“No!” Doon agreed with a smile. “Never that.”
Kitt narrowed her eyes, trying to look intimidating as her impersonation continued. “Give me a clipped fingernail, and I can turn it into a deadly weapon. I'll drill you between the eyes, a hundred miles away, with a bloody hair pin. Farewell, shitheel.”
As he watched her swagger around, Doon continued to chuckle. “I'm not that bad, am I?”
Kitt suddenly stopped walking and spun in his direction. “No. I'm just teasing you. You're not upset, are you?”
“Not at all. I find you very entertaining, in fact. This has been a very eye-opening experience.”
“I probably shouldn't tease you right now, though. You've been through a lot lately... and maybe I'm being insensitive.”
“Not at all,” Doon repeated, “Tease away! You lift my spirits like no one else can.”
Kitt suddenly looked very coy. When she crossed the room and stood in front of him, she was blushing furiously. “I'm... really sorry about everything that happened to you. I couldn't stand to see you get hurt.”
“You sound so serious all of a sudden!” Doon exclaimed, lightly tapping the end of her nose. “Why the sudden change of tone, Kitten?”
“I... don't know.” And it was true. Kitt didn't know why her mood was altered so suddenly. For several days, she was sick to her stomach from worrying about him. To see him standing in front of her, smiling and laughing, was a bit overwhelming. She was suddenly struck with an immense sense of relief. “I don't know. I think I'm just happy to know you're here, and that you're alright.”
Before he could reply, Kitt wrapped her arms around him, capturing him in a hug. She expected him to protest or pull away, but he didn't. He let her hold him—but he didn't hug her back.
“I know you're getting attached to me,” Doon said. His words were punctuated by an unreadable sigh.
“Oh... I am, am I?”
“Yes.” Doon sounded quite sure of that. “But you deserve something much better than me, Kitten. Much, much better.”
“You mean like Roddy Rick?”
When he heard her use his nickname for Roderick, Doon snorted with laughter. “Exactly. Like Roddy Rick.”
“Don't be an idiot,” Kitt said, holding him tighter than ever. “There's no one better than you, Doon. I mean it.”
At long last, Doon's arms finally slid around Kitt's small shoulders.
27
When riots erupted in Dovyr as a result of Rory McCray's death, Lyneah feared for her life. She fled with Kieran and Tobias to the edge of town, a safe distance from the developing madness. Since it was getting dark, they decided to spend the night in the abandoned garage where Kieran stored his hovercraft. Not long after they arrived, the surviving McCray was fast asleep and snoring like a bear.
“He's obviously v-very broken up over his brother's death,” Tobey sarcastically observed as he watched the sleeping mercenary. “He fell right to sleep. I don't think I've seen anyone grieve so hard.”
“He didn't like Rory. He made no secret of that. Still... he tried to stop the duel,” Lyneah said. “Right after Rory died, he even said something about getting revenge. But why would you avenge someone if you didn't even like them?”
“I don't know.” Tobey took Lyneah's arm and led her outside. “Maybe he feels obligated to him because they're family? Because they're br-brothers?”
“I don't know. It still seems rather silly to risk your life for someone you don't care about. Rory was very... difficult to like.” When Lyneah sat in the sand, she grabbed Tobias' hand and pulled him down with her. On the edge of the desert, the starry sky was clear and bright—and cold, surprisingly. While she still held Tobey's arm, Lyneah encouraged him to wrap it around her.
“So you didn't like your f-fiance?”
“No. I was scared of him, to be honest. He was on a power trip. He was probably insane.” While her head was on Tobey's shoulder, Lyneah nuzzled her cheek against his shirt. “Still... I feel like I've lost everything. Rory was my best chance at accomplishing my goal. He was the only person I met who actually believed I could succeed. Now I don't know what to do!”
“Why were there riots?” Tobey asked. “It doesn't make sense that people would go cr-crazy after he died.”
“As I understand it, when Rory died, several men were arguing about who would succeed him. And... well, obviously they disagreed.” Lyneah spotted a desert beetle in the corner of her eye, and it crept closer and closer with every word she uttered. If it continued down its intended path, she would likely scream and flee. As silly as it was, she was more frightened by bugs than men.
