I flicked a finger to the side, speaking as nicely as I could, regaining my inner calm. “You said you wanted a shower. It’s over there.” I glanced up and down his frame, really taking in his apparel. “Are those all the clothes you have access to?”
The overlord snorted and took a drink straight from the bottle. It wasn’t a large one, but it was enough to make my throat burn just by watching it. He winced as he swallowed, his fangs now retracted, relaxing too. With a slight scowl marring his masculine features, he muttered, “You don’t want to know what happened to my clothes this evening. I’ll sleep naked after I shower.”
I gulped, my eyes wandering down to his crotch.
We were both crotch-ogling fools tonight.
He rocked back on his heels, a reverberating chuckle sparking from his chest. All male. Confident. “My eyes are up top, Gwen.”
My gaze snapped up to his with my head tipped back so I could hold his sexy eyes with mine. I lifted one eyebrow, not bothering to deny my actions. I kept my words blunt, the disgust only noticeable if you listened hard. “And your dick is still covered in her cum.”
Apparently, he was listening.
Lord Belshazzar sneered and turned his back to me, sauntering to my bathroom. The overlord glanced over his shoulder, grousing, “And if you ever want to have sex with me again, never ask while you have another man’s cum dripping out of your sweet cunt. I find it rather repulsive.”
My mouth bobbed, but before he slammed the bathroom door closed behind him, I growled, “I wasn’t asking for sex! I already had my fun tonight. Good, fun sex. Remember?”
Boom.
The door closed with a wobble.
I rubbed my forehead.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that last bit.
I tipped my drink back and finished it off.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
Glared at the door. Set my empty mug on a table.
The water sprinkled on the tiling in the shower, loud to my sensitive ears. I moved on slow feet, my gut churning with pathetic, weak guilt. I knocked on the bathroom door, then opened it just a crack. The slap of fabric hit the floor—his only clothes, his pants—and I froze, not looking inside.
“What, Gwen?” he growled. Exasperated.
I cleared my throat, my voice raspy. “I apologize. That was wrong to say.” There. I had taken the high ground.
“Fuck off,” he snarled.
My head snapped back as he slammed the door closed. That was close. I almost got my head bashed by an extremely solid door.
Apparently, he wasn’t taking the high ground too.
I sighed, knowing he could still hear me. “Look, I am sorry. I knew it would irritate you, so I said it. I shouldn’t have.”
Though, why it would irritate him, I wasn’t sure.
It wasn’t like the overlord was jealous.
My brows puckered. “Actually, why did it irritate you?”
Splashes in the shower. After a second, he finally responded, “This is why I don’t let women in my room. I can’t even enjoy a peaceful wash without being pestered.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is my room.”
“Same concept.”
More splashing. More water hitting the tile.
“Answer my question.” And since he was an overlord, I added a little respect. “Please.”
His sigh was profound. “Can we not stray to this topic tonight? I doubt either of us would handle it well.”
I snorted and rubbed my forehead again.
Could I handle anything else right now?
Probably…not.
I lifted my eyes skyward. “You’re right. I’ve got my hands full, and you’ve got your hands full too.”
He grunted in agreement. But he did add eventually—his tone gentle and teaching, “Gwen, business is business. We do what we have to do—no matter what. You know that.”
I nodded slowly, hearing the water shut off. I responded just as softly, picking at the doorjamb with a fingernail, “Agreed. Our people are all.”
I walked into my bedroom and grabbed clothes off the bed that I had thrown there without a care, folding them meticulously while he finished in the bathroom. I was pretty sure I heard him brushing his teeth—and only my toothbrush was in there. I rolled my eyes and pulled the comforter and top sheet down on the bed, fluffing each pillow hard as he entered the bedroom behind me.
He walked around to the other side of the bed. Thankfully, he was still wearing a white towel around his waist. He pulled the cover down further on his side…
I slapped my right hand over my eyes. “Goddammit! Couldn’t you have waited until you were in bed to remove the towel?”
A naked overlord was just too much right now.
He snickered, his evil smirk clear in his humor. The bed creaked as he got in. It sounded like he freaking bounced a few times as he got comfortable. “I’m sorry. Did that bother you?”
I turned my back on him, lowered my hand from my eyes, and marched to the light switch. I grumbled with bite, “You are a jackass.”
More confident laughter until he hissed softly, “What? Two dicks in one night are too much for your innocent eyes?”
I flicked the light off and closed my bedroom door, only the light from the living room beyond shining around the cracks in the doorframe illuminating the room—even if I could see just fine in the dark. I slid into bed, curling the blanket around my body—ignoring how he hadn’t even covered his delicious naked body with the blanket yet—grumbling, “That was a low blow, my lord.”
“No lower than yours earlier.”
I closed my eyes. “Fine.”
Neither one of us seemed to know what to do with each other. Passion and duty were warring with one another, battling it out without our permission, making confusion the emotion of the hour, smacking us in the face when we least expected it.
A good fifteen minutes later, he murmured in the quiet dark, “What Lord Cato said, about not involving your heart, it’s true.”
I didn’t pretend to be asleep yet, but I did keep my eyes shut. “I know.”
He hummed in thought, his tone quiet and intrigued. “Then what is it about the Original that has your panties in a bunch?”
I punched my pillow a few times, fluffing it again. “I’d rather not talk about that.”
He lost his cool.
A quiet growl. “So you do like him.”
“No,” I argued easily. “I think he’s an asshole. But it’s complicated. On the flip side, it’s nothing I can’t get over.”
He turned on his side, facing me. Even with my eyes shut, I could still feel him staring at me, his potent gaze a tangible touch across each of my features. I didn’t think he was going to say anything further he was quiet for so long, but he surprised me, finally mumbling, “Be careful until you get your shit figured out.”
I yawned, my teeth flashing in the night. “I know that too. Already working through it.”
“You are still so young.” He sighed. The blanket on his side finally moved as he slid under the sheets, and he switched topics of conversation. “Do you think you can handle staying on your side this time?”
My lips twitched. “No promises, my lord.”
“That’s what I thought.” He snorted. A second later, he hedged, “As you know, I’m not allowed to say anything to a candidate about the Challenges. But I am allowed to say this: get some sleep.”
My eyes did fly open then.
I blinked at the overlord across from me.