Lower your mouth to mine?“Can you remove the head of the stag from the chamber?”
Her gaze flicked from him to the ornament in question, her brow furrowing. “You do not like it?”
He shook his head.
“Then I shall have it removed at once.”
Lash inclined his head. “Thank you.”
To his complete astonishment, she reached out to brush the sweep of dark hair from his brow. The action was beyond intimate. For him, at least. It did not seem thegadjiwas even aware of what she’d done, which sparked an unexpected flash of annoyance.
“You must be starving,” she said. “I will have some broth heated for you.”
Lash merely stared at her as she pulled herself upright. He watched as she tilted her head to the side, returning his gaze.
“Do you believe in fate, Lash?”
“Don’t you?” he countered, trying to distract himself from the soft purr of his name on her tongue.
“I’m not sure I did,” she murmured, her lips lifting in a quirk. “Until I met you.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Fate would not send a man like me on your path, my lady. That would be a cruel twist indeed.”
“Some things are too strong and too strange to be considered mere luck.”
“If it were luck, I would be the lucky one.”
The way she was looking at him did something odd to his gut. It clenched and twisted. Hard. She was staring at him as thoughhewas her fate. As though crossing paths was indeed meant to be. And that couldn’t be right. Lash was Rom. She was not.Simple. Even fate knew better than to intertwine their destinies.
But whatever fate had in mind, Lash was right about one thing: speaking to her had been a mistake. Each syllable uttered from her tempting lips wove deeply into his being, casting a spell on him, bewitching him.
Feeling once more the walls closing in on to him, he shut his eyes, pretending not to think about how her touch had sent little thrills of pleasure through him.
“Call me Honoria,” she insisted. “Lord knows, I’ve had your blood on my hands.”
At that his eyes shot open and he met her gaze squarely. “The universe did not bring us together.”
“You seem quite sure of yourself.”
“For what reason should fate wish for us to cross paths?”
“Other than saving your life?” she murmured and sauntered from the chamber. At the door she halted, shooting him a soul-twisting grin over her shoulder. “Adventure, Lash. Adventure.”
