Page 40 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
“Princess? Where are you?” that damned prince calls again.
I release her, growling in displeasure. Lenore turns from me, seeking Cassius through the shadows. The action sets off a blaze of fury within me. My grip is tighter than before as I clutch her jaw and turn her back to face me.
My voice is so low it’s barely a rumble. “Next time, I will fuck you until your mind is so riddled with pleasure and pain that I’m all you can think about. Until every trace of that prince’s face and voice disappears from your memory for good.”
Lenore’s pouty pink lips part. The things I want to do to that mouth. Using one finger, I press up beneath her chin until she closes her mouth.
“Next time.” Then I vanish, taking my shadows with me, once again leaving my little raven behind. Swiping my tongue along my lips, I grin. At least this time, I can take some of her with me.
Chapter 15
Lenore
Body, seriously overheating. Brain, unable to comprehend what just happened. Soul, probably left my body sometime around that fourth orgasm. Harrow had me literally seeing stars. I was praying to the gods to stop it, to grant me relief from the mind-scrambling pleasure while simultaneously begging them to never let such ecstasy end.
Harrow. Thatthingwas Harrow. Gone was the handsome icy man. In his stead was a literal monster. It was like some great winged demon. Part raven, part man, all nightmare.
Shock roots me in place. My skin is coated in sweat that turns to a chill in the cool night air. The pounding ache radiating between my thighs is proof that those things really did happen. The most terrifying part of the whole experience? The way my body sang for him, came for him. Muscles low in my core clench. I want more. I shouldn’t feel this way. My confusing physicalneeds are fighting for dominance over my morally tangled thoughts. I am so fucked up in the head right now.
“Princess.” Cassius rushes forward the minute the shadows lift. His eyes widen at the sight of me. What must I look like? Without a mirror, I can only guess how bad it is. My hair has fallen all around my shoulders. The parts of my dress I can see are demolished. I’m soaking wet from sweat and… other fluