Page 61 of The Night Prince

Blake catches my eye across the table, as if he knows what I’m thinking.

I avert my gaze, and have a mouthful of soup.

The corner of my mouth twitches. Callum is right.

It tastes horrible.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next evening, as the sun descends behind the mountains, Callum and I walk away from the castle walls. My fingers are laced with his.

The energy in Lowfell has been charged all day. As the hours raced by, tension built within me. It’s not just fear that makes my skin hum. I feel as if something is awakening within me. Something that longs for release.

To my dismay, Callum left for a few hours, so I was alone with my thoughts all afternoon. I was unable to concentrate, unable to do anything but pace up and down our chambers and prevent myself from searching Lowfell for someone to pick a fight with—preferably Blake. Or Callum, because I didn’t want to be left alone.

Now, I keep my emotions and my restlessness close and my head raised as we pass other Wolves gathering by the bank of the loch. Someone is playing bagpipes, Ryan is sitting on the bank with Jack, and the two pass a flask between them. A fewWolves in yellow tartan build a bonfire—assisted by Arran. To them, this is a night of celebration.

I hope the cold wind masks the sound of my racing pulse, and the scent of my fear. I grip Callum’s hand more tightly than necessary, and he runs his thumb along my knuckles as the rain-drenched grass squelches beneath our boots.

Lochlan beckons us over, but Callum merely waves in acknowledgement and tugs me into the woodland. We walk in silence for a while, and pass the crumbling chapel. He leads me to a clearing. I halt.

A soft laugh escapes my lips and mists in front of my face. Warmth spreads through me, and some of my tension dissipates. “This is what you were doing today.”

He stands beside me and curls his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my head. “Do you like it?”

Candles of varying sizes flicker at the edges of the clearing, about fifty in total, sheltered from the wind by the tall trees. A small campfire crackles in the center, a pile of rugs and furs beside it. The air smells like evergreen and woodsmoke.

I smile. “I like it very much. Thank you.”

I walk toward the middle of the clearing, and Callum follows. I glance upward. There is a gap in the evergreen canopy, and the darkening sky strains through. My heart beats faster, and I release a shaky breath. It won’t be long.

“Took me a while to find and light the candles.” Callum grins. “Ryan helped. He moaned about Becky the entire time, which made it take even longer.”

Callum tugs me down onto the rugs with him. He maneuvers behind me, raises his knees on either side of mybody, and pulls my back toward his chest—tucking me safely into his arms. I melt against him.

Finally, I draw the courage to ask. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s a good feeling. A release. I swear it.”

I bite my bottom lip. My entire body is going to break and change, so I can’t believe that to be true. There is a part of me that wonders if I should have asked Blake, because I know he would not lie to protect my feelings.

Callum sweeps my hair over my shoulder, and dips his mouth to the back of my neck. Shivers tremble through me as he drags his teeth across the sensitive skin there. “Do you want me to show you?”

“How. . .?”

He brushes his knuckles over my inner thigh, and the restlessness that has been humming beneath my skin all day crescendos. Slowly, deliberately, he pulls up my skirt, and skims his hand up my bare skin.

He brings his lips to my ear. “Do you want me to show you?” His tone is darker, lower.

My breath hitches. “Yes.”

He skims his knuckles over my underwear, and I gasp. “Surely it doesn’t feel like that.”

“I’ve not finished yet,” he whispers, amusement in his tone.

“Show me.”

He slides his hand into my underwear, and slowly drags a finger between my thighs. I whimper and arch into him. A low growl vibrates against my back at the slickness he finds there.He coats my bud with it, rubbing a torturous tight circle over the sensitive bundle of nerves. “How does this feel?” he murmurs.

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