Scorched

11

Cleo finishes her meal, and switches seats with her tray— so the tray is now the floor and she sits on the table right in front of Kaleb. During her switch, her robe fell open and she caught sight of the red arc on her thigh that Thane saw. It was beneath the longer hem of the new nightgown she wore in order to cover her bandaged wound. She could of just left herself exposed because he saw something anyway. She would growled out her frustrations about not wearing her short nightgown if Kaleb weren't here.

She covered her thighs for nothing.

Thane must have a very sharp gaze in the very dim lighting  in order to point out things on her skin no matter how close he was to her. She should praise his eyes and make him skim her skin for any more undesirable arcs and blood touching her skin.

She would now need to wear floor-length gowns. How fucking fantastic.

She quickly covers her thighs and crosses her legs at the ankles, placing both hands on the edge of the table facing him, giving him her full attention.

He didn't notice anything strange about her. Not even her small limp. Well it looked almost normal in her opinion. Thane didn't even bother looking either. This is why men are stupid. Definitely something that would leave Genevieve's mouth.

"My mam always told me to call a woman superior to yourself; Madam." He licks his lips those locks falling into his dark green eyes as always. He leaned his forearms on his thighs and watched her through those way too long locks.

The look he gives her sends electricity jolting down her spine and caused her arms bracing herself on the table, to feel weak and weary. She clenches her fingers tighter around the table to keep herself upright and squeezes her thighs tightly together.

Her eyes roams his face — over the sculpted lines and contours to his chiseled jaw and down to his now wet lips.

"And where is she now?" Her eyes still on those cherry lips.

He licks his top lip and replies, "In the Village. She stays there."

That brought her gaze back up to meet his heated gaze, "Really? What does she do?"

He seems to hesitate and removes his gaze from her, to her messy bed and sighs before facing her again, "I don't know. She goes doing errands right around, working for some people, cleaning, cooking, nursing the old ones."

She wanted to ask if he was struggling financially, and if the reason he came to be here in her Court, was to bring an income to their household. But she thought not to do it directly.

"Is that what brought you to the Court? To be honest, I didn't know we needed a new Captian of the Guard." She gawks at him.

"King of the Guard."

"King of the Guard."

He frowns, "The job was released months ago already. And I wanted to support my mam so I signed up for it and Landon liked me enough for it. I am trustworthy Miss if that's what you're worried about."

His expression went from hot to soft. His look brushes over her so softly she could feel the soft tufts of cotton brushing her skin.

Cleo still didn't know there was a job needed. What in the world happened to the previous one? She does feel somewhat guilty that she actually got to know Kaleb and not the previous one. Better yet, she didn't even know the previous King of the Guard, or that he existed. She didn't take note of the courtesans and their jobs here in the Court. Just their faces and that they existed. Further more she didn't care what they did or their backgrounds or how their life is, it just simply didn't matter to her. It's a waste of knowledge. One day she dies with what? Dreaming of her workers lives? A bunch of pointless information. What can she do with such things? She's not a sponge to soak up the past lives of her courtesans.