Read Online Ever Night by Gena Showalter - Free Book Online Page B

maybe not quite that much. But damn it! Everyone needed to know whom she belonged to! In time, he promised himself. After he’d assured her safety. Maybe.
    He led the group—Rose, Greer, Jasha, Grigori, and the princesses—to a quiet corner, as far from the masses as possible. There, he positioned Rose against the wall, with half of his body shielding her from the others.
    Awkward silence seized them. He was glad. He preferred silence to questions. But, of course, a few minutes later Greer had to ruin everything. As always.
    â€œSo tell me, King of the North. Which of my daughters do you favor?” Greer asked him. “Which will you choose to be your bride and end the war between us?”
    Rose stiffened. “Bride?”
    He reached back, grabbed her wrist, and squeezed, all without looking at her. At the moment of contact, he hissed out a breath. So hot, so soft. So
his.
He wanted more. Wanted her under him, over him, shouting his name. “Now is not the time for such a discussion.”
    â€œWhen, then?” the king insisted. “That’s the reason I’m here, isn’t it?”
    Rose dug her nails into Vasili’s hand, drawing blood.
    â€œYou’re here for peace talks, nothing more,” he said.
    A vein nearly burst from the king’s forehead as another bout of silence settled over them. The princesses inched away from their father, as if they feared being struck. They probably did. Vasili had heard about the king’s fearsome temper.
    â€œPrince Jasha,” the redhead said with a shy—desperate?—smile. Funny. She knew all of their names, yet Vasili couldn’t recall hers. “Would you care to dance?”
    His brother’s violet gaze dropped to his boots. He opened his mouth to reply, but no words emerged. Finally he shut his mouth and gave the redhead his back, glaring out at the circle of ladies closest to them.
    Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment as she lowered her arm.
    â€œMen,” Rose grumbled with sympathy, speaking in Vasili’s language. “Forget him, sweetie. He’s obviously an ass.”
    Vasili pressed his lips together to stop his laugh. At least she’d spoken the correct words.
    â€œWhat’s your name, girl?” Greer snapped at Rose.
    â€œShe’s mute,” Vasili said. “And her name is unimportant.”
    â€œWhat’s the matter,
darling?”
Oh, the anger in that tone. She would punish him later, though he wasn’t exactly sure of his crime. “Embarrassed of me?”
    Embarrassed? When he wanted to beat his chest and warn every other man away? When he would have been happy if she tattooed his name on her chest? A suggestion he would later make. Still. He wasn’t sure how she affected him like this when no one else ever had. Surely the bond wasn’t fully responsible. He’d reacted to her
before
bonding them, or he wouldn’t have fucking bonded them.
    â€œLike I said,” he snapped.
“Mute.”
    Greer watched the entire exchange with anger sparking in his eyes. “A slave would never make a good wife, you know.”
    She isn’t a slave!
“You know this from experience?” he asked smoothly.
    Rose’s nails were now embedded in his bone. He could feel warm drops of blood sliding down his arm. He reached back with his other hand and applied pressure to the center of her palm, harder . . . harder . . . but she held steady. Damn her, when would she give?
    He eased the pressure rather than break her bone. Finally she released him. He wanted to smile. She’d outlasted him, and he was irrationally proud of her. Again.
    â€œYes,” Greer said. “I do. Though I have not bonded with any of my women, I keep five of them to attend my needs. One is a slave, and she is by far my biggest mistake. Greedy, grasping, desperate. So keep your girl, if that’s what you wish, but take one of my daughters. I want peace,