House of Pounding Hearts (The Kingdom of Crows #2)(72)

He shoves a handful of hair off his face. “I gave Aoife and the rest of my guards the night off, so you’re stuck with me until sunrise.”

He must’ve lost a whole bunch of brain cells from all his shifting if he thinks I’ll allow him to spend the night in my bedroom. “I’ll go sleep in Syb’s room. She’ll keep me safe.”

“She’s with Mattia. That would surely be awkward.”

“I’ll go to Gia’s.”

“She’s gone out on an errand.”

“At this time of night?”

“Rebels don’t keep office hours.”

I disregard his jibe. “Then Catriona’s—”

“I do not trust that female.”

I toss my hands in the air. “Then I’ll go to Antoni’s. You trust him, don’t you?”

“Not with you.”

Provocation makes me push the sheets off my legs and rise. “What do you fucking care, Lore? You’re about to get married.”

“Do not go to his bed, Behach ?an.” His voice is as sharp and low as the snap of one of his great wings.

“Why? Are you afraid that I’ll distract him from his task?”

Lore’s edges blur, then something cold and smooth presses into my front, forcing my knees to buckle and my ass to hit the bouncy mattress.

“Why are you so adamant to keep me from him? Do you know something I don’t?”

After his crows have regrouped in the armchair, he says, “I know many things you don’t.”

“Does he want me dead?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t see the problem with me seeking out his company—”

“You’ve got me. You’ve no need for him.”

“Except I’ve an itch to scratch, and you’re someone else’s fiancé, so your company is rather pointless.”

My comment must catch Lore off guard because he turns lethally quiet, but his silence lasts only a few heartbeats. “You’ve got hands, Fallon. You’ve no need for Antoni’s.”

It takes me a second to recover from the shock of his answer.

“Besides, he’s left the house with Gia and Riccio.”

“How convenient that no one with a cock is available.”

His leather armor creaks again, and although it’s surely my imagination, I think I hear his molars gnash.

“But hey, you’re right. I’ve got ten functioning digits and a fucking splendid imagination.” I lie back in bed. “I’ll just conjure Antoni’s tongue and scratch my own fucking itch. You may want to step outside. I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” My tone is viciously brittle.

“I’m not leaving your bedside, Behach ?an, but I applaud your creative attempt at making me flee.”

Of course, he doesn’t take me seriously. “Fine. Stay for the show. Watch me fantasize over the man you’re so desperate to keep me from, the Cauldron only knows why.”

The Cauldron and himself. And maybe Bronwen . . .

What if Antoni alters my future? What if she’s seen something— “Go back to sleep, Little Bird.”

His dismissal sparks my rebellious streak. I’m not going back to sleep as long as he sits in my bedroom. I’m probably not going back to sleep at all considering how alert I feel. So I decide to make him squirm and show him that I’m not some gutless child full of silly plans and sillier threats.





Thirty-Six





As I lower my hand down my body, I glower at Lore, willing him to explode into his five crows and flap out of my bedroom.

He doesn’t.

Damn him.

I close my eyes and conjure the sailor’s face, then slip my index and middle fingers beneath the silken lace and swipe at my sex. I haven’t pleasured myself in what feels like months. It probably has been months.

After all, I was sort of busy these past few weeks.

Also, I’m not very good at it.

Concentrate, Fallon, I chide myself.

I hook Antoni’s face and drag him back to the forefront of my mind. “Don’t hesitate to peer inside my head, Mórrgaht.”

Something creaks. Perhaps the arms of the chair Lorcan sits in. Perhaps his neck.

Wood splinters. The chair it is then.

I picture Antoni sitting on the pier in front of Bottom of the Jug the night he suggested I follow him into his boat’s cabin. In hindsight, I should’ve taken him up on his offer. It may have changed things, but I can only imagine for the better. It would’ve spared me from sleeping with a selfish and disingenuous Faerie.

Dante’s face ruins what little heat I’ve stoked between my thighs.

I think about Antoni again, about his blue eyes and brown hair and tanned skin. I think of how hard he pursued me and how hard I resisted him because I was so blinded with love for a princely prick.

Another piece of wood splinters. I can only imagine that Lorcan has penetrated my mind and is displeased with the reel of images I’m showing him.

“Don’t you wish you’d flitted away when you still had the chance?” I keep working my fingers but no heat builds. I could be wiping down dirty tables at Bottom of the Jug for all the pleasure this is bringing me.

My jaw squeezes as tight as my heart. I try one last time, but the backs of my lids fill with another face—one adorned with a small feather tattoo and too-bright eyes. A sharp tingle shoots up my core and warms every corner of my body.