“I know he never had his hand between your legs.”

She gasped, and her cheeks flushed.

He had not known that. Not with certainty.

But he knew it then.

And he was absurdly gratified knowing it.

Thus, Cassius wasn’t finished. “That is solely mine and will be solely mine forever.”

“You may leave now,” she hissed.

“Has he had his tongue in your mouth?” he demanded.

She stared at him in disbelief before declaring, “You cannot possibly be jealous.”

“You know naught of men. Real men. You cannot know what I am, or I am not,” he retorted. “Now answer me, has he had your mouth?”

She turned from him, muttering, “I’m not participating in this conversation.”

“You bloody are,” he contradicted.

She whirled again to him. “Is that why you carried me bodily from the fray not like I am what I am, trained warrior, but like I’m some damsel in distress who needs a man to keep her safe? Because you were jealous True and I were battling side by side?”

“You aren’t answering my question, Elena.”

“You aren’t answering mine,” she returned.

“You can’t know of me and not know precisely why I carried you out of harm’s way,” he told her.

“You can’t know of me and not know I do not need you to carry me out of harm’s way.” She took a step toward him. “We have not met in battle, Cassius, but by the goddess, you must know that I don’t dither in my treehome making wicker baskets. I patrol. I don’t use my bow only for parade. I don’t use my staff simply to keep my arms trim. There isn’t a single patrol where I don’t clash with brigand or sorcerer attempting to breach The Enchantments. And this might not often be hand to hand, but it is certainly often sword to sword.”

Cassius felt a tightening in his chest.

And it was painful.

A pain he had to stop.

“Cease speaking,” he growled.

She did not cease speaking

“You don’t know women like me and I’ll warn you now and urge you heed this warning. You need to have a care in dealing with a woman like me. It is all well and good, and I not only applaud your efforts, I shall champion them in the progress you desire to make for the females of your realm. But I am not one of them.”

She was not.

But she would be.

“That will be your last battle, Elena,” he decreed.

At that, her eyes grew enormous.

“And I’ll repeat what I’ve informed you of before. You will significantly limit any time you spend with True. This being you spend time with him only when I’m with you,” he concluded.

“You cannot tell me who I can spend time with.”

“I just did.”