Free Web NovelChapter 37: In Between Her Legs
Nina’s eyes grew wide as she was caught red-handed. Instantly, she snapped her gaze back up to his face.
"I... I did not mean to... I..."
What the hell was she even saying right now?
"Turn around," Rodrigo said, abruptly cutting off her rambling.
Nina blinked, quickly whipping her head in the opposite direction. She shut her eyes tight, wishing the ground would simply open up and swallow her whole. Behind her, she heard the rustle of his shirt fabric as his fingers worked the remaining buttons. Each movement sounded slow and deliberate, as if he were in absolutely no rush at all.
"What is it?" he asked.
Nina turned her face to the side, stopping her head from rotating all the way back around. "What?" she countered.
A moment of heavy silence stretched between them, followed by the soft click of the closet door closing.
"You’re still here." She heard his footsteps approaching. "Do you have something to say?"
She finally turned around fully, entirely unaware of just how close he had gotten. He was close enough that her next sharp intake of breath caught his. Stepping back in a knee-jerk reflex, her foot slipped on the rug. The fabric bunched and pulled right out from under her, sending her tumbling backward.
Nina yelped, squeezing her eyes shut as she braced for the impact of the hard floor.
But it never came.
His arm caught her securely around the waist, his palm firm and warm against the small of her back. His fingers spread wide enough that she could feel the heat of each one pressing through the thin fabric of her dress.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
They met his immediately. She had never seen them from this close before, allowing her to take in the intricate details of the grey within them—pale and cool, like the sky just before the first winter snow.
Everything seemed to slow down: her breathing, the room around them, and the suffocatingly small space that remained between them.
"Careful," he murmured, his voice low.
At some point during the fall, her fingers had found the front of his shirt without her consciously deciding to put them there. The radiating warmth of his chest seeped through the material. Her hand pressed flat against him before she caught herself, yet even then, she didn’t pull away.
His thumb shifted a mere fraction of an inch against her spine. Just a fraction, but she felt the spark of it everywhere. frёewebηovel.cѳm
He steadied her slowly, but his hand lingered on her waist. It remained long enough that the simple act of stabilizing her shifted into something entirely different—long enough that she distinctly counted four rapid thumps of her heart against his palm.
Then, he let her go.
"Thank you," she murmured, her voice sounding much softer than she had intended.
His eyes moved over her face in a slow, calculating sweep. He exhaled once. "What was it you wanted to say?"
Nina blinked. What did she want to say again?
Her eyes wandered aimlessly as she cleared her throat. "I wanted to ask if you... if you’ve eaten yet."
Rodrigo blinked, his head tilting slightly. "Yes," he replied.
He didn’t move away.
Nina nodded quickly, forcing a small, awkward smile. "Okay. That’s good."
Still, he didn’t budge. He stood close enough that she only had to look up slightly to meet his gaze. He was close enough that she could smell him—something clean and crisp, with a much darker, richer scent underneath.
"Was that all?" he asked, his tone perfectly level.
Nina looked up, carefully avoiding his direct gaze. "Yes," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "That’s all."
Rodrigo looked down at her for one long, unreadable second, his expression giving absolutely nothing away. Finally, he gave a curt nod, turned, and walked back into the main room.
Nina stood frozen in the middle of the closet, her hands hanging limply at her sides. What on earth had just happened? She was supposed to be the one seducing him, not the other way around. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Dragging a heavy breath into her lungs, she let out a sharp scoff and rubbed at her chest. Get it together, Annalise. You’re his worst enemy. If he finds out who you really are...
She stilled completely, her eyes darting toward the door. If he found out he was married to the very person who had cursed his entire race, it would be over.
She turned around, her lashes fluttering nervously. She just needed to find and steal the book before that could ever happen. It would never come to that.
Stepping out into the bedroom, she found him sitting at the study table. She paused for a brief second to compose herself before walking over to join him. His eyes lifted to her briefly, but he offered no greeting. Instead, he pulled out a small box, revealing an old, weathered key resting inside.
