser.”
“You were unarmed all day?” He looked toward the dresser, and I shuffled my feet impatiently.
“By necessity, yes. And a few more minutes won’t make a stars-damned difference.” There was a definite edge to my voice.
He returned his attention to me, his cocky chuckle tugging at things low in my belly.
“You would think,” he said, kissing me again. “That I had been neglecting you.”
“I feel very, very neglected,” I assured him. “It has been…” I mentally tallied the time. “Eight whole hours since you showered me with any sort of attention.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” he murmured against my mouth.
So for a while, we lost ourselves in each other, ignoring this entire cursed castle and the myriad of problems within it. Of course, at some point, we had to come back to reality and get ready for what was sure to be a charming dinner.
Evander moved the dresser aside while I unabashedly watched his muscles strain with the effort. I peeked behind it, already half crouched to retrieve my weapon.