Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 32461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“I would say it gives me the advantage.”
He laughed. “There you are.”
“What does that mean?”
“The woman beneath the crown.”
Her expression hardened instantly. “Do not forget who you speak to.”
“I haven't forgotten for a moment.”
He hadn't and that was becoming part of the problem. He knew she was his queen. He knew she could command him and that he was bound to obey. But standing this close, watching those violet eyes flash with annoyance, he was increasingly aware that Eudora was also a woman.
A very desirable woman.
She stepped away from him.
Creagan let her. For the first time since entering the solar, he wondered if perhaps she had felt something too. That possibility was far more intriguing than any dangerous task she might give him.
“Do I frustrate you, my queen?”
“At times.”
“Like now?”
“Especially now.”
He winked. “You are not the first woman to say that to me.”
“I doubt there is anything a woman could say to you that you haven't heard before.”
“You might surprise me.”
Something flickered in her eyes.
Creagan's amusement faded. She knew something he didn't. And whatever it was had something to do with him.
“You are—” she began.
“Utterly charming, breathtakingly handsome, and a man who can satisfy any woman's needs?”
Eudora went completely still.
Creagan had expected a sharp reply. None came.
Her gaze remained on him a heartbeat too long before slipping away.
His smile slowly disappeared. He knew that look. Perhaps not from her, but from enough women to recognize awareness when he saw it. Only this was different. Eudora wasn't inviting his attention. She appeared almost disturbed by her own response to him. And suddenly he was acutely aware of how little distance remained between them.
“Eudora?”
Her eyes snapped to his.
This time he didn't immediately correct himself. Something passed between them that had nothing to do with queens, summons, or commands. He felt it and, judging by the way her breath caught, so did she.
Creagan had spent enough years with women to know attraction when it stood directly in front of him. But why would that trouble her? Unless—
He dismissed the thought before it could form. Whatever command she intended to give him concerned Morra Mist and the threat to her throne. It had nothing to do with this. It couldn't.
His voice softened. “What is it you need from me?”
She moved away and stopped near the window.
Creagan didn't follow this time. The teasing no longer seemed appropriate. That realization alone would have surprised Legion and Torden.
Eudora stared out the window, though he doubted she saw anything beyond the glass. The confident queen who had faced the three of them without hesitation was struggling to say something to him.
Creagan felt the last of his amusement disappear. “Is the task so terrible?”
“Nay.”
“Dangerous?”
“Not in the way you mean.”
That caught him and he waited, but she said nothing more.
“You're worried about this command,” he said.
Her gaze shifted away.
That was answer enough.
“No need to be. I must do as you say.” He paused, watching her carefully. “Or is that what worries you?”
Her gaze returned to him, and Creagan felt something tighten in his chest. He had meant the question lightly, but the expression in her eyes told him he had come far closer to the truth than he realized.
“You don't want me to have a choice,” he said.
“I don't have a choice either.”
The words were quiet. Gone was the commanding queen. For that brief moment, he saw only the woman and that disturbed him more than any danger could have.
“Why?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Eudora.” This time when he used her name, there was no teasing in it.
She looked at him.
He moved toward her slowly. “You summoned me because you believe this is necessary.”
“Extremely necessary,” she confirmed.
“And whatever you ask of me, I am obligated to obey.”
“Aye.”
“Then why are you afraid to ask?”
“I am not afraid,” she snapped.
Creagan stopped in front of her. “Nay, but you're worried about what I'll think of you when you do.”
Her eyes widened just enough to tell him he was right.
He didn't understand it. He couldn't imagine what she might ask that would change his opinion of her. Kill for her? He had killed for less worthy causes. Risk his life? He had done so more times than he could remember. Protect her kingdom? Morra Mist was his home. He would defend it whether she commanded him or not.
“What are you asking of me?”
Eudora stared at him.
He could see the struggle in her eyes, and for the first time since meeting her, he wanted to ease rather than provoke it.
His voice softened. “Whatever it is, tell me.”
Her gaze remained fixed on him. “And will you do what you must to keep Morra Mist safe?”
The answer required no thought. “Always.”
Something changed in her expression. Relief perhaps and something else he couldn't identify.
Eudora drew a slow breath, then she stepped closer.
Creagan didn't move.
The distance between them vanished until he was intensely aware of her—the violet of her eyes, the faint rise and fall of her breathing, the warmth of her body so close to his.