Page 28 of Poisoned Kingdom
No lock. No barrier. Just a threshold between me and whatever waited for me on the other side. I hesitated, imagining all the ways this could go wrong, but all I could hope for now was to leave with my body and mind intact.
In fact, I was challenging fate. And fate knew it.
Chapter 12
Roksana
The moment I opened the door, the warm, masculine scent of musk and lemongrass wrapped around me like a whispered promise. I paused, one hand still on the handle, eyes falling shut as I breathed it in and let it steady me.
‘He should bottle this,’ I murmured, a small smile tugging at my lips as the fragrance stirred something deep and strangely comforting. My pulse eased.
A shape stirred on the bed at the soft creak beneath my foot as I walked farther into the room. I went still, breath caught in my throat, until he settled again.
This was the challenging part.
I had to wake the king and convince him Iwasn’tthere to end his life before he endedmineby mistake.
My hand gripped the sleeping powder, just in case he wasn’t receptive, before I touched the fae lantern beside the bed to gradually brighten it. Men of the sword were dangerous beasts to wake, so I did my best to avoid startling him. The plan had seemed perfect in my head, but he continued sleeping, the muscles in his neck tensing as he whispered something in his dreams. I waited, but relying on the light to wake him didn’t seem to be working, so I reluctantly bent down and softly placed a hand on his arm, turning him to face me.
‘Wake up, Your Majesty,’ I whispered in a gentle tone, holding the powder ready.
At that, the king finally jerked awake, grabbing me by the neck and throwing me onto the bed. Startled, the sleeping dust fell forgotten from my hand as I caught sight of his face.
‘Gods . . . It’s you!’ I gasped, the words tumbling from my mouth as my eyes locked onto a face contorted into a dazed, hungry expression.
His mouth crashed against mine in a kiss so fierce it stole my ability to think, and I moaned helplessly as his lips devoured me. The possessiveness of the kiss, the single-minded focus with which he took me, was . . . deliciously insane. No one had ever kissed me like this.
No one had dared.
His beard tickled my skin while his tongue pressed insistently against my lips, and I let him in. The War King was a man who took what he wanted, and he caged me under his body while still protecting me from being crushed. My pulse thundered in my ears, fear dissolving into a forbidden ache I had no business feeling. My hips rose instinctively, and through the thin barrier of our clothes, I felt the friction of his hard length pressing against me.
The sensation sobered me up.
No, this is wrong!
Acting on that single thought, I bit his lip as hard as I could, grabbing an empty potion bottle from beside his bed and smashing it on his temple. He reared back just enough for me to scramble away and bolt for the door.
But gods, was he fast.
Before I knew it, he’d grasped my shoulder and spun me around, slamming my back into the wall. Whether it was the play of light or my imagination, his eye seemed to blaze with a golden glow as he towered above me, cutting off my escape.
‘You aren’t a dream.’
Bewildered, his gaze darted over every inch of my face, searching for . . . something.
Had he been dreaming of me?I hadn’t finished the thought when he shook me like a rag doll.
‘You aren’t a fucking dream!’
The golden halo around his iris shone brighter, its glow hypnotising me as it grew, filling his eye with pure, unbridled rage.
‘How are you alive?’ I whispered, shocked.
He smirked, licking his bloody lip, hissing as he probed it. ‘So eager to make me bleed again?’ he asked, wiping the blood and smearing it on my lips. ‘Here, have a taste, Viper. Is that why you came here? To finish the job?’
My heart hammered against my ribs as I stood there gaping, unable to believe my eyes.
The man I’d killed was standing before me, dressed only in silk trousers. Tall and imposing, his massive body strained against some unseen force, while the wolf-like focus in his eye turned him into a savage predator.
