Bound to the Elvin King (29 page)

“In the palace?”

“Yes, but I won’t say more.”

She scowled. “Why not?”

“There’s danger enough surrounding you without you seeking it out.” She started to protest, but he held up a hand. “I’m not saying you’ll purposely search it out, but if you know who the suspects are, your behavior could change around them.”

“But—”

“And no matter what you say, you can’t do the elvin “poker face” like most of us can. You simply haven’t had the years to perfect it. A glance, a flutter of an eyelid could give you away.”

How could she argue against that logic? He had her, and he knew it. “Still, I don’t want to be kept totally in the dark about the investigation.”

“If having knowledge of new developments isn’t dangerous beyond their initial threat, I’ll inform you of them all.”

“Okay, sounds like a deal. Let’s shake on it.”

“Is this one of your Earth customs?”

“Yep.”

“Well, I’d rather kiss you to seal the deal.”

She licked her lips. “That can be arranged.”

He slipped an around her shoulders and gently hauled her to his chest. Their mouths met in a fiery melding of tongues until Maggie got a little too carried away and had a rude reminder of her cuts. “Damn, that stings like a…female dog.” He was wussifying her. She couldn’t even cuss in his presence, but maybe that was a good thing. Surely, a queen didn’t have the mouth of a gutter rat?

Talion laid tender fingers against her cheek, gently tracing around the deeper cut. “Now, I know our gracious tutor Henril didn’t teach you elvin curse words. Let me guess who taught you.” He glided his hand over her jaw and down her arm. “Kenhel?”

A small giggle burst from her. “How did you know?”

“Deductive reasoning. Avrin was my other possibility, but he seemed less likely to teach you how to curse like a warrior stuck on the borders.”

She sat up a little straighter. “My language isn’t that colorful, thank you very much.”

“Compared to most ladies of the court, it is.”

“Well, I won’t be a lady of the court. I’ll be queen.”

A smug grin crossed his face. “From your own mouth. You can’t deny it.”

She groaned. “I’m getting used to the idea of a real relationship with you, but I still can’t wrap my mind around the queen part.”

He curled his hand around hers, the press of his skin calming and reassuring. “I will be there to help you.”

His quiet words were a sweet caress to her fears. “I know.”

“Avrin, Relian, Sardon, and a few trusted others will help you when I cannot.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” A sigh forced its way from her throat.

“That was a heavy sigh. You’re still not convinced.”

“I’m sure of your abilities—and theirs. I’m just not so confident in mine. I’m not exactly elvin queen material.”

“You’re not.” She stiffened, but he continued, “I don’t mean that in a hurtful way, but it’s true. There’s never been a queen like you. There’s never even been a human queen of elves before.”

“Scary though, huh?”

He gave a wary laugh. “It was a sobering one, especially at the beginning. But you just may be the shaking up my people need. You certainly shook up my life.”

“Hopefully for the better.”

His lips formed a crooked smile. “For the most part.”

She swatted at his arm with her free hand. “Talion.”

“If I asked you the same question, would you answer any differently?”

Her reply didn’t take any thought. “No.”

“I didn’t think so.” He pushed the pillows behind her to the side and took their place. She melted into him like ice cream topped with hot fudge. If only they could spend the rest of their lives in this room, avoiding all but their closest friends. Reality slapped her in the face, and she frowned. Okay, a day or two closeted with him, and she’d want to kill him. He may be sexy as all get-out, but he was still an arrogant pig most of the time.

The feel of his chin on her head ripped her back to the present. “How long do we have before someone intrudes?”

“Avrin should be stopping by shortly to check on you and to give you something for the pain. Why?”

She shrugged. “No reason.” Like she would tell him she wanted to hole up with him. His head was big enough as it was.

“You know you’ll have to accept them.”

Confusion raced through her. “Huh?”

“The guards.”

His meaning landed on her like a ton of stone. “Do we have to talk about this right now?”

“You know you need guards, and after your attack, no one would think much of me assigning them to you.”

She really didn’t have a choice. He’d put guards on her whether she wanted them or not. “Fine,” she huffed out. “But I don’t like it. And the asking permission thing to leave the palace sucks.”

“I never expected you would be pleased, but the guards’ presence is something you’ll have to get used to when you take up your formal role as queen. And think of it as mere courtesy when you tell me you’re leaving palace grounds.”

She moaned. “Don’t want to think about all that right now.”

“But you will have to soon. The time we agreed on is running out and—”

She cut him off. “I know. But I seriously think I’ll…be more ready to handle everything by then. It’s just getting my mind to the right place.”

“Will you ever be ready?”

“I’m getting there.”
I hope.
“It’s just a slow process.”

Seeing the doubtful expression glued to his face, she said, “Look, I’ve just accepted we should become a couple, with all that it entails. Learning all this relationship stuff isn’t easy and is sort of scary.” Gah, even admitting it made her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. “I need that time. It’s my hang up and doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“You won’t use the time to search for a way to end the bond?”

She jerked forward in his arms. “You knew?”

He pulled her back against him. “Of course. I could see the plan practically forming in your eyes. However, I couldn’t help but notice you’ve done blessed little to further your endeavors.” A slow smile spread over his lips. “Except for fighting with me, and that gets you nowhere but under me—or on top.” A flush heated her cheeks, and he laughed. “But no matter, there’s no way out of the bond.”

Though she would’ve loved to give some spunky reply about challenging the bond just for the heck of it, she wasn’t going to waste any more energy on getting out of something that couldn’t be dissolved. Plus, the idea of doing so wasn’t as attractive as it had once been. How shocking. He was making her into a softie, so she decided to ignore most of what he said except for one thing. “You know you love me on top and in control.”

