Page 60 of Faeling
Ravenna’s eyes flicked up to meet his. Her pupils dilated as she gazed at him, those plush lips parting to reveal the very tip of her pink tongue.
“They do.”
Vibrating in his seat, Vallek leaned forward to tell her, “I’ll wear your bite proudly,skala.”
His cock kicked in his breeches when her gaze fell to his throat. “Will you bite back?” she asked, voice dropping to a husky whisper.
“Anything you want, for however long. Say it and it’s yours.”
Her lips twitched up into the smallest, most tantalizing grin. Heachedto taste it.
She glanced back at the board, and that grin widened. Movingher most important piece, she declared, “Groff mi tal.”I’ve won.
Startled, he looked at the board, too. And indeed, she’d led him deftly into a trap, her pieces expertly arrayed in a pincer movement to prevent escape.
Vallek had lost. He’d never been so pleased.
Booming with laughter, Vallek slapped his knee. “I knew it.”
Ravenna couldn’t hide her pleased smile, even if she did demurely lift her goblet to her lips to sip.
“Another round,” he insisted, downing the last of his own wine. Invigorated by his loss as well as his gains, he dared another bargain. “If I win, you will sleep in my bed with me. No more arguments.”
Ravenna snorted. “What will I get if I win?”
“ThenIwill sleep in my bed withyou.”
“Hm. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.” She softened her jab with a wink.
Grinning like a fool, Vallek purred, “We’ll be damned together.”
15
Ravenna woke to the scent, sound, and weight of her orcishazai. Although she hadn’t fallen asleep tucked against his massive chest, it didn’t completely surprise her to find she’d been reeled across the bed in the night.
After spending a pleasant evening playingtalfonand making deals, she’d consented to sleep in the bed with him. On her own side. His easy agreement had been suspicious, and as Ravenna slowly came awake to the burning warmth of his bare chest at her back and the heavy weight of his arm thrown across her waist, she began to suspect he’d never meant to let her stay all the way on her side.
So comfortable, though, it was hard to muster any true misgivings. In fact, her instincts, the ones that told her to curl up against her big, strong mate and never let go, were more than content. She might just start to purr like he did. Her instincts were proving to be little hussies for Vallek.
Her soppy heart didn’t help matters. She woke that morningto a new reality. Concessions had been made last night, and while her movements were still restricted, he’d made many promises. That he wouldn’t take an orcess for a wife. That he meant to be with her.
It all still sounded outlandish to everything but that soppy heart of hers. As a king in a tenuous political situation, he’d no business making her such promises. But he did. And she hoarded them close.
Ravenna knew better than to put much stock in promises and hopes. Promises rarely lasted, and hope could be misleading. Even devastating.
That didn’t stop the softer parts of her from hoping, though. Shelongedfor the things he’d promised. When he wasn’t being obtuse, her handsome orc could be quite charming. It was more than her instincts that drew her to him—for the first time in days, she’d sat in the company of the man she’d come to admire from years of friendly talk and good humor.
The Vallek of before, the one who didn’t know her true face, was in some odd way her friend. And she’d missed that friend these past days, just as much as her magic had missed herazaiwhile he was away. To have him back soothed and pleased her in a way nothing else had.
None of that meant she could trust him with her plans. If he knew she meant to cut out Amaranthe’s heart herself, he’d lock her away forever.
But…perhaps she could trust him with a few things.
Perhaps, just perhaps, she could attain her vengeance even faster by his side. In his bed.
The thought was an insidious little thread tugging at her vulnerable heart. Her need for him, to be with and claim herazai,could become strong enough to cloud her judgement. Itwas her own instinct to have him, to give herself to him, that whispered foolish hopes in her ear.
That path likely led to ruin, but oh, what a temptation ruin could be.
