Page 42 of The Sunbound Princess
Gaze on the innkeeper, I ignored the way Nikolas’s casualwifesent a peculiar rush of warmth over my skin. He didn’t mean anything by it. The title was just another one of his ruses, like swiping oranges or making coins appear.
The innkeeper counted the money. “I have the perfect room.”
She led us to a small but cozy chamber on the second floor. “It has a lovely view of the garden,” she said, opening the shutters. “And you’re welcome to use the bathing chamber downstairs. It has a sunken pool heated by the kitchen fire.”
“Thank you,” I said, excitement at the prospect of a bath bubbling within me.
She left with the promise to deliver a hot meal in an hour. After the sound of her footsteps faded, Nikolas turned from the door.
“This looks comfortable,” he said brightly. “And clean.”
My gaze fell on the chamber’s pair of beds, and heat crawled up my nape. Memories of the brothel intruded, and I avoided the men’s eyes as I went to the window and looked out.
Nikolas and Dain were silent behind me, but their stares burned into my back. We’d avoided discussing the brothel allday. But now, with another night stretching before us, images of our mutual pleasure swirled in my head.
And I hadnobusiness thinking about them. I had a sunstone to find and a kingdom to win. Corvus was squatting on my throne. Possibly, he’d sent men to ensure I never finished the Dokimasi. Pleasure was the last thing I needed to pursue.
Why not?a little voice in my head whispered.It’s right in front you.
I gripped the sill, desire stirring low in my body. Nikolas and Dain were so passionate with each other. What would it be like if they turned all that passion on me?
A shuffling sound made me tense. Nikolas cleared his throat. “Ezabell?—”
“I’m going to the bathing chamber,” I said, whirling from the window.
He and Dain frowned, their identical expressions humorous and a little adorable.
Oh gods, I couldnotfall for these men.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Nikolas said.
“I’ll be back in an hour.” I swept past him and Dain, braced for them to try to stop me. But they stepped aside, letting me go. At the door, I turned with my hand on the knob. “I’m sweaty and sticky, and my hair is a tangled mess. I’m having a bath. Alone.”
I opened the door.
“Wait,” Nikolas said. Crossing the chamber, he pulled a knife from a pocket I hadn’t noticed before. “Take this,” he said, offering it hilt first. It was the blade he’d taken off the villager in the forest.
“I have a dagger in my boot,” I said.
One corner of his mouth lifted, but his brown eyes remained steady. “Now you’ll have two.”
I accepted the knife. Dain watched over Nikolas’s shoulder, his frown in place. “I won’t be long,” I said.
I left, and as I made my way down the hall, I ignored the feeling that tried to rise in my chest.
But it felt like disappointment.
Chapter
Eleven
NIKOLAS
Ezabell’s footsteps faded, leaving Dain and me alone in the small chamber. Arousal hung in the air.
Mine. Dain’s. Ezabell’s. It had been brewing all day—a reckoning set in motion last night. But another kind of reckoning brewed. I only had to look in Dain’s eyes to see it.
So I didn’t, turning instead and going to the window. A small, tidy garden lay below, its flowering trees and well-tended hedges protected by a chest-high wall. The sun had gone down, and now purple twilight cast the world in shades of lavender.
