Crimson Warrior (Onyx Assassins 3)

Stop, stop, stop.

I would not fall into an endless pool of pity and doubt. I was a goddamn royal guard and a Sorokin. I could hold my head high through this, right? I could protect my heart…

No, that ship had sailed the second Ransom slid between my thighs. There was no guarding my heart after what we’d done last night.

I threw the sheets off of me, hurrying to clean up and get dressed. I was halfway to the door when I remembered the tattoo washing off the night prior, and I grumbled slightly as I dug in my bag for one of the temporaries. I would have to use water to bind it to my skin, but I’d need Ransom’s scent to seal it.

And he wasn’t here.

My doubt turned to anger in the span of a blink, and I stormed out of the door, inhaling deeply. I caught his scent quickly enough, and I followed the trail through the twists and turns of several hallways until I stopped just outside my father’s very off-limits study.

“Whoever it was chose an opportune time to attack.” My father’s voice carried through the closed wooden door, the words pausing my fist poised for knocking. “Practically the whole island attended the obstacle course games,” he continued.

“You didn’t have the chamber guarded?” Ransom asked, his tone calm, not accusing.

“We had four guards outside the chamber. They were incapacitated somehow.”

Having heard enough, I forgot my father’s centuries-old rule and opened the door without knocking. “What’s happened?” I ask, my heart clenching at the sight of Ransom. His leather pants covered his muscled legs but his black T-shirt was wrinkled, his black hair mussed as if he’d been roused from sleep in a hurry. Maybe that’s why he left…no, not the time.

“Olivia.” My father said my name like an accusation. “You know this room is for males only—”

“What’s happened with the Hunters?” I cut him off, glancing between him and Ransom.

“You shouldn’t concern yourself with such matters, darling,” my father said, his gaze softening on me. “Ladies-in-waiting have no need to dwell on threatening situations.”

I gaped at him. “Don’t concern myself?” I shook my head. “What is it you think I do all day?”

Father blinked at me. “Wait?”

Ransom’s blue eyes flared wide. “Oh, no,” he whispered.

I took a step forward—to scream, to rage, to cry, I wasn’t sure—but before I could get a word out, Ransom slipped his arm around my waist, gently nudging me backward.

“Thank you for the update, Lord Sorokin,” Ransom said as he pulled me into the hallway. “I’ll look into the matter urgently.”

My father gave him an approving nod, no doubt delighted in the sight of my mate taming my temper.

“What the hell—”

“Wait,” Ransom whispered into my ear, effectively stopping my words. “Bedroom,” he said, ushering us faster through the estate and back to our room.

I hated the little piece of my heart that deflated at his tone—all mission, all warrior. No sign of the heated words we’d shared last night…among other things.

“Why did we have to wait to speak in here?” I asked once the door was closed.

“Because,” Ransom said, turning to face me. “The ancients were compromised last night. Someone disabled the guards, but we’re still not sure what happened. Their progression has slowed.” I furrowed my brow, thinking. “And,” he continued. “There were only a secret handful of people who knew that chamber had been opened. Until we figure out who did this, we have to be careful what information we speak aloud and who we speak it in front of.”

I nodded silently as I watched him pace the length of our room, his face sharp and cunning in the way it always was when he was strategizing, analyzing.

After several long moments, I had to stop him. “I need to see the Hunters,” I said. “But first, could you…I’m sorry to ask…”

Ransom stopped pacing, his eyes snapping to mine in confusion at my hesitant, apologetic tone. Damn it, where had my earlier anger gone? Why could I be furious with him and still absolutely helpless against the warmth of his presence?

I held up my wrist. “I need you to seal this,” I said, dropping my eyes from his.

His warmth and scent enveloped me as he spanned the distance between us, so fast and so demanding that he backed me against the closed door. “Why are you sorry?” he asked, sliding his hand over my wrist and drawing it up to his mouth.

My lips trembled as I watched him flick his tongue out, tracing the lines of blue-black ink with expert precision. Immediately, I ached for him. Wanted that tongue between my thighs again.

His blue eyes met mine, and I gasped a breath as my entire body shivered from his touch. “I…you were gone this morning.”

He sealed his mark with a kiss but continued to hold my hand even as he dropped it between us. “Your father’s talem woke me saying there was an urgent matter,” he said. “I wanted to wake you, but the talem insisted I come alone. It wasn’t until I reached your father’s secret study that I realized he doesn’t allow females inside.”