“Like what?” I ask curiously, but by his sexy tone and the way my blood starts to hammer in my veins, I already have an inkling.
“If I beat you tomorrow, you let me fuck you again.”
His offer is shocking in that he willingly wants to touch—no, fuck—a Meadowlander. It’s also not… because he already has, and other than the centuries of hate drilled into us, we proved we are compatible in many ways.
I narrow my eyes. “And if I win?”
Ronan winks. “I’ll still fuck you.”
Even under penalty of death by iron in my heart, I’d never admit how my sex clenches when he says that. But I play it cool by reminding him. “It’s forbidden.”
Ronan pulls back, his expression turning serious. “It’s not, and you know it. There are no written laws. It’s more… frowned upon.”
My eyebrows rise at the way he downplays the feud. “Frowned upon? The last time it happened, a Bluff Dweller was killed, and I was ordered to hack off my cousin’s wings.”
Something in Ronan stills, and I’m stunned to see his expression soften with sympathy. “It was wrong of your father to have you do that.”
I avert my gaze, the shame of that event still haunting me a thousand years later, even though Ilona has forgiven me.
“Look,” he says lightly, and my attention moves back to him. “We’re in Faere. There’s a truce. This is neutral ground, and there’s a lot of it. Plenty of places we can sneak off to so I can collect my reward.”
“My reward,” I snap, my competitive streak starting to juice up.
“So, you admit I’m a reward?” he asks mischievously.
God yes, he would be. Like better than anything Nimeyah could offer. I’ll admit it, but only to myself, though.
But I frown as something hits me. “We’re enemies, Ronan. We’ve hated each other for centuries. Isn’t the idea of being with me… um… disgusting?”
Ronan ponders this as he scans the crowd before coming back to me. “Eliana… you rode my face like a champ two weeks ago, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I want it again, so, to answer your question… no, you are anything but disgusting.”
Damn it. The man actually makes me want to hike my skirt up and let him have me any way he wants.
He leans in again, voice going deep. “And for the record, I have not hated you for centuries. It’s our clans as a whole that have hated each other. Rather, I’ve much enjoyed our interludes.”
I snort at that because our interludes mostly included viciously battling each other while drawing blood and spilling guts. I mean, there was that one time under the belly of the Coliseum when we hate fucked, but now I’m not so sure it was driven by hate.
Maybe that was pure attraction, but disgust that we acted on it within ourselves.
So confusing.
Before I can give Ronan an answer to his bet challenge, Rishka and Ilona walk up behind Ronan. I take a step away from him, causing him to frown, but a sneering Rishka comes around his side. “What are you doing near my sister, Bluff Dweller?”
Ronan merely smirks at Rishka, who is dressed in full battle armor because she’s a warrior through and through. However, she will not be participating in the games; instead, she’s one of the esteemed guests called upon to judge.
Sliding his gaze to me, then to Rishka, he says, “I was just placing a little bet with your sister for when we face each other in the arena.”
My eyes implore him not to tell her what the bet was, and I’m relieved Rishka doesn’t ask. Instead, she regards him with disgust and says, “It matters not. Eliana is going to destroy you.”
Ronan bends a bit toward her, his grin big. “It’s cute you think that, Meadowlander.”
He then straightens, gives Ilona an actual small bow of farewell, and then cuts his eyes to me one last time. “See you in the games.”
“See you in defeat,” I retort, but inside, I’m still jumbled up over the fact that no matter who wins, we both agreed that the prize was somehow sex.
“Honestly, Eliana,” Rishka snaps, and my attention goes to her. “What were you thinking by talking to a Bluff Dweller?”
“We were just discussing the games,” I reply in defense. “There’s a truce… remember?”
“The truce says we can’t kill each other.” She stares at me like I’ve grown two heads. “It doesn’t mean you should converse with them.”
Her attempt to shame me works. Reminds me that I’m being disloyal to my family merely by talking to Ronan. Forget about all the beautifully dirty things we did at my condo. I have a feeling, even though it’s been a thousand years, Rishka would call for my wings if she found out. It’s mainly that fact that gives me great pause.