To Love a Prince (Knights of Valor Book 1)(6)

“I don’t understand. I’m not sure I want to understand.”

“The workings of Qumaref are complex.”

Indeed they were. A slave was trying to play him. To use him, for what, he wasn’t sure.

It may prove a more interesting mission than he’d imagined.

Eli thumbed over her swollen lips. By the gods, she was beautiful. Soft pink flushed under her porcelain skin, and her plump lips begged him to kiss her. The wine mixed with exhaustion and desire, clouding his judgment as he leaned down and kissed her hot and hard on the mouth.





Chapter 4





The kiss ignited desires Prince Eli had kept buried beneath his cold exterior, and he’d rather they stayed buried.

Before he could pull back, Auburn’s body softened against him, and her lips parted as she offered him more. Her arms wrapped around him, drawing him closer.

Her response intensified his need, and Eli deepened the kiss as her innocence and enthusiasm mixed into an unexpected and heady concoction. The prince almost capitulated, almost gave in to what his body wanted and what she would give him.

Eli forced himself to step back. “I have a lot of work to do tonight.”

“Work?” Auburn’s eyes fluttered open. “But-”

“I need to transcribe everything I heard. See if I can piece together what the sultan needs and where he’ll compromise.”

“He needs a trade agreement,” Auburn said. “The rains have diminished, but he must still feed his people.”

Eli thought back to all the evening’s conversations. “He mentioned trade several times, though never what.”

“It’s the reason they started diplomatic negotiations with Tamryn. The sultan couldn’t strike an agreement with Arren or K’tel, leaving Oskelez as Qumaref’s only trading partner of any significance.”

“Oskelez is stuck in the middle of a swamp.”

“The kingdoms exchange goods through teleportation spells. Qumaref has no mages that can cast the spell, so the trade favors Oskelez. And Oskelez has enough trouble feeding its own population.”

Eli’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know this?”

“The powerful talk in front of slaves as if we’re not there. I listen.”

“I have to be careful with you.”

Her eyes widened. “I would never-”

“Not as long as you consider yourself mine. Perhaps I could use you as an adviser.”

“I’m a slave.”

“An intelligent one that listens, understands, and uses it to get what she wants. Like being chosen to dance.”

Auburn swallowed and stared down at her hands.

Eli regarded her for several long moments. “You don’t want to be my adviser?”

“Would Tamryn allow such a thing?”

“I’m the prince, and I take who I choose as an adviser.”

A smile curved her lips. “I never thought myself worthy of such an exalted position.”

“I notice you said worthy instead of capable. You’re a distraction and a temptation, but you understand the politics of Qumaref as no Tamarian does. Perhaps even better than Rolland. That’s useful.”

“So you’ll keep me?”

The hope in her voice made his stomach churn and his demons howl. “I’m not ‘keeping’ you, but you will join my retinue.”

She linked her fingers together. “Does that mean you’ll take me back to Tamryn with you?”

“If I don’t?”

“You’d have to sell me before you left, or they’d consider me a cast-aside slave.”

The hitch in her voice said more than her words did, but it was political suicide to bring a slave back with him, particularly a beautiful one. Taking the crown without the Dragon God’s blessing would be difficult even without further complications, and Auburn was definitely a complication.

But Eli couldn’t “cast her aside”, and by Dracor’s Fang, he would never sell her. She was a person with a soul belonging to the gods, but it was more than that. What more, Eli didn’t want to ponder.

Damn the sultan and his impetuous gift. Damn this unknown feeling.

“You’re part of my retinue now. You’ll come back with me,” Eli said.

The smile that brightened her face made his chest tighten. By the gods, she was beautiful. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe, both strange and alien feelings. He didn’t like them.

“I’ll do everything I can to help you,” Auburn said.

“You can start by getting some sleep while I finish my work.” She glanced up at him, and Eli thumbed over her full lips. “You’re a beautiful distraction, and I need to get this done before I can rest.”

Auburn bowed her head and left him, tucking herself between his sheets.

Eli sighed and buttoned his coat as the chill desert air emphasized the loss of her warmth. He turned a chair to face away from her so he could concentrate on something other than her sleeping alone in his bed.

Closing his eyes, the evening played through his mind, and he took notes on everything he’d seen and heard. The prince then read through those notes and searched for patterns or anything unusual.

Unusual.

His hands balled into fists. Nothing about the evening had gone as planned, especially not the sultan giving him a slave as a gift.