He catches my hand before I can pull away, his thumb tracing circles on my palm.
“Later. When she’s asleep. I want you.”
“Is that a command, Your Majesty?”
“It’s a promise.”
The warmth in his voice follows me as I deal with Rayana’s water demands. Too much ice. Not enough ice. “Acceptable, barely.”
The morning crawls by in a haze of complaints and adjustments and the constant low-level irritation of having someone in your space who knows exactly how to push your buttons.
Around ten-thirty, Rayana finally falls into genuine sleep. The medication combined with blood loss has apparently exhausted even her.
Her breathing evens out, her face relaxing into something almost peaceful, and I slip out of the guest room with relief flooding through my bones.
Knox finds me in the kitchen, maki
