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“You are quite demanding.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I imagine a Princess to be demanding.”
“I am not demanding,” I stated. “Get off me.”
He arched a brow. “Really?”
“Telling you to move is not being demanding.”
“We’ll have to disagree on that.” He paused. “Princess.”
My lips twitched in wry humor, but I managed to stifle the smile. “You shouldn’t call me that.”
“Then what should I call you? A name, perhaps?”
“I’m…I’m no one,” I told him.
“No One? What a strange name. Do girls with a name like that often make a habit of wearing other people’s clothing?”
“I’m not a girl,” I snapped.
“I would sure hope not.” He paused, lips curling down at the corners. “How old are you?”
“Old enough to be in here, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“In other words, old enough to be masquerading as someone else, allowing others to believe you’re another person and then allowing them to kiss—”
“I get what you’re saying,” I cut him off. “Yes, I’m old enough for all those things.”
One eyebrow rose. “I’ll tell you who I am, although I have a feeling you already know. I’m Hawke Fly
“Hi,” I said, feeling foolish for doing so.
The dimple in his right cheek deepened. “This is the part where you tell me your name.”
My lips nor my tongue moved.
“Then I’ll have to keep calling you Princess.” His eyes were much warmer now, and I wanted to see if the pain had eased but managed to resist. I thought that perhaps his pain had gone away. If so…
“The least you can do is tell me why you didn’t stop me,” he said before I could give in to the curiosity and reach out with my senses.
I had no idea how I could answer that when I didn’t fully understand it myself.
One side of his lips quirked up. “I’m sure it’s more than my disarming good looks.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Of course.”
Another short, surprised-sounding laugh left him. “I think you just insulted me.”
Chagrined, I winced. “That’s not what I meant—”
“You’ve wounded me, Princess.”
“I highly doubt that. You have to be more than well aware of your appearance.”
“I am. It has led to quite a few people making questionable life choices.”
“Then why did you say you were insulted—?” Realizing he was teasing me and feeling foolish for not seeing that right away, I pushed at his chest once more. “You’re still lying on me.”
“I know.”
I took a breath. “It’s quite rude of you to continue doing so when I’ve made it clear that I would like for you to move.”
“It’s quite rude of you to barge into my room dressed as—”
“Your lover?”
He raised a brow. “I wouldn’t call her that.”
“What would you call her?”
Hawke appeared to mull that over while still sprawled halfway across me. “A…good friend.”
Part of me was relieved that he hadn’t referred to her as something derogatory like I’d overheard other men do before when speaking of women they’d been intimate with, but a good friend? “I didn’t know friends behaved this way.”
“I’m willing to wager you don’t know much about these sorts of things.”
The truth in his statement was hard to ignore. “And you wager all of this on just one kiss?”
“Just one kiss? Princess, you can learn a wealth of things from just one kiss.”
Staring at him, I couldn’t help but feel…very inexperienced. The only thing I could tell from his kiss was what it had made me feel. Like he was seeking to possess me.
“Why didn’t you stop me?” His gaze swept over the mask and then lower, to where I realized the cloak had parted, exposing the too-thin gown and its rather daring neckline. Honestly, I didn’t know what I’d been thinking when I slipped on the garment. It was almost like I’d subconsciously been preparing myself for…something. My stomach tumbled. More likely, the gown was false bravado.
Hawke’s gaze found mine. “I think I’m begi
“Does that mean you’re going to get up so I can move?”
Why haven’t you made him get up? whispered that stupid, very reasonable, and very logical voice. That was a great question. I knew how to use a man’s weight against them. More importantly, I had my dagger and access to it. But I hadn’t gone for it, nor had I truly made an attempt to put space between us. What did that mean? I…I supposed I felt safe. At least, at the moment. I may know very little about Hawke, but he wasn’t a stranger, at least he didn’t feel that way to me, and I wasn’t afraid of him.
Hawke shook his head. “I have a theory.”
“I’m waiting with bated breath for this.”
That dimple in his right cheek appeared once more. “I think you came to this very room with a purpose in mind.”
He was right about that, but I doubted he would be right about the actual reason.
“It’s why you didn’t speak or attempt to correct my assumption of who you were. Perhaps the cloak you borrowed was also a very calculated decision,” he continued. “You came here because you want something from me.”
I started to deny what he suggested, but no words rose to the tip of my tongue. Silence wasn’t a denial or agreement, but my stomach dipped again.
He shifted ever so slightly, his hand coming to rest against my right cheek, his fingers splayed out. “I’m right, aren’t I, Princess?”
Heart skipping all over the place, I tried to swallow, but my throat had dried. “Maybe…maybe I came here for…for conversation.”
“To talk?” His brows rose. “About what?”
“Lots of things,” I said.
His expression smoothed out. “Like?”
My mind was uselessly empty for several seconds, and then I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Why did you choose to work on the Rise?”
“You came here tonight to ask that?”
Not a single thing about his tone or his look said he believed me, but I nodded while I added that this was yet another example of how I was really bad at making conversation with people.
He was quiet and then said, “I joined the Rise for the same reason most do.”
“And what is that?” I asked, even though I knew most of the reasons.
“My father was a farmer, and that was not the life for me. There aren’t many other opportunities offered than joining the Royal Army and protecting the Rise, Princess.”
“You’re right.”
His eyes narrowed as surprise flickered across his features. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, there aren’t many chances for children to become something other than what their parents were.”
“You mean there aren’t many chances for children to improve their stations in life, to do better than those who came before them?”
I nodded as best I could. “The…the natural order of things doesn’t exactly allow that. A farmer’s son is a farmer or they—”
“They choose to become a guard, where they risk their lives for stable pay that they most likely won’t live long enough to enjoy?” he finished. “Doesn’t sound much like an option, does it?”
“No,” I admitted, but I had already thought that. There were jobs Hawke could’ve strived for. Trader and hunter, but they too were hazardous, as they required going outside the Rise frequently. It just wasn’t as dangerous as joining the Royal Army and going to the Rise. Was the source of his anguish due to what he’d seen as a guard? “There may not be many choices, but I still think—no, I know—that joining the guard requires a certain level of i
“You think that of all the guards? That they are courageous?”
“I do.”