Nina’s brows creased in suspicion. Could that be the key to where he kept the Vothraki?
He slid the key securely into his breast pocket, retrieved a pair of leather bracers from the drawer, and began to tie them around his forearms.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
He said nothing.
Nina searched his face for any hint of emotion, but his expression remained a total blank slate.
"Hm?" she prompted.
Still, no response.
"Are you going somewhere?" she pressed.
Silence again.
"Out of the pack house?"
Rodrigo’s hands stopped working on the bracers, and he finally lifted his gaze to her. "Have you always been this chatty?"
Nina’s mouth hung open in surprise. She blinked once, then shook her head defensively. He held her gaze for another lingering second before dropping his eyes back down to his armor.
"I want to come with you," she said after a moment of deliberation.
His gaze snapped back up, a single brow arched high. "What?"
She cleared her throat to find her resolve. "I want to come with you."
"Where do you think I’m going?"
"I don’t know... but..." Her voice softened, taking on a pleading edge. "With everything that has happened recently, I think I just need room to breathe."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward his breast pocket where he had hidden the key, though she returned them to his face almost instantly. Her fingers dug hard into the edge of the wooden table.
"No," Rodrigo replied flatly. "If you want to breathe, you can go to the flower fields. The guards can take you."
He stood up, turning decisively toward the exit.
Nina stepped directly into his path, blocking his way. "Please," she pouted, her eyes locking onto his.
Rodrigo stared down at her, his face completely unreadable.
Then, he moved.
One moment she was standing on her own two feet in front of him, and the next, she was sitting squarely on top of the study table. Her dress had bunched up around her thighs, his hand was wrapped firmly around her throat, and her legs were parted around his hips. His other hand was splayed flat against the small of her back, pinning her securely to him.
Nina’s eyes went wide as the breath left her in one short, sharp gasp.
"There," he said, his voice dropping into a low, deep timber that carried a dangerous, magnetic weight. It was a tone that made her thighs instinctively press tighter against his hips before she could stop herself.
He leaned in closer. The hand at her throat tightened—not enough to genuinely hurt her, but enough that she felt the heavy pressure of every single one of his fingers settling against her skin. The remaining space between them vanished completely.
The rough edge of his stubble pricked her jaw as he drew nearer. Nina’s fingers dug frantically into the wood of the table behind her.
"That’s how fast you die."
She swallowed hard, her erratic pulse drumming wildly against his palm. He had to feel it.
He raised his face, forcing her to hold his gaze before she watched his eyes drop significantly to her mouth. Heat pooled low in her stomach, causing her toes to curl inside her sandals.
"You’ve almost died three times now," he whispered, his voice so deep it sounded as though they were sharing a secret in a crowded room. His thumb traced the elegant line of her throat. Once. Slow.
His eyes lingered on her lips for a beat longer than necessary before rising back to meet her gaze. He blinked once. "You don’t want to keep testing your luck now, do you?"
Her mouth parted as she tried to form words, but nothing came out. Finally, she managed a weak shake of her head. "No... I don’t," she breathed, her voice softer and more breathless than usual.
"Good."
Yet, he still didn’t move away. His hand remained wrapped around her throat, and his hips were still locked between her thighs. She could feel the steady, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest against her own.
"I’ll instruct the guards to take you to the field," he continued. "It will calm you down and take your mind off things. You can ask them for anything you want, and they will bring it to you." He paused, his thumb shifting subtly against her racing pulse. "Do you understand?"
She nodded numbly. Her brain had completely short-circuited; she could do nothing but agree to whatever he said.
He held her there for a second longer than strictly necessary. Then, he abruptly let her go, turned toward the doors, and walked out without another word.
Nina remained stranded on the study table, her dress bunched up at her thighs, her mouth slightly parted, and her chest heaving wildly as she stared at the empty doorway.
