There was no way he could do the same now. He might not deserve Lily, but he longed for her desperately. Without even knowing how or when, she was the center of his universe, the one person who could lift him up or destroy him with a simple touch.
One of the runners bumped into Lily hard enough that she grunted. Rhys jerked his head up, trying to pick out which one had hurt her.
“It’s all right,” Lily hurried to say. “It was an accident. I’m fine.”
Rhys looked back at her, his gaze dropping to her lips. He wanted to kiss her more, to slowly—nay, quickly—yank off her clothes. Then he would slowly make love to her for hours, days even. No one had ever made him feel as she did, and it was … unsettling to say the least.
She shivered in his arms. Rhys mentally kicked himself as he rubbed his hands up and down her back. It was time to get her home. Whether he left her there or not was completely up to Lily. He was unsure of her past, but he would go gently with her no matter what.
“Let’s get you home so you can warm up,” he said and kept an arm around her as they walked the path back to town.
Rhys was lost in his thoughts, reliving the kiss again. He didn’t realize until they reached the village that the tension had returned to Lily. She stood stiffly, the smile gone as lines pinched around her lips.
“I didna do a verra good job,” Rhys said.
Lily was quiet for long moments. Then she said, “You took me away from my troubles, just as I asked you to do. That means a lot to me. I can’t thank you enough.”
He stopped them before her flat and turned her to face him. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“If there is, I’ll let you know.”
Rhys gently touched her face. The lines of strain on her face maddened him. He wanted to know who was causing such stress in her life and why. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Good night, Rhys,” she said.
He took several steps back while she unlocked her door. Their gazes met once more before she walked into her flat. Rhys waited for several minutes, hoping she would come back out and ask him inside.
Eventually he returned to Dreagan.
*
Henry might have been left in the plush sitting room, but a prison was still a prison. As the hours drifted by, his body continued to ache worse and worse. Every breath, however small, only added to the pain of his broken ribs.
He tried to get up and walk and was covered in sweat in seconds from that exertion. All he managed was one loop around the room, but it was enough for him to see there was a single way in and one way out.
In other words, he was royally fucked.
Henry spent the rest of the night weighing his options. By now Banan would know something was wrong, but his friend wouldn’t have a clue where to start looking. There was no way Henry would agree to side with Ulrik. The man was a psychopath. But neither was Henry ready to die. That left him little wiggle room.
Henry turned his head to the fireplace and the fire that hadn’t died down once nor had the logs burned, and they were real logs. Magic. All his years as a spy when he thought he had seen the worst of what was out in the world, and he hadn’t even scraped the surface of the hidden world of magic, Dragon Kings, Fae, and God only knew what else.
He sighed and grimaced at the pain that simple movement caused. If only there was someone he could ask for help. Immediately, an image of Rhi popped into his head. Henry smiled as he thought of the Light Fae. He hadn’t seen her since he first discovered there were Fae in the world, but he had tried to join the group going after her.
As a human with no magic or powers, he would’ve been a liability. Even with all his training, he’d never felt so … weak and inadequate. Banan and the other Kings were right to leave him behind, but it still grated.
At least Rhi had gotten free. He hoped wherever she was, she was happy.
What he wouldn’t do to see her unusual silver eyes that seemed to glow on their own, her black-as-pitch hair that hung luxuriously down her back, and her sexy-as-hell smile.
It was no wonder mortals couldn’t refuse a Fae. Someone that beautiful couldn’t be denied anything. He certainly wouldn’t deny Rhi a single thing.
“I hope that smile’s for me, sexy,” said a sultry voice he immediately recognized.
Henry’s gaze jerked to a darkened corner where Rhi stepped from the shadows.
CHAPTER NINE
Lily didn’t realize she had sat up all night until her alarm clock went off. She turned and looked at it, confused as to how she had lost so many hours. The walk with Rhys had done her a world of good, but when Dennis ran into her on the trail with the runners, he ruined everything by reminding her of his visit and what he demanded.