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With effort, she raised her gaze to his.
“Relax.”
Fat chance of that in a love hotel with the one man she’d always wanted but could never have. Still, she did need to relax a little, or soon her clenched jaw would be churning out diamonds made from her teeth.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, I’m relaxed.” At least for a second or two.
He waved a flat plastic room key in front of her nose. “Good. Then let’s get some sleep.”
The room was small, barely enough space for two people to get around in. A window on the far wall revealed the lovely view of a fire escape and the brick side of the neighboring building. The bed—a king size—was the only piece of furniture. There were no dressers, no chairs, not even a lamp or a bad painting on the wall. It was clear what the room was meant for . . . and it wasn’t for relaxing weekends away from home. Bella almost turned and walked the other way once she’d crossed the threshold, but Ronan caught her arm.
“There’s only one bed.” It was a stupid, obvious comment, but her tongue couldn’t find any intelligent words at the moment.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take the floor.”
She eyed the small space. “There’s not enough floor for you to take.”
“I’ll manage. The rooms are small so they can pack a bunch into one building. These places make a ton of money.”
“Great.” She curled her lip at the garish green design of the coverlet and eyed the dark entrance to what was undoubtedly a closet-sized bathroom. “I think I prefer my apartment.”
“Not all the fae are as blessed as the Seelie, Bella.”
“Is the room clean, at least?”
“Spotless. It’s run by the Uruisg. You know how clean-crazy they are.”
The Uruisg were a breed of Scottish brownies, a slightly more nightmarish cousin to her house goblin, Lolly. Aside from being known for their cleanliness, in ancient times they’d had a tendency to harass unwary human travelers for the fun of it, back when the fae were supposed to be underground. Some of them had been unable to leave humans completely alone.
So, apparently, the Uruisg had gone from tormenting travelers to hosting them.
That was called irony.
He entered the room, pulling off his coat and his sweater with a tired groan as he went. Bella averted her eyes and lingered in the doorway. Stepping into that room was going to be like stepping into fire. She didn’t want to get burned, but the flame was so very pretty.
She fidgeted and frowned. “Maybe I could get my own room.”
He glanced at her and shook his head. “And if the Imperial Guard shows up? If you’re in your own unlocked room, by your choice, how could I convince them I kidnapped you?”
“They saw me helping you, Ronan.”
“I’d still try to convince them I’d coerced you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you said we were safe with your spell on us.”
He spread his hands, shirt fisted in one hand. “No one can predict the future, Bella. No one can know every possible angle. Magick is a never-ending tangle of possibilities.” Ronan swept low in a courtly bow. “Please, enter, my lady. I promise I won’t bite.”
Maybe he wouldn’t bite, but the mischievous look on his face convinced Bella he might want to nibble a bit. The problem was she wasn’t completely sure she didn’t want him to nibble.
She entered the room anyway.
His hands went to the top button of his pants. She looked away. “I’m going to take a shower, if you don’t mind. I still have prison stink on me.” At the shake of her head, he headed into the bathroom.
With a grateful sigh of relief for a few moments alone to collect her thoughts, she sank down on the bed and stared at the closed bathroom door. The water was turned on, and after a minute steam rolled from beneath the door. She wasn’t going to think about Ronan naked, wet and soapy under the spray of the hot water.
So, of course, that’s all she did.
Pulling off her coat, she slumped back against the pillows and recalled the first time they’d met. The Seelie Court was small in comparison with the rest of Piefferburg, but it operated through a system of social cliques. Ronan had come to the court on an errand for the Shadow King. He’d lived in the Black Tower since he’d been a child, along with his brother, who still resided there. He and Bella had met in the hallway that day and it had been like an electric shock for her. She’d been immediately smitten.
