I wrap my hands around my shoulders, snuggling into Tye’s pine-and-citrus scent. “I don’t know why it feels so different from Shade,” I confess before catching myself. Between coupling with Shade and now with Coal, I’m not sure where I stand with Tye.
“Of course it feels different.” Tye snorts. “You’d likely feel uncomfortable walking into the supper hall naked, though that little seems a problem at other times, aye?”
My cheeks flush and Tye chuckles softly, running a knuckle down my cheek in a way that sends a blaze of heat down to my toes. Maybe he does want me. Between all the teasing and lack of follow-up, the confusion is starting to eat at me. Ask. I should just ask. I make my voice light despite my suddenly pounding heart. “If you are maneuvering to drag me into a bedchamber for the sake of testing Autumn’s theory, you should just confess now.”
The male stiffens, the sudden hurt flashing in his face almost too quick to catch. “I never confess to anything, lass,” he says with a wink. “It’s safer for me that way.”
I catch Tye’s arm before he can pull away, the humor leaving my voice. “What did I say?”
“Nothing.”
“Tye.” I pause, an unwelcome feeling now burning in the pit of my stomach. “Do you . . . do you not want me that way?” I ask quietly.
He pulls his arm back, his hands going into his pockets. His usually sparkling green eyes are opaque, the angles of his beautiful face carefully expressionless. “If by that way you mean as a curiosity or a training aid or a bloody toy, then no, lass. I don’t.”
My breath catches. I open my mouth to protest, but Tye shakes his head. For a split second I see a whole new male behind the forever-amused mask, a whole life and past that I know nothing about. For a split second, Tye seems all of his five centuries old.
Leaning forward, he brushes a soft kiss over my lips. “We’ll know when it’s time, lass,” he whispers into my ear. “And it isn’t just yet.” The mask of mischief is back on his face before I can respond, and he pokes my newly healed ribs. “Let’s get back to the suite. Autumn was cleaning when I left, and if there is a greater sign of trouble than that, I’ve yet to learn it.”