Killian’s POV
It had been purely by chance that I had wandered by the library at the time that Arthur had been questioning the librarian.
His voice had been pitched low but the library was dead silent and between the resounding words and my kern hearing, I had heard every word that he said.
The librarian had stuck to her story of not knowing what he was talking about save from guiding Rosalind to the book stack she was interested in.
It was obvious that he was fishing for information that could potentially put Rosalind in trouble so that he could oust her from her rightful position.
And how had he been able to do that? Because she was the one who had enabled that.
I might have been able to overlook that if Rosalind hadn’t been acting strange recently.
She seemed distant and lost in thought at least half of the time.
I wasn’t the one acting jealous, she was the one acting weird.
Admittedly, I was jealous. Jealous of the ease with which she related to Cillian. The way her eyes lit up whenever he stepped into the room and the almost tangible chemistry and love that I’d between them.
I didn’t love her. She just aroused me and incited my wolf past the point of senselessness.
Yet, I wanted all of her.
Sharing her was hard. Knowing that she could choose him over me because of their history together was harder.
Rosalind didn’t meet my gaze as she lied again.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
A growl escaped me and I gripped her chin tight tilting her head back to meet my gaze.
“Don’t fucking lie to me.”
Anger sparked in her deep blue depths.
“I’m not lying!”
I pulled out the book that I had taken from the library and threw it onto Cillian’s table.
At the sight of the book, Rosalind froze, her expression going blank in what had tinge the most obvious sign of guilt.
Her ire disappeared and she didn’t make even a sound of objection making me angrier as I pounded a fist into the table cracking the hardwood and making her jump ever so slightly.
“You don’t have anything to say?”
Rosalind shrugged finally, her words coming out casually.
“Fine. I went to the library and I ended up looking at a book. What is the big deal?”
What was the big deal? Was she kidding me?
Sacrilegious texts like these had been banned and it took common sense to know that when one was a royal, the person was under far more scrutiny than an average person.
I bit out my words almost harshly.
“You are a Princess now. The council wants you ousted, the last types of books you should be reading are books that spread rogue propaganda.”
Rosalind flushed prettily and I felt instantly annoyed at myself for getting diverted from our discussion simply because my eyes couldn’t help but follow the redness down her neck to her chest.
Her voice held a timid apology as though she was only realizing what her blunder might have cost her. Cost us.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea. I can’t even read ancient Wolverine, I didn’t know what it was.”
My anxiety eased somewhat. True. The languages she could read were what Cillan had thought to teach her.
Ancient Wolverine was an almost dead language that pretty much only royals and a few nobles were mandated to learn.
But I still felt that she was hiding something from me. Something big.
My grip on her tightened ever so slightly.
“Why have you been sneaking out of the palace at odd hours?”
Rosalind stilled in my grasp, her icy blue eyes wide with disbelief then righteous anger and indignation.
“What do you mean? I haven’t!”
I growled, searching her eyes for evidence of guilt.
“Rosalind.”
I would not need to do that if I had proof beyond doubt of her activities but the truth was that I didn’t.
I had caught her coming in once but she had lied then too hence the reason I felt she could be lying again.
I didn’t want to set a guard on her due to the possibility of the news getting out that she was slipping out at night but I couldn’t go after her either because of this thing between us that made us acutely aware of each other.
Even if I stayed out of sight, there was no avoiding that sensation of a phantom touch that I felt in her presence and she no doubt felt in mine.
My mind kept returning to that point worrying over it again and again. Whatever reason would she have to leave the palace?
She refused to budge, glaring at me stubbornly.
I glared at Rosalind. I was not in the mood to play any games. Not even in the least.
“Don’t think you can make a fool of my intelligence.”
She shoved me away from herself with more strength than I was aware that she possessed.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Killian?”
“What?” I growled.
Her lips tightened into a frown.
“You don’t want anything emotional with me, right? So why are you interrogating me? Why are you monitoring my movements or lack of movements? What is it to you?”
I caught her arm pulling her towards me, my words coming out gruffly.
“I’m trying to protect you.”
Couldn’t she see that? Wasn’t it obvious? Every question I asked her was to make sure that I knew how to defend her against the council that wanted her gone.
Rosalind melted slightly in my arms, her breath coming faster than the previous second.
“Why do you want to protect me if all we have is physical?”
Goddess.
This close, her scent was so fucking intoxicating, her voice an aphrodisiac. Her lips practically invited me to close the distance between us and the softness of her body against mine, felt so good it should have been illegal.
My solid grip on her hair and her lips would be beneath mine as I kissed her the way I had been burning to.
It had been too long. Even if it had only been a few days ago that we had been together, I wanted her with a desperation that was unmatched.
That was why I needed to pull back and put some more distance between us or else I would become putty in her hands.
I replied sternly but I couldn’t take my hands off her.
“You are my fiancee. Any attack against you is an attack against me.”
Something shifted in her gaze and pain intermingled with disappointment swirled in those deep blue eyes. Or was I just imagining what I wanted to see?
“Is that really all?”
I tilted my head to the side allowing sarcasm to coat my words rather than pulling her into a comforting embrace like my wolf was pushing me to.
“Why? Want to swap up for the better brother?”
She glared at me, her softness disappearing that quickly. “I can’t believe you.”
She shoved me away again and this time, I stopped myself from reaching out for her. I wasn’t going to be influenced by emotions. I was different from my brother.
Rosalind’s angry voice held me in place. “Every time I think that maybe you aren’t so bad, you always find a way to prove me wrong.”
I smirked lazily at her. “Maybe you should stop imagining that I am who I am not.”
She spun on her heels and began to walk out of the hall.
“Rosalind,” She paused as I called out to her. Maybe she thought I would take back my words. Like that would ever happen. “I’ll let you off for now but if I find out you have been lying to me…”
I trailed off so she could use her imagination to fill in the blanks.
Had it been anyone else, for lying to me, their lives would be forfeit.
But for Rosalind… the only sort of punishment I could envision was her over my lap with my hands tanning her ass before I took her as hard as I wanted to, my hands choking her.
That easily, I was hard as a rock. With her back turned to me, she didn’t notice as she walked away.
I took a cold shower and headed out to the training yard to calm myself.
Throwing around a few warriors should help me improve my mood.
To my greatest surprise, someone was waiting for me at the training yard.
“Killian.”
I kissed both of her cheeks.
“Aunt Lilly.”
In my anger after overbearing the librarian, I had completely forgotten to ask Rosalind how the meeting had gone.
My aunt didn’t smile as she spoke.
“We need to talk about your fiancee.”