“It's ridiculous what people fight about,” Tobey mused. “If people would just focus on their own lives, on the little things that make them happy, no one would ever fight.”
“Tobeeeey.” Lyneah was suddenly squeezing his arm so hard, she would likely leave a bruise. “Tobey, there's a bug! A huge bug!” It was finally creeping too close for comfort, so she sprang to her feet and dashed away from the incoming beetle.
Tobey didn't seem to share her fear. He marched straight over to the beetle and stomped on it.
“You saved me,” Lyneah said, a bit dryly. “My hero.”
“I saved you from a b-bug. You saved me from bandits. I don't think we're even quite yet.”
“Oh, I'd forgotten about that! I was in much higher spirits back then. I felt like I could take on the world. Rory must have broken me. And yet... now that he's gone, I'm even more lost.” Lyneah returned to Tobey's side and clung to his arm. She laid her chin against his chest and gazed up at him, trying to look as pitiful as she could. “Are you really leaving me? Are you really going back to Lundun?”
“I dunno. I probably should.”
“I don't want you to go, though.” Lyneah's eyes fell on Tobias' lips, which were soft, pink, and full, especially for a man's lips. She definitely wanted to kiss him—in fact, she had been imagining his lips on hers for a long time. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Tobey was too good, too pure, and as much as she craved his touch, she didn't want to ruin him. He deserved to be with someone as chaste and cherubic as he was. The more she thought about it, the more she realized he was barely more than a boy, and he needed to have life experiences that didn't involve her. Nevertheless, she couldn't stand the thought of Tobey walking out of her life for good. “I don't want to lose you.”
“I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. I d-don't want to disappoint you.”
“And I don't want you to lose your job,” Lyneah added with a sigh. “I feel... conflicted.”
Lyneah held onto him a little while longer as they gazed at the stars and moon. She tried to imagine what would happen if she returned to the castle. It wouldn't surprise her if her mother killed her on the spot.
“We should get to bed,” Tobias suggested. “No matter what happens tomorrow, we have a long day ahead of us.”
“Indeed,” Lyneah sorrowfully agreed. “Let's... head back to the garage.”
When Tobey took her inside, Lyneah laid down and stared at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep, not in an unfamiliar place, and not while her thoughts were racing. As always, she craved affection and attention. Like her mother, Lyneah liked to soothe her worries by touching and being touched. She needed a lover. Lyneah knew it was a terrible way to deal with her pain, but it was the only way she knew how to process it. As much as she adored Tobey, she couldn't let herself have him. No matter how much she wanted him, she would never let him throw himself away on her. And if she couldn't have Tobey, there was only one other option.
As quietly as she could, Lyneah crawled to Kieran's side and nudged his arm. “Kieran,” she whispered in his ear. “Kieran... are you awake? I need to speak to you.”
Kieran opened one eye, saw who was speaking, and closed it again. “Well... now I'm awake,” he grumbled.
“I need to talk to you. Will you come with me? Outside? For a moment? Please?” Her heart raced as she considered what
she was about to say and do.
When Kieran sat up, his groan was so loud that she feared he would wake Tobias. Lyneah was already heading out of the garage, so he followed her with a snort. “What do you want?” he asked, a bit abrasively.
Lyneah briefly glanced down at the necklace she was wearing. It was Tobey's necklace, the clay heart from the marketplace. With a sigh, she scooped it into her palm and stuffed it in her dress, hiding it from view. “How do you sleep so easily?” she asked Kieran. “Your brother just died, and yet you had no trouble falling into the deepest of sleeps.”
“Rum. Lots of rum. And whiskey,” he answered sharply. “It lets me sleep like a babe.”
“Hmm. I should try that.”
“Aye. You should.”
Lyneah's hands were fidgeting behind her back when she took a step closer to him. She didn't know Kieran that well, not nearly as well as she knew Tobias, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If she didn't care about him as much, she had no fear of ruining their relationship. In fact, carnal relations could only bring them closer. Despite her limited knowledge of Kieran, she knew what sort of man he was. Lyneah assumed he wouldn't be averse to having an intimate encounter with her, no strings attached.
