You hate her, remember?
Yeah, but she’d been outlawed for no reason whatsoever, and he wasn’t about to hold her accountable for her rebellion against his uncle’s reign when he’d been the one who’d helped her pull off her most damaging attacks. His personal feelings for her shouldn’t prevent him from doing what was right…
Her expression fuming she gestured toward the door behind him. “In spite of what you might think… man… I am not your pet or your toy. Why did you lock me in here, you bastard!”
He ignored her insult, which was mild compared to what others routinely called him. “I didn’t know you were locked in.”
Her gaze turned suspicious as if she didn’t believe him. “What?”
“You heard me. I didn’t do it. I knew nothing about it. Are you sure it’s locked and not jammed or something?”
Zarya hated how reasonable he was being. It was beginning to make her feel like a hysterical child. “No, I’m too stupid to tell the difference between a locked door and a stuck one. Thanks.” She pushed him toward it. “Go, try to open a door. Any door.”
He went to the one in the middle of the wall and opened it with an ease that made her ill. “See. It’s fine.”
Zarya limped toward him to try it herself. But she’d only taken two steps before Darling recrossed the room and picked her up, then carried her to the door. She wanted to maintain her anger at him, but it was hard when he was being so nice.
Damn him for it!
She reached for the door. Once again, it refused to open. “See,” she said triumphantly.
He scowled as he tried it again and once more, it opened easily for him. “It must have a bio sensor on it. Since they always open for me, I didn’t think to check. Sorry. All you had to do was tell me calmly, and I’d have gotten it fixed. You didn’t have to throw things at me.”
She narrowed her gaze at him, still not quite ready to believe his easy explanation. “You didn’t order me locked in?”
“Why would I? You’re injured. Not like you’re going to run. At least not for a week. I think I could have heard your limping gait across the floor and caught up to you before you made it down the stairs to the drive. Right now, an arthritic snail could catch you.”
She suddenly felt like an idiot. But he’d brought up the first thing that had ticked her off at him. “How was I supposed to tell you I was locked in when I can’t call you? Hmmm?”
He appeared completely perplexed by her question. “You can call me anytime you want. Hell, a call from you I’d actually welcome as opposed to the other assholes I’ve been dealing with all day.”
She gestured around the room. “Please notice, Lord Governor, the lack of IT equipment in this room. All I have is that stupid pastel remote and I can’t use that to call anyone, except the kitchen and Gera. She told me that I’d have to wait on you to call me at your leisure. When you felt like it.”
He actually had the gall to look amused by that. The man really had no sense of self-preservation. “Gera’s nine hundred years old. She can’t conceive of a mistress being anything more than a play toy for the governor.”
“Isn’t that what I am to you?”
“It depends.” The teasing light in his blue eyes charmed her against her will. “If I give you the wrong answer, are you going to hit me again?”
“Not while you’re holding me. How stupid do you think I am?”
Darling heard her speaking, but he couldn’t really focus on her words as he caught a whiff of something delectable. Without thinking, he nuzzled her neck where it was strongest and inhaled.
Ah yeah, that smelled good, and it set him on fire again.
Zarya’s eyes widened as she felt Darling run his tongue along her collarbone, beneath her slave collar. “I’m still mad at you.”
“It’s okay,” he breathed against her skin. “I’m still mad at you, too.”
But she didn’t hate him.
He hated her.
That made her ache all over again, especially deep in her heart. I really want you back. She missed them as a couple. The nights where they’d stayed up until dawn talking about nothing important. The sound of his refined voice in the dark, soothing her with compliments, endearments, and support. The feel of his breath on the back of her neck as he held her until she fell asleep in his arms. The warmth of his body on hers, and the sound of his laughter in her ear. That had never failed to cheer her even during the worst moments of her life.
He’d been her best friend.
In many ways, even better than Ture or Sorche.
Desperate to find what she’d lost, she reached for his mask.
He pulled back and turned his head away from her. “Don’t.” The agony in that one single word made her eyes water.
“I want to see you.”