Page 7 of Whispers Beneath the Deep
Her eyes became a cold mask, and because of that small action, I knew that there was a secret doorway here. I’d not be fooled otherwise. Not when she was tensing up, readying herself to deny it with her very last breath. The space was obviously sacred to her. A secret.
I didn’t care.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You and I both know there’s a door to your hideaway here. I want you to take me there. Now.”
Her head shook back and forth, the silky strands of purple hair flying around her face. “There’s nothing like that here.”
Because I was running out of niceties, I took a single stroke forward until our bodies were pressed up against each other, so close I could feel the rise and fall of her chest against my own. The press of her turgid nipples against these rags stirred my own cravings, but I tamped whatever desire I felt for her deep, deep down.
“So the night we met you just happened to be hanging around the dead end of an alleyway?” My voice was menacing enough to send thieves and thugs swimming for their lives. Her heart beat frantically. I felt it. But she still met my own gaze with a level stare of her own.
“That’s exactly what happened,Elias.”
Stubborn little fish.
My hand went up to wrap around her throat. She gasped, but I didn’t squeeze. I kept my palm there, feeling the pulse at her skin. My fingers traced along the lines of her gills, my thumb going in circles along the sharp edge of her collarbone.
“You will take me there now, little fish.” I drawled. She shuddered. “Because if you don’t…” I let the sentence trail off, and let my fingers trail down the length of her skin, touching the edge of her delicate neckline, just where the cloth met the swells of her breasts.
Her breath hitched, and like I knew she would, she moved a little to the side, out of my grasp. I dropped my hand, staring at her intensely.
“Fine,” she conceded. Then, she turned to the furry green wall of stone. Her palms met the dirty surface, moving them around briefly before the sudden, startling sound of stone scraping against stone filled the darkness.
I cast a cautious glance towards the mouth of the alley. No one came. I looked back to see the stone part to form a doorway. Darkness greeted us beyond.
“Come on,” she urged. She swam halfway into the threshold, and held her hand out for me to take. I smiled and placed my hand in hers, letting her lead the way.
Chapter Six
Kai
“Not here, Dragon Prince.” The words from my advisors were spoken in Dracon. Whispered harshly in my ear, cutting through my haze of rage.
I thrashed against them, a roar building in my chest. They shouldn’t have been stronger than me. They were older, and yet that did not matter when you were Draconian. In our kingdom, everyone was a warrior. Everyone knew how to fight. And they, along with my guards, were doing all in their power to hold me back from reaching Odele. My princess.
Mine.
The dragon in me reared its vicious head, demanding vengeance against the Black Blade. It demanded death against all those who blocked the pathway between me and her.
“The Emperor will have your head!” Ichiro hissed in my ear. “If you become the dragon, you will frighten the Thalassarins.”
It was only the mention of the Emperor of Draconi that tore me from my rage and made me think clearly. To my father, our image was everything. Our self-control was something to be commended. If he knew, and I had no doubt that within moments, he likely would, he would be furious.
I winced at the thought as phantom pain splintered through my spine. The whispered memory of his beatings and disapproval ached something fierce. And all it took was a single moment of distraction, a split second of compliance, for my advisors and guards to pull me away from the market despite my protests.
“Her guards will bring her back,” Ichiro assured, though he sounded dubious. “And when they do let us hope it is with her reputation intact.”
I wanted to snarl at him, but swallowed the sound. My princess was in danger and he was worrying about her reputation? To the Great Dragon with her reputation. I cared abouther.Her safety, her life. I wanted to go after her, but they were already pulling me away. We were swallowed whole by the chaos and I was shoved into a carriage that immediately made its way towards the palace.
I choked back the anger that was threatening to burst. But it lived inside me, a creature waiting for havoc and destruction. I was denied a chance to save Odele and if my princess wasn’t brought back to me safely, I didn’t care who they were or what they meant to the emperor…
I would become the Dragon Prince andend them.
Chapter Seven
Maisie
