Page 58 of Realm of Thieves

“Andor,” she whispers, her voice sounding thick with either relief or lust or maybe both. “Don’t take your hand away.”

I don’t particularly want to. “I’m going to try to shut off the healing and see if your pain is still at bay.”

She nods, her head still back, her neck exposed to my lips, and I suck in another breath, closing my eyes and reaching back inside me now to the golden source of it all. I turn it off like you would a tap, the energy dissipating.

And still Brynla pushes back against my cock, rubbing it with slow, torturous movements.

“Are you in any pain?” I whisper, my lips moving against the sweet-smelling skin of her neck.

“No,” she says. “It’s still gone. It’s gone.” Then she slumps against the blanket. “It’s gone,” she says, her voice fading.

I peer down at her face.

Her eyes are closed, her features relaxed and soft, a small smile on her lips.

In seconds she’s sleeping, breathing out deeply in slumber brought on by acute relief, her body finally letting go.

Finally finding peace.

And I brought her that peace.

Slowly, carefully, I remove my hand from her breeches. Then I keep it hovering above her stomach as I relax beside her, my arm holding her against me. I don’t know how I’ll sleep with her so close to me like this, feeling her heart beating through her back, the sweet smell of her hair making my blood run hot.

But, somehow, mercifully, I do.

Chapter 17

Brynla

I wake up slowly, mybody taking its time in relaying information.

The din of the sandstorm is gone.

Silence buzzes in my ears instead.

My side aches from sleeping in one position on hard ground all night.

But the pain? The pain is gone.

My eyes open to the dimness of the cave, lit only by a sputtering fire in the center, and I’m suddenly aware that the man who took the pain from me is flush against my back, his arm draped loosely over the dip in my side. His breathing behind me is steady; perhaps he’s still asleep.

I take a moment to stare at the lava rock wall of the cave.

I take a moment to just…be.

When was the last time someone held me like this? When was the last time I fell asleep in someone else’s arms?

In the Dark City, I never let myself get close to anyone other than my aunt; it was too dangerous to either become attached or let my guard down. But that didn’t mean I didn’t have my fair share ofsuitors. I have sexual appetites just like any other woman my age, and men in the Banished Land were always more than willing to have a tryst here and there. When you’re already living outside society’s standards, no one judges you for what you do, and sexually promiscuous women aren’t looked down upon. But the sexual encounters never became anything more than what they were—a chance to forget one’s trouble for an evening and blow off some steam, hopefully in the form of an orgasm. Sex was common but intimacy, that was rare.

I close my eyes and relax back into Andor, holding on to this moment, whatever it is and wants to be. Last night he took my pain away. He touched me with his bare hands and I felt warmth and raw power coming from him that seeped directly into me. I felt it in my soul, like I was being brought to life, filled with strength and resilience and then…relief. Relief so overwhelming and acute that my body started to confuse it for something else. I wanted him, I wanted his hands to dip lower, I wanted to know what it would feel like to have those healing hands between my legs. For the first time I wasn’t ignoring the physical attraction that I’ve felt for Andor—I was encouraging it. I was craving more.

But then I fell asleep before anything more could happen. I suppose it might have been wishful thinking that anythingwouldhave. Yet as I writhed in pleasure at the totality of that relief, I felt how hard he was, how much I was turning him on. Andor’s always been a difficult person to read in some ways. He seems to feel everything all at once. And he’s always been flirtatious and tactile with me, so I’ve never taken that to mean anything. Why should I read into that? I’m his fucking prisoner.

And now? Now what?

He gave me peace and suddenly the cage I’m in doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

I don’t know if that means I’m weak.

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