I put a hand to his chest, the one that I was familiar with and loved to kiss and stroke, even through the uniform shirt. “He was just doing his job.”
“You had your hand on his cock,” he countered through gritted teeth.
I looked up at Leo, saw the anger, the fury there. Dark eyes, flushed skin, tendons in his neck all but bulging, like the veins at his temples. This wasn’t a warrior in battle, but a mate protecting his own.
“He’s the Royal Consort. Lord Jax sent word to him that I was suffering from Aleran Ardor.” It wasn’t much of an excuse, but maybe it would keep Leo from killing the stupid fool. He was decades younger than Cassander had been. Perhaps even younger than me. If I’d been nineteen or twenty when my Ardor hit, I’d probably prefer him to an older man like Cassander. But being young didn’t excuse not listening to the woman he was in bed with. He wouldn’t live to the ripe old age of forty if he didn’t change his ways.
“Like that makes a difference to me,” Leo countered. “You had your hand on his cock,” he repeated.
“Yes, I am well aware of that, and I really want to wash them now. Do you actually believe I’d be interested in someone else?” I asked. I stepped forward and leaned into my mate, breathed him in, because he was mine and I could. His arm came around me and he took a step away from the bed, pulling me with him.
Leo was breathing hard and eyeing the consort as if trying to figure out how to murder him. Whether it would be a quick neck snap or a dangle off the balcony before tossing him.
“You had your hand—”
“Stop saying that. He wouldn’t let me up, so I had to make him think I was interested so I could get a hold of his balls. And not in a pleasant way.”
“He didn’t let you up?” Leo growled, his entire body tensing to beat the man to death.
“I can take care of myself,” I countered.
He looked at me as if that were debatable, but then the consort dry-heaved and I smirked.
“I grabbed him in self-defense. Leo, after I cup your balls, do you look like that?” I pointed to the consort, who I now felt slightly sorry for. Just slightly.
He actually looked a little green beneath the profuse sweating. One hand cupped his injured balls as he curled up even tighter into himself. The vomit before him only added to his obvious misery.
The corner of Leo’s mouth tipped up, but that was it.
“Why was he in your bed to begin with?” he asked.
I shrugged, tugging the sheet closer about me. “I told you. He said Lord Jax contacted him about my Ardor. As the royal consort, I guess he wanted to help. It’s his job, I assume, to satisfy the royal women.”
“Are you telling me because he came to your bed, you think he was simply doing his job, mate? No male can look at you and not want you.” He pushed me behind him and took a step toward the bed. “Touch her again and I’ll kill you, consort. Your bullshit excuse is not going to work with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Leo, I took care of him all on my own. See?”
He stared at the guy, although he didn’t look the least bit sympathetic.
“How did you get in here, consort?” Leo called.
The younger man didn’t answer, only lifted his arm and pointed. We turned to look at a door which was slightly open in one wall. Neither of us had noticed the hidden door before. There was no handle or any indication that it was there. Leo stormed over to it, pushed it inward and stuck his head into the dark space.
“Secret passage,” he said when he came back to me, hooking me into his side. “How many are there?”
“All over,” the consort groaned. “So I can service the females at their convenience.”
That explained a lot. Leo had been guarding my bedroom door, all the while there were other ways to access me. So much for keeping me safe. The assassin could have slipped in at any time and finished me off if he knew of the secret passageways’ existence, which was certainly possible. I shivered at that thought.
“This is why I didn’t want to pretend to be just a guard. Things like this happen and you are unprotected. Mate, you were naked with a male on top of you.”
“I do see your point of view,” I offered, knowing he was right in this. “Perhaps it’s time to adjust the plan.”
“The plan changed when that fucker climbed in your bed.” Leo eyed me heatedly as he pointed at the moaning consort.
I nodded. “All right, mate.” At my agreement, some of the tension faded from my mate’s shoulders and I realized just how difficult it had been for him to pretend I was nothing more than a job to him. To stand at my side while I pretended he meant nothing to me. But he’d done it because I’d asked him to. Because he’d trusted my judgment.
Maybe it was time for me to trust his. Maybe I should tell him about the plan. About what my sisters and I had agreed upon. Either he was mine, or he wasn’t. And every cell in my body said he was. Mine. Mine. Mine. It was like a chant on a microscopic level.