Page 186 of A Dance of Water

"It is improper to spy." Her voice carried to the raven, and his wings fluttered at her words.

She couldn’t focus; her eyes blurred.

The raven’s caw forced a chill to sweep through her before he flew away. His wings carried him out of sight, the dark clouds swallowing him.

She worried her lower lip. She could not help but feel a strange tingle of awareness at her nape. Just because she could not see him, did not mean he was not watching…

She quickly stepped back behind the changing partition, pulling on the gown. The fabric was cool against her body. Only when she was fully clothed, did she step into the room.

The short train trailed behind her, and her breath hitched at the shadowed figure standing in the middle of her room. His back was to her. He was without a cloak, wearing a fine suit made from dark fabric. His shoulders were broad, and his dark hair was styled to sweep away from his forehead. It was longer at the top and shorn closer to his scalp at the bottom. A dark cowl was pushed below his chin.

Her mouth was dry.

Graves took her in, gaze unreadable, lingering a moment too long. "Vale will like what he sees."

She swallowed, feeling too small in the sudden vastness of the room.

But do you?she had the sudden urge to ask.

He extended a gloved hand, not his usual leather, but a dark weave. "The King is waiting."

Luella hesitated before taking it, the fabric stiff against her palm. Her pulse skittered, but she rolled her shoulders back, finding her voice with effort. "Let’s not keep him."

60

TIED TOGETHER

VALE

Icy embers fell to the floor of the throne room.

A pleased, predatory smile tugged at the corner of Vale’s lips. Courtiers reveled, swirls of bodies basking in each other and celebrating his Chosen’s imminent arrival.

Their bond was a living, breathing thing in his chest, an incessant beat that pounded in time with the scratch of his dragon’s talons as he sought a weak point in his cage, searching for an exit. Begging to be free, to go to her, to steal her away and?—

Fuck.

Thin streams of grey smoke filtered from his nostrils as he exhaled sharply.

Let me take.

Mine, mine.

"No," Vale said aloud, voice low. He didn’t want anyone looking at him. But they were all too wrapped up in each other, in pleasure, to pay heed to the mercurial dragon King.

The jewels of his golden rings sparkled in the blue-tinted light, casting rays of silvery shadows on the walls as he tapped his fingers along the armrests of his throne. The serpents, cut into the marble, twined around and around, up to the head of the throne, where pointed fangs and golden scales were forever frozen.

The dragon’s tail lashed back and forth.I smell her.

Vale tilted his head, searching for a hint of her.

Hedidn’t have to wait long.

The bond roared like the wildest of flames, an inferno of feeling.

The grand double doors opened, and there she was.

Luella faltered as she entered. Graves led her as she held onto the crook of his elbow. Vale saw her hand tighten on Graves’s arm as he tried to pull away—a moment of weakness before she let him go. The Knight dissolved into shadows, but not before he caught Vale’s gaze. The cowl over his face kept him hidden, and Vale nodded, just once, in understanding. He would keep her safe.

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