She muttered something, but he only made out the word ‘sadistic.’
He folded his arms. “Apparently, one of Ishtar’s aides was seen standing in your front yard yesterday.”
Wynter’s eyes slid to the side. She sighed. “She did in fact grace me with her presence, as you’ve no doubt guessed.”
Annoyance tightened his muscles. “And you hadn’t planned to tell me?”
“I didn’t want to cause trouble between you and the other Ancients. You all need to be on the same page right now, not fighting amongst yourselves. Plus, she didn’t do anything major. She didn’t threaten me, she wasn’t rude, she wasn’t even remotely unfriendly.”
“Whatdidshe do? I noticed her watching us last night with an odd look on her face. Like she was struggling to understand what she was seeing. What kind of game did she attempt to play with you?”
“A game where she insistedyou’rethe one playing a game with me.” Wynter sat up in bed, his shirt parting slightly to reveal a strip of her front. “In short, she encouraged me not to trust you. She said you’re keeping me close only because I might be of use to you, and that you’d give me up to the Aeons if they offered the right incentive. She also encouraged me to go to Seth for sanctuary.”
Son of a bitch.“What did you say?”
“I pretended to believe her and said I’d think about going to your brother. Look, I don’t fully trust you. I can’t, just as you can’tpossiblyfully trust me—we know too little about each other. But I don’t believe you’re playing me. If it turns out I’m wrong, well, I’m wrong. Then I’ll hurt you.”
“You’re not wrong. And no, we can’t invest true trust in each other when we have so many secrets between us. But you can trust that I won’t betray you. Nor would I hand you over to the Aeons.” Even if he was willing, his monster would never stand for it. “I will, however, deal with Ishtar.”
“Don’t do it on my account. I really can’t take what she said personally when she doesn’t evenknowme. She has it in her head that I’m this silly, naïve little girl who’s totally taken in by you.”
Cain felt his eyes narrow. “You like that she’s put you in a box and believes she has you all figured out, because it means she won’t look closer. You don’t like people to look too close, do you, Wynter?”
“Neither do you.”
That was something he couldn’t argue with.
“What would have happened if I’d run to Seth?” she asked, tipping her head to one side. “I couldn’t quite understand why Ishtar was encouraging me to do it.”
Cain reached out and dragged Wynter close so that she knelt in front of him, her front pressed to his. “For me, it would have been a little like history repeating itself. When I lived at Aeon, there was a woman I briefly dated, though we termed it courting back then. Abel had a ‘thing’ for her, though he didn’t seem much interested in acting on it until I began courting her.”
“I’ve only met him a couple of times, but I have to say, I really don’t like him. Especially since he exiled my mother.”
Cain gave her a comforting squeeze. “He’s an asshole that way. You’re not alone in so thoroughly disliking him.”
Wynter settled her palms on the twin columns of his back. “So, what happened with you and the woman?”
“After she and I had an argument during which she declared we were done, she ran straight to Abel for comfort. I’m sure he expected me to confront him and demand he hand her over. After all, she and I had argued many times but reconciled. It wasn’t a stretch to think that I might wish to reconcile with her yet again. But I didn’t confront him, which I suspect is why he initially took her as his consort; he’d hoped to provoke me.”
“Consort,” she echoed. “Do you mean Lailah?”
“Yes, it was her. As you know, I’m a jealous bastard. But I felt none in that situation for two reasons. One, I’d tired of her dramatics. Two, I’m very unforgiving. The fact that she’d hoped to play me off against a brother I had no love for was something I could never have overlooked, so I didn’t care where she was, what she was doing, or who she was doing it with.
“I can very easily cut someone out of my life if they wrong or betray me. It’s like they were never part of it to begin with. Ishtar no doubt remembers the incident. She remembers how easily I turned away from Lailah and how I refused to later reconcile with her.”
Realization flashed on Wynter’s face. “So by telling me to run to Seth, she was hoping you’d then turn away from me in much the same way as you turned away from Lailah.”
That would be Cain’s guess. It wouldn’t have worked, though. He’d have headed to Seth’s Keep and dragged Wynter back to his own. And Seth, being nothing like Abel, would have helped Cain in easing Wynter’s concerns rather than attempt to keep them apart.
“Sneaky, isn’t she?”
“It’s one of her many traits,” said Cain.
“Well, thank you for telling me that story. You didn’t have to. And just so you know, I’d never play one brother off against the other like that.”
“I know. You are nothing like Lailah. In fact, you are unlike any woman I’ve ever met. You’re a singular creature, Wynter. And very much all mine.” Cain slipped one hand between them to possessively cup her breast. “It’s a shame you can’t wear my shirt to work.”
She snorted. “Counting the amount of times you’ve touched me in public, I’d say it’s already pretty clear to the people here that you consider me off-limits to anyone but you.”