There was a long pause, but he kept his eyes closed, his ears alert. Would she try to stab him there in her room? He’d be able to overpower her immediately, even if she threw the blade.

He heard something clatter on the table and opened his eyes. She slid a second dagger from her sleeve and dropped it with the first, making his chess pieces quake. “He comes from a family of arses,” she said and held up her palms. “I am unarmed, so you do not need to worry.”

“Not worried,” he said. “Just making my plans.”

She walked up before him, tipping her head back. “You even plan your kisses?”

“I plan possible attacks.” He leaned down slightly. “And I have learned that ye use kisses to trick your enemy. I will not be tricked twice.”

“No?” Her voice took on a lower tone. Her palms flattened on his chest. “Perhaps you will think this kiss means I surrender. Or that I will willingly give you Dunrobin and Sutherland lands.”

He stared into her gaze, studying her. “Actually, Ella Sutherland, ye are rather a mystery to me.” Should he have admitted as much? “But ye need to know,” he said, his brow rising in challenge, “that I win every game I play. As ye saw on the board, I have called checkmate.”

The sensation of her light touch through his tunic shot up his chest to his shoulders, and he held completely still. His gaze fell onto her lips. They were perfectly proportioned and full.

She looked up into his eyes. “Cain Sinclair,” she said and slid her hands up his chest to curve around his biceps, making his muscles contract in anticipation. “Our game is far from over.”

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Ella had held her blade in her hand for a long moment when Cain closed his eyes.

Was it true Joshua would take Cain’s place to marry her if she killed him? Must she wed Cain first and kill him in a way that made it look like someone else had snuck into the castle to slaughter the great god of Conquest? Then she would kill off each of the brothers.

God’s teeth. She needed to consider everything before carrying out Kenneth’s whispered… What? Orders, mere suggestions, demands? She wasn’t certain. In truth, Ella wasn’t sure she could follow his words with actions. She had ordered her armies to kill, but she had never done so herself, and certainly not up close, tricking someone. Making Cain believe she cared for him enough to get around his bloody excellent instincts.

Right now, though, she needed to make Cain trust her. Let him think she was yielding to his marriage request and his handsomely dangerous looks. Let him lose a bit of himself in the same heat Ella had felt when she’d kissed him in the tree.