Page 159 of Her Soul for a Crown
Anula’s eyes flashed open. Her ease guttered.
Reeri paused, noticing the change. “I believe I promised you one, or do you not wish to complete our bargain?”
Anula swallowed, her gaze flashing to the raja—raejina’s—crown. Spikes of moonstones and rows of rubies glimmeredthreateningly. “Fate said ours was gone. That I owe an oath to the Divinities now.”
“Yes, that is true. Yet as long as I exist, I will keep my promises to you, Anula.”
Fear twisted up her spine, quick as a viper and just as deadly.
“Do you want the crown?”
“No. Yes.” Anula groaned and buried her face in a pillow.
A gentle hand rested on her back, rubbing soft circles across her shoulders and down her spine. She braced herself for the blessed gift to speak. Only to remember that it had been taken to mend.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Reeri asked softly.
One look and she was undone. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her face into the curly hairs of his chest. “Yes, I do. What if I’m not any better than a usurper? I could make more mistakes, destroy the kingdom instead of rebuild it, and fail everyone.”
“Those are good fears.”
“How can fear be good?”
“It has come to my attention that when we fear letting others down, it actually shows our love. And if all we do comes from love, then have we not already begun in victory?”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am, because we proved this. We loved and we won.”
“But how am I supposed to do that again, and again and again, every single day of my reign?”
“Did we win alone? No, we won together, and with others. The cosmos created communion for this very purpose. We get to partner with others to do impossible tasks. The weight is not solely on you, Anula, because you are not alone. You must only look and see.”
Faces flashed in Anula’s mind. Kattadiya, courtier, soldier,citizen. Reeri. Who else would she add? Not that she was making lists. Though it was comforting to know who her allies were and who might become her friend.
“I believe in you, Anula,” Reeri whispered. “In your heart and your soul.”
Anula closed her eyes, listening to the sound of Reeri’s heartbeat. To the breath level out in his lungs and the soft snores of his sleep. The tension leaked out of her to the rhythm of him, drifting her into placid dreams.
***
A hand swept down Anula’s curves, softly waking her.
It squeezed her roundness, drawing a line over her hip, fingers curling around it, grabbing hard and pulling into the firm body of another. Reeri’s hardness pressed between her legs. Anula moaned, running a hand down soft muscles, through thick chest hair, and into a bush.
“Anula,” Reeri whispered.
She moaned again, finger circling his base, testing, teasing, delighting as it hardened.
“Anula.”
Her eyes opened to their legs tangled. Reeri’s hand held her backside, gripping it as though it might fall off. Her hand had found its way beneath his sarong and around his girth. She stilled, blinking up at him.
“Good morning, my Lord.” She smirked.
He growled low, “Good morning, my raejina.”
His grip tightened. He squeezed her roundness, leaned in and kissed her, biting at her lips. A thrill rocked down her spine.