“Your eyes are so blue,” Lyneah said. “They're very similar to your brother's eyes... but I like yours better.”
“You've got nice eyes too, love,” he casually complimented her. “Nice eyes, nice lips... a gorgeous face.”
Was he already flirting with her? If he was, it would make for an easy seduction. Lyneah curled a hand along the back of his head, running her fingers through his short, dark hair. When she brought her face closer to his, Kieran immediately got the message. He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him, crushing her pelvis against his.
Kieran didn't waste time: his lips devoured hers. He suckled her bottom lip, trailed kisses along her jaw, and buried his mouth against her shoulder. As his tongue flicked across the soft flesh of her neck, Lyneah moaned. It felt so good to be held by someone, and to be kissed by someone.
Kieran grabbed the princess' bottom in both hands and lifted her off her feet. Lyneah continued to kiss him, deeply and hungrily, as he carried her to the nearest tree. It was gnarled and branchless, but it would serve his purpose well enough. As Kieran pushed her back against the tree, his hand disappeared under her dress, gliding along her leg. When his tongue dipped into her cleavage, lapping the curve of her breast, she gasped.
“I want this,” Lyneah whispered as her lips found his, reclaiming them for a kiss. “I want this.” If she repeated the words again and again, she hoped to convince herself. She did want him, but it was a hollow truth, and her heart was undeniably heavy.
One of Kieran's hands cradled and squeezed her thigh. In his other hand, he gripped her breast. As they kissed, they suddenly heard a voice that didn't belong to either of them.
“Lyneah...” The voice was cold, shocked, and utterly disappointed. “Lyneah, what are you doing?”
When Lyneah stopped kissing Kieran and lifted her head, her heart was gripped by an intense feeling of dread. Even before she saw him, she knew who was speaking.
Roderick.
28
“First, I find out you have a fiance...” Roderick began. He didn't start speaking until Kieran's hands slid away from Lyneah's body. He felt disgusted. Betrayed. Hurt. A hundred different emotions were boiling in his body, and none of them were good.
“A fiance who's dead now,” Lyneah pointed out as she sidled away from Kieran.
“That's beside the point. You had a fiance. You chose to be with someone else... someone who wasn't me. And apparently, you didn't even care about him, because now you're with this man.” As he walked toward her, Roderick couldn't stop glaring at Kieran. “The more I learn, the more I realize I never knew you, Lyneah. The person I thought you were is not the person you are.”
“Roderick, I--” Lyneah started to speak in her defense, but there was no excuse that made sense. She had betrayed him more than once, and there were no words to justify it.
“It's bad enough that you left me,” Roderick continued, trying to ignore the smug grin of Lyneah's latest lover. “You abandoned me. You left, you didn't even tell me where you were going, and you didn't come back for weeks. If you ever cared about me, why would you do that to me?”
“My mother's a monster, Roderick.” Lyneah sank to the sand and hugged her knees to her chest. Her legs felt so weak from the shock of seeing Roderick, she couldn't even stand. “I was afraid to stay in the castle. She's evil... she would have tried to kill me eventually. Besides, the people deserve a better queen. As princess, it was my duty to find a way to stand against her.” Under her breath, Lyneah added, “But I failed...”
“I would've gone with you, Lyneah!” Roderick raised his voice at her. “I would have gone anywhere for you! Why didn't you take me with you? Why did you leave me behind? Don't you know I would've gone to the ends of the earth for you?”
Lyneah shook her head. “I'm sorry, Roderick. I didn't know who to trust.”
“You should have trusted me!” He pounded his chest in frustration. “It should have been easy to trust me!”
Kieran leaned against the gnarled tree and crossed his arms. He could have done the proper thing and excused himself, but their argument was too engaging to miss. The night was much more entertaining than he expected it to be.
“You're one of the queen's knights, Roderick! Probably one of the best!” Lyneah tried to explain. “Your father is Vice-Captain of the Royal Black Wings, one of the most respected men in my mother's service. Why should I expect you to throw everything away for me?”