His hands cupped her breasts, and a shot of desire heated her below the waist. Too bad she couldn’t act on it.

“I love having you in any position.”

She bit the inside of her lip. Talion wasn’t going to make this easy. Maybe Avrin had some magic elvin medicine that could wipe out her pain. If so, Talion would get the workout of his life.

Chapter 15

Maggie walked through the hallways toward the royal wing, aware of the whisper soft footfalls of the guards behind her. Bob, Joe, and Moe—that was what she’d dubbed them, though she doubted they’d appreciate the sentiment—trailed after her like obedient lapdogs. Handsome, muscular ones. For the last week, she found privacy only in her rooms or in the royal wing. It still felt somewhat freaky to walk out and see them waiting for her.

Oddly enough, Bob’s real name was Karcin, while Joe’s was Jocin and Moe’s Meclin. Her nicknames for them had to be an instance of divine inspiration.

“So, what do you boys do while you wait for me?”

“We stand, waiting for you,” Meclin said.

Good ol’ Moe. No sense of humor, but he made up for it in looks with his copper- colored hair and startling green eyes. “That sounds boring.”

“It is,” Karcin’s deep voice chimed in. “A place in the king’s guard guarantees that. It’s a position that comes with plenty of loitering.”

Jocin gave a derisive snort. “Can you believe that? As guards, we stand around.”

Maggie flashed a grin over her shoulder. “You’re a smartass. I like that.”

Jocin’s blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’ve always heard it takes one to know one.”

Maggie shook her head in disbelief. “It’ll never fail to surprise me how both our worlds have similar or even the same sayings.”

“Our worlds used to be one, albeit a long time ago,” Karcin said.

“Yeah, there’s that,” she agreed. But as he’d pointed out, many years had passed since then, so how were certain phrases still so similar? She was probably making too much of it, and a suitable answer would present itself at some later date. Or not. It wasn’t a matter she’d lose sleep over.

“Are you visiting the princess?” Meclin asked.

“Why, yes.” She did have a visit with Cal planned, and after that, a quickie with Talion on the schedule. Of course, their
quickies
often were anything but fast. Talion harped about how more than once, his advisors slyly commented on him being late.

A smirk tugged at her lips, but she suppressed it. Wouldn’t do to look crazy happy in front of her guards. They’d think her more insane than they already did.

Jocin stepped beside her. “Another girls’ day, as you call it?”

She turned her head toward him. “Yep, a day of all things girly and gossipy.”

Jocin gave a shiver of horror, while Karcin made a sound of agreement, and Meclin gave no indication he still followed the conversation. All in all, pretty typical responses for them.

Maggie laughed. “The stuff of nightmares to guys.”

Karcin walked into her line of vision and nodded his head vigorously. “Yes.”

It was so much fun joking around with her guards. Even Meclin was unintentionally funny. What she liked best about all three was their seeming loyalty. They barely batted an eyelash, no matter what came out of her mouth or what she or Talion told them to do. Oh, she wasn’t fool enough to believe it was loyalty to her. They were Talion’s men, through and through, but it touched her they served her so well.

She bit her lip in thought and wondered how much they suspected. Well, Meclin knew. After all, he’d walked into a room where she and Talion were making out. Talion had leveled a quelling stare at him and said, “Not a word to anyone.” So far, that seemed to have worked because there was no news of their make out session floating around the palace.

That Meclin. She liked a man who could keep a secret, though she supposed it helped that he was an elf of few words. Or maybe his quietness was because he’d caught her in the act of corrupting his king? What did he think lay between her and the king? Did he believe they were merely doing the bump and grind, or did he suspect a deeper relationship between them? So many questions to ponder and so few answers. Story of her life. She heaved a silent sigh.

A feminine figure stepped out of a room a few feet ahead of her. Maggie’s guards gathered around her protectively. But within a few moments, the person’s identity registered with Maggie. Alalise. Damn, the woman haunted her everywhere she went. What was Alalise doing lurking near the royal wing, anyway? Trying to see Talion?

Maggie shoved away the jealousy that ate at her. More likely Alalise wanted to talk to her, but why?

“Can I talk to you?” Alalise’s gaze flashed to Maggie’s guards. “Alone?”

Meclin looked at Maggie and questioned, “My lady?” A flicker of surprise jolted Maggie. Jocin was the one to usually take command, but hey, it was nice to see someone else step up for a change. In fact, it made her feel like they all had her back, not that she needed it as the moment.

She shook her head. “I’ve got this, boys.”

“We’ll be waiting right outside the door,” Jocin said with a warning glance to Alalise, who simply rolled her eyes.

Maggie nodded. “All right.” She followed the other woman into the room and shut the door. Crossing her arms over her chest, Maggie said, “What do you want?”

“I see Talion has you closely guarded. No doubt our little visit will be reported to him within a few minutes.”

Maggie lifted a skeptical brow. “You asked me in here to tell me that?”

“Of course not. But I do wonder if you know how the whole town—and soon to be all of Eria, I’m sure—is talking about how Talion assigned part of his private guard to you.”

Maggie froze. “His private guard?” She’d known they were part of the guard that protected the palace, but hadn’t thought they protected Talion personally. Why would he assign some of his own guards to her? No wonder they answered to Talion only. They never got their orders from Kenhel.

“Many are speculating what your relationship to the king is. Not just anyone is given the protection of his personal guard. That honor is usually reserved for family or, more rarely, close friends.”

“Hmm.” Maggie couldn’t think of anything less incriminating to say. So she and Talion featured as the hottest news in Eria? Part of her shied away at that thought, but overall, it wasn’t as disturbing as she would’ve thought. Surprise at that realization left her winded.