“Wind Realm, Northern Territory.”
So far so good. Everything Galenor told me the day before proved to be correct.
“Capture date and location?”
“40 km from Bentlas, twenty-seventh March, two years prior.”
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. My heart started pumping with despair. That was exactly what Galenor had told me.
“Reason for captivity?”
“That is above your level of clearance, I’m afraid, Captain Harrow.”
Of course it was, I pouted. He wouldn't tell me. He’d confirmed everything else, but not this part. Because if he turned out to be the prince, he knew I would freak out and abandon my post. And if they turned out to make a mistake, they wouldn’t admit it. Especially not to a mere captain who was assigned to babysit him.
“Your new instruction, Captain Harrow, is to uncover any particular markings on the subject. Time for completion, five hours.”
Before I had a chance to type something else, the chat closed.
What the hell was he talking about? Did he want me to get more information on his scars? They must have had enough time to check those in the two years they held him captive.
With a scrambled mind and lazy feet, I dragged myself to the bathroom and took a quick shower. By the time I got out of the steaming space, Galenor was already awake, stretching lazily in bed like a cat that had enjoyed a full bowl of canaries.
“I’ll make breakfast while you shower?” I offered instead of a greeting.
“Sure thing, muffin,” he grinned at me, his beautiful green eyes still hazy with sleep.
Before he had a chance to say anything else, I dragged myself out of the room and closed the bedroom door to give him that extra sense of privacy.
His break was officially over, and sheer nervousness spilled through my veins at the thought that they would come and take him again. The silver lining was my new instruction, which had to be completed in five hours. It seemed unlikely for them to remove him from the space during that time, it would come against my own assignment.
The weird part was that I hadn’t spotted any markings on Galenor, apart from his scars, and I had seen his back and chest so many times I had already started to learn the curve of his muscles. And why was this important? Didn’t they get the chance to discover markings in two whole years?
Something was off about this.
“I’m not sure if it’s edible, I got distracted,” I warned the fae as I set the plate on the small table. A two-egg omelette for me, with a slice of toast, half a tomato and half an avocado. And a ten-egg omelette for him, with three slices of toast, two tomatoes and two avocados. Looking at his massive plate, I had no idea how someone could eat this much, but the small pout told me he was worried it wouldn’t be enough to calm his hunger.
Then, a smirk curled his lips and he gazed at me sheepishly. “I assume you had better things to do than think about cooking. Seeing how I was naked in the shower and all.”
True, just a look at the way he had the nerve to come in the room, wet and shirtless, wrapped in only a towel made my knees buckle and I almost fainted on the plates. His dark locks dripped on his shoulders still, forcing my gaze to follow the journey of that lucky drop down his chest and onto those gorgeous abs that made me lose my senses.
I swallowed dry, forcing myself to look back at my food.
“This is becoming a pattern,” he noted before shoving half an avocado into his mouth. Curious that he went for the veg first.
“What is?” I barely mumbled, doing my best to bite into my toast like a normal person and not start licking it the way I wanted to do with his body. Because damn…how was I supposed to look at that and retain my sanity?
“This,” he pointed at me with his fork. “You. Hiding behind your food.” He shoved a massive piece of omelette in his mouth and chewed just enough to be able to speak again. “Struggling to swallow, when we both know what you really want to eat is me.”
I choked on my tomato, doing my best to keep the half-chewed piece in my mouth. When I dared look up at him, I watched him continue to enjoy his breakfast as if what he had just splayed on me was as obvious as daylight. Clearly, he was used to the effect he had on women. And did not seem to mind it one bit.
“Speaking of your body…” I grabbed my glass and drank the juice in massive gulps to swallow down the tightness pressing against my throat. If we were going to do this and I had less than five hours, I might just as well dive for it. “Do you have any special marks on your body? I need to see them.”
That stopped him from eating, his attention instantly turning on me, fully focused on my features.
“Now?” he frowned, slightly bothered.
