The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1)(61)

“I know, that man thought I stole from him but I had been—”

“No. There are three men on your tail, and two behind them. And you were planning to take on all of them in the street.”

She glared at him and was about to swat away his hand when he pulled at her arm, pinning it above her. Esha was so shocked she almost went quiet, but somehow found her voice.

“I’d be scared for my virtue if you didn’t have enough for both of us,” she said.

Kunal shot her a tight look. “Just play along.”

He drew so close that she could feel the flutter of his eyelashes, pressing his body against hers, mussing up her hair with his hands, fisting his hand tightly in her curls. She leaned into him, unable to control her reaction to his touch, the way her body moved to his. His other hand was pushing up at her loose dhoti, exposing her calf to the sweltering air as he tugged her leg higher around him.

And then he kissed her neck, and her skin was on fire and the heat was no longer coming from the air outside but from the endless pit in her core. She let out a sigh and she felt Kunal stiffen and then pull her tighter.

“Turn your head down,” he whispered into her ear, his lips brushing her earlobe, sending sparks down her spine. Three figures pulled up just then, blocking the only light streaming into their alleyway.

Kunal whipped his head around, angling it so it blocked Esha’s face. Understanding flooded her and she quickly tilted her head away, the picture of shyness.

“Get out of here!” he snarled, hurling curses at the fruit seller and his men. They left with a few snickers and an apology, though Kunal continued to throw curses worthy of a fisherman at them until they disappeared from sight. Esha coughed and tugged her torn pants down, turning her face up toward Kunal.

“My, my, where did an upstanding soldier like yourself get such a filthy mouth?” Esha looked at him with amusement, her heart still beating like a hammer, trying to let some of the fire between them dissipate into steam. He stared back.

“A thank-you would be nice.”

“For what?”

She knew for what but wanted to see it—see his eyes flash like lightning.

“For saving your life,” he said, his teeth gritted. “My debt is paid.”

Esha felt her breath catch and she couldn’t help poking the bear. And for that matter, she would’ve been fine without him; she had her whip and knife and that’s all she really needed in life.

She didn’t need him to honor his cursed debt. She didn’t need anyone. That was exactly what she was going to say, but other words escaped her lips.

“It must be nice, to be able to lie to yourself so easily. Pretend at honor and fulfill debts when it costs you nothing.” The words were angrier than she had intended, but she couldn’t stop them.

“This didn’t cost me nothing. You’re my mission—”

“Ah, yes. The mission to become commander by capturing or killing me.”

His gaze faltered and his eyes flickered away as if he couldn’t bear that truth anymore himself.

“I don’t want you to die,” he said, his words insistent. His gaze bored into hers, and she didn’t flinch, holding it just as steadily. “And I don’t even want you to be captured, but I believe in justice, and . . .”

Without warning, he leaned forward to rest his forehead against her own, as if letting go of all of his worries, if for only a second.

It took her aback, the change in his voice, the uncertainty in his words. Something, something had changed, and Esha wanted to tell him then, admit she was innocent. If she could turn him . . . but she didn’t have time.

Not after discovering Vardaan was searching for the princess.

Her own duty, her own responsibility, her own life. They all waited for her across the mountains. But her feet remained rooted here, in the arms of the soldier she would have to leave behind.

“And those men? They were there by a new royal edict. You managed to upset a shopkeeper on the newly instated royal inspection day. There would have been no leniency.” Esha opened her mouth. “I know you’re not a thief,” he said.

She looked up as he drew his head away from hers and untangled his hand from her hair.

“A murderer but not a thief. And I told you before, disguising yourself as a man only draws more attention to you. You couldn’t blend in if your life depended on it. And it almost did.”

She scoffed.

“And pray tell me how I managed to get by for two years as the Viper?”

“You do the opposite. You stick out so much that it’s impossible to think you’d be anything but harmless.”

“No, soldier. I think that’s just you. I can disappear just fine when I like,” she said, arching her eyebrow.

He smiled at that. “Maybe it is just me, but for some reason, I really don’t believe that.”

“So, was that all acting right there?” She didn’t know why she did this, teased and flirted with him until she didn’t know when she was getting a rise out of him and when she was digging the knife deeper into herself. “Or were you happy to have my eyes on you?”

A faint blush colored his dusky skin, but Kunal’s expression didn’t change.

“Why save me?”

“I told you. You managed to get in trouble on the worst day. And my debt.”