Page 150 of Uncrowned

Penelope’s lips parted. “He wouldn’t be able to hurt her. He may even want to help her. Heal her?”

“I would. But it’s hard to know. Hurting her that bad could backfire or fail.”

Fingers came up, caressing along my cheek.

“We don’t fail. We have to try. He loves her. I’m confident in that. And I know she loves him. I hate the thought of hurting her, but I hate the thought of him hurting her worse. We can control what happens here. We can’t monitor her when she leaves.”

I grabbed her hand, kissing her palm.

“I will talk to the Reeve. Weapons are created in extreme conditions. That’s what we’ll introduce her to. In the meantime, I’ll delay as much as I can. We’ll only have a few days. A week, if we’re lucky.”

“A week.” Tears appeared but Penelope held them in. “That’ll feel like an eternity to her. I can’t bear it. I have to, but I feel sick. I hate this. I’m never going to forgive myself. I’m not sure I can even forgive you. I hate it. It goes too far.”

“You care about her, and that’s okay. But I need you to trust me, Penelope. It’s the only way.”

“I don’t know…”

“Trust. Nod.”

Her lip quivered and tears fell as she nodded.

I lowered, rubbing the tip of my nose against hers. For minutes, I kept us in silence, kissing. Nuzzling. It wasn’t until I felt her body soften that I pulled back.

“You barely ate anything. I’m going to have food brought in.”

I went to lift, stopping as Penelope grabbed my tie.

“Maybe I don’t want to eat yet. After. Come back down here.”

My head slowly shook. “You didn’t eat much last night either. I need you strong. I want you training immediately. If I take you now, you’ll not only skip another meal, but you’ll be unable to walk tonight.”

Her pout had me swooping into bite against her bottom lip. Penelope’s arms wrapped around my neck, holding tightly.

“There’s too much on my mind, and I don’t want to think. I can’t. Keep kissing me. We’ll be quick.”

I licked my lips, cursing as I swooped her up, spinning her to straddle me. Penelope dove to meet my lips, and the moment I touched my belt knocking had both of us looking at the door.

“Dammit.” Penelope eased off, throwing me a look. I got up, heading for the door to swing it open. The Reeve gave an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, Unavowed. I didn’t want to disturb you, but I was told you wanted to talk to me about Marian LaRoe.”

“Yes.” I turned to Penelope. “I’m ordering food to be brought to your room. Eat it. When I get back, there better not be anything left.”

“I said I wasn’t hungry.”

I winked. “It better be gone when I return for your training.” Slamming the door, Penelope’s four guards were already stepping in—two on each side, but I put most of my focus on Keith. “Her food will be here soon. No one goes into this room. My Intended does not leave this room. Not for anything. If she tries, you call me immediately. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, Unavowed.”

“If anything happens to her. If she gets free. If she gets hurt. If anyone makes it past this door, I will kill you.”

“Yes, Unavowed.”

Turning back to The Reeve, I took out my phone. “Let’s head to my study. We can talk there.” I punched in the number for the kitchen. It was answered almost immediately.

“Would you like to place an order, Unavowed?”

“Yes. Have the ‘training’ dinner prepared for my Intended. Make sure the portions are accurate.”