I spun her around and slammed her up against the wall to restrain her. My thighs pinned hers as I pulled her arms over her head and wrapped my palm around her throat. “Yakariah wasn’t there that night, Zaya.”
“How the fuck would you know?” she demanded on a sharp exhale.
“Because he let me in at the gate between borders that night,” I informed her, my patience dangling by a thread. “He helped Adrik and me save you.”
She blinked at me. “What?”
“You recognize him because he was there that night, but not in the way you think. He assisted us in transferring you to Noxia.”
Her lips rounded into the shape of an O, but no sound followed. Instead, her shoulders dropped, her fight leaving her on a whoosh o
f air.
I released her hands and they fell to her sides, but I kept my palm around her throat. “You attacked a guest of my court,” I said slowly. “I have to punish you, Zay.”
“I thought… I thought he…” She swallowed. “I recognized his scent.”
I sighed. “Zay, that’s not a reason to attack a man in front of everyone. I’ve taught you better than that.”
Her eyes took on a faraway gleam. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you weren’t,” I agreed, my thumb circling her pulse. “Look, I’ll talk to Yakariah and see if I can work something out between all of us. But I need you to stay here, okay? If my mother catches you before I can solve this, she’s going to flog you in front of the court.”
It wasn’t an empty threat. My mother still ruled the kingdom, and she wouldn’t care about my blood bond to Zaya. A guest had been wrongfully threatened. The Queen of Noxia would punish accordingly unless I somehow convinced her I’d already handled it.
“Okay,” Zaya whispered, her spirit seeming to shatter with that single word. “I won’t go anywhere.”
“Promise?” I asked, needing to be sure.
She nodded. “Yes.”
I brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth. “Thank you.” My lips hovered near hers for a fraction longer than they should have. I wanted to really taste her. To know her intimately. To tighten my grip around her neck and fucking devour her.
No. My spine went rigid with restraint as I forced myself to release her throat and take a step back. Save it for her dreams, I told myself, my heart skipping a beat in my chest.
Not trusting myself to utter another word to her, I left my suite.
“Don’t let her leave,” I told the guards on my way out.
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
I ran my hand over my face and blew out a breath.
Don’t betray me, Zay, I thought over my shoulder.
She couldn’t hear me, but I hoped she felt my plea. Because if she broke her promise, there would be hell to pay. And I really didn’t want to have to punish her before the court.
My lips tingled.
Grigory had almost kissed me. Really kissed me. I felt it in his aura, saw the yearning in his eyes, and the knowledge of it caused my pulse to race.
I’d wanted him to kiss me.
I still wanted him to.
Would he be tender like he was in my dreams? Or all dominant male? A mixture of both? I wondered if I’d ever know the answer to those questions.
I collapsed onto a couch in his sitting room and stared at the door he’d departed through a few minutes ago. He’d subdued me with a few words. Had chastised me to the point of regret. Yet I’d sensed the darkness in Yakariah’s soul.