Page 30 of The Call of Crimson
The shade here is dense and damp, a welcome relief after the heat of the sun. We call a rest to feed and water the horses.
I sit with my back against a tree, a canteen of blessedly cold water in hand, thanks to a guard with the Kaminari Gift. The magic-chilled drink soothes my dry throat.
“Here. Eat this.” Ayden commands, holding out a piece of bread and a handful of berries.
I take the food without a fight, shoving it into my mouth. “We should reach Caedel in the next few hours.”
A twig snaps behind me, and my head snaps around to find the source. I sit at the outskirts of the group, so there’s no one behind me. “What was that?” I ask quietly.
Ayden scans the trees. “I don’t see anything.”
In the distance, I catch sight of the faintest irregularity in the shadows. It’s too dark, unnatural.
“There’s something there,” I say, rising to get a better look.
“What’s wrong?” Aurelius asks, coming up behind me.
“There’s someone out there,” I say with certainty.
“I don’t see anyone.”
The shadow moves, and I catch a flicker of red. Drawing a dagger, I take off after the moving shadow.
“Breyla, wait!” Aurelius calls.
I ignore him, trusting my intuition instead. Both males follow, but I pay them no mind. Someone is watching us, and I want to know who.
I move swiftly through the underbrush, dodging and weaving around low-hanging limbs and large roots. Flashes of black and glimmers of red evade me as I push my muscles to carry me faster. Finally, I close some of the distance between us, enough to get a better view of who I’m pursuing.
I nearly gasp as the features come into view, and it’s none other than Lord Craylor, the former spymaster who had been missing since my mother’s death. Why he’s following us in a forest, I have no idea, but I have questions.
“Breyla, stop!” Aurelius roars as he crashes into me, taking me to the ground. Our tangled bodies meet the densely packed earth, the scent of dirt filling my nostrils as I turn my face to him.
“Get off me,” I demand, struggling beneath him. He wrestles me to my back, my hands pinned between his thighs and my body. “Lord Craylor was watching us, and now he’s getting away.
Aurelius’ chest heaves, his dark waves falling in his eyes as he stares me down. “There’s no one here except us. Whatever you saw, it wasn’t real.”
Fury burns in my veins, and I manage to free an arm from beneath me, reaching around to slap him across the cheek. The crack echoes through the trees.
“Fuck you,” I seethe. “I know what I saw! He was right there, and you let him get away. The male responsible for my mother’s murder, and you let him escape.”
He catches my wrist, pinning it beside my head. He leans in until his breath grazes my lips. “No one is there, Princess.”
Heart pounding, body pressed tightly against his, adrenaline coursing through my veins, the anger turns to something worse—lust. I see the moment Aurelius’ keen senses pick up on the smell of my arousal, his eyes darkening and nostrils flaring.
“I hate you,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him. They dart to his lips, just inches from mine, then back to his eyes.
His gaze drops to my mouth. “Say it again like you mean it,” he growls.
He hardens against me, and my core clenches. “I. Hate. You.” It comes out like a whisper, and I know I’m done for.
He rolls his hips into me, and a breathy moan breaks free of my lips. Using his free hand, he reaches down to the front of my leathers, shoving his hand in. “Tell me, Breyla—am I going to find this cunt dripping for the male you claim to hate so much?”
The wetness pools between my thighs, and I know the undeniable truth. Even if I hate this male, my body still begs for him, and that makes me all the angrier.
“Fuck you.”
He shoves two fingers inside me, and they meet no resistance as I whimper, clenching around him.
