Page 134 of The Stars are Dying

“Your heart is racing,” he said softly.

I couldn’t calm it. “It’s been eventful,” I muttered, which was putting it too damn lightly. “I’m going to get this trial over with.” I needed away from him. These dark, lamenting feelings that tore through me with him near were beginning to tangle themselves with the horror that still clung to me from a moment ago.

Out in the hall, I decided to take the stairs, hoping to find someone I could ask for any indication of where the next clue was. The landing widened far more than the halls below it. I froze at the eight doors, four on each side, seeing the white and purple stars on them. Breathing steadily, I tried not to allow my mind to project me back to Hektor’s manor. Perhaps it was a common enchantment for this type of venue.

They were all purple—which meant occupied if the spell was the same—except for one white star. I headed for it and stepped into the low-lit room, which coaxed me inside with familiar, gentle notes.

40

Iknew the song. It had played at Hektor’s manor. I had danced for Nyte to it. It couldn’t be defined to me as just a melody anymore; it was an embrace, a soothing and beautiful comfort. As I glided into the room my body felt weightless. I wore no weapons, and the lightweight material further coaxed my desire to move.

I wasn’t alone.

Sounds emitted from across the space, and I found the flowing white bed canopy to be hiding two silhouettes. I headed for it, my skin pricking that it was wrong to intrude, but they wouldn’t know of my presence if I was silent.

Soft gasps accompanied by low groans disturbed the song, and though part of me knew what I was about to witness, I couldn’t stop.

As I neared the sheer material, I found a slight gap through which the full clarity of the passionate affair was exposed. The beat in my chest slammed hard, and a heat tingled over my stomach only to tighten lower down. Suddenly, my skin felt tight and my body lonely.

The woman straddled her lover, moving her hips with such sensuous grace I was as transfixed as he was, admiring her with a face painted with lust.

“Why do you watch?”

Nyte appearing behind me sparked a wild thrill.

“It’s…interesting.”

His chuckle was low and taunting. A hand slipped over my bare midriff, and I leaned back into him. “Interesting,” he repeated, mouth lingering by my ear. “What about it do you find most curious?”

The sounds she made, amplified by her ecstasy. The slow strokes she made that began to turn more urgent. It was like I could imagine the chase she was building. But it was the man who fascinated me the most.

“His attention,” I said. It was as if his pleasure were tied to hers. He left no part of her untouched. I’d never known that kind of exploration of my body.

Both of Nyte’s hands were upon me now. His lips traveled lower, then they pressed to my neck, and I parted my lips with a suppressed sigh of bliss. “You deserve to be worshipped—every damn inch of you.”

His mumble against my skin felt the realest it ever had, and I didn’t want to leave this place. Nyte’s groan only tightened the need between my legs.

“As much as I want to oblige, you can’t give in to your lust. You need to deny its pull this time.” He tried to step away, but my hands went over his, easing between the gaps. I couldn’t remember another moment I’d felt this alive. Nyte awakened new and exhilarating thrills I was near desperate to explore to their fullest.

“Please.” It was all I could do.

Nyte took me with him this time as we drew away from our sinful observation of the couple.

Then he slipped away.

I spun around, but thick darkness cloaked me. My chest rose and fell deeply at having been abandoned in the pitch-black.

“Are you afraid of the dark, Starlight?” Nyte encouraged my feet to move in the direction I thought his voice had come from.

“No,” I answered honestly.

“Come find me.”

My blood drummed. His voice changed direction, and I walked again.

Until I stopped.

“I already have.”

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