Roderick shouted his answer. “Because I loved you!”
“Loved,” Lyneah quietly repeated the word. So Roderick's love was a thing of the past? It stung, but she could hardly blame him after what he witnessed tonight. Lyneah was well-aware of her faults: she was whorish, foolish, and she gave in to temptation too easily. She knew she wasn't worthy of anyone's love, let alone Roderick's.
“You didn't even think this through. You wanted to join with a band of rebels? And you wanted to marry its leader? Are you insane?”
“It would have been more insane to do nothing!” Tears were building in Lyneah's eyes as she desperately tried to defend herself. But she couldn't let herself cry. “You don't know what my mother's capable of! Besides... you're only proving to me why it was a good decision to run away without you. You would have tried to talk me out of it!”
“You're right. I would have.” Roderick grabbed Lyneah's arm and tried to pull her to her feet. “Come on. I'm taking you home.”
“No!” Lyneah screamed as she pulled her arm away. “I'm not going back to the castle! I'll die first!”
“You're being a child, Lyneah!” Roderick made another grab for her arm “You think you're on some sort of madcap adventure to save the world, but it's not realistic! Stop playing around, for the love of god, and come home. You need to think. With your head. For once.”
“My mother will kill me, do you understand? She will kill me... just like she's trying to kill my father!”
Lyneah's words made Roderick go silent for a moment. For once, he couldn't dispute what she said. He had firsthand knowledge of Queen Loreina's plot to kill the king.
“And once we're all dead, she'll ruin this country. Why would I go back? Why should I go back and let her do that?”
“Because you have no other option. Because you're playing at war and you don't even know how to play the game. You're being silly.” Roderick grabbed Lyneah's waist and tried to force her to her feet. “As a knight, I'm afraid I must insist on taking you back.”
When Kieran finally stepped forward, they heard the unmistakable sound of metal hissing from a sheath. “And I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to let go of the princess.” He shoved Roderick backward, then stood in front of Lyneah, raising his sword, ready to defend her.
Roderick was cackli
ng maniacally as he stared down the tip of Kieran's blade. “Are you serious? I can't believe what I'm hearing right now! Lyneah... will you kindly explain to your new lover that I mean no harm... and the thought of you needing to be defended from me is absolutely bloody ridiculous!”
“If you want to take her somewhere she doesn't want to go, she absolutely does need defending,” Kieran objected. “I don't know who you are, boy, but I'd suggest you turn around and start walking. I really don't want to make you piss yourself tonight.”
“Oh... now that is funny!” Roderick clapped his hands at Kieran's bravado, and a second later, he ripped his own sword from its sheath. “If you're looking for a fight, I'd be happy to give you one.”
Lyneah tried to stand between them, but Kieran shoved her aside. “Kieran... Roderick... you're being ridiculous!” she screamed at them. “Stop! God, stop, please!”
Roderick was the first to swing, but Kieran leaned backward, out of range. When he countered, Roderick quickly blocked. Their swords struck so hard, Lyneah thought she saw a spark leaping from the center of their blades.
“Oh please don't! I don't want this... please!” Lyneah kept trying to plead with them, but it was useless. They didn't care to listen, not when they were so focused on killing each other.
Kieran's swings were wild, but Roderick blocked each one. When their swords crossed, Roderick brought his elbow forward, smashing Kieran's nose. Kieran responded by punching him in the side of the head, which made Roderick scream with rage. He suddenly tackled Kieran, slamming him into the sand. Lyneah shrieked in horror as Roderick's fist collided with Kieran's jaw.
Their fight abruptly ended when they heard the click of a gun's hammer locking into place. When Roderick looked up, he saw Tobias standing over him, brandishing Lyneah's pistol in his face.
“Get up,” Tobias demanded. “Get off of him. Now.”
Roderick was chuckling as he rose to his feet. It was difficult to take the boy seriously. He was eighteen or nineteen, at the most. His hair was exceptionally tousled and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned. If he wasn't holding a gun, Roderick doubted the whelp would be much of a threat.
A Lost Princess (Belles & Bullets Book 2) Page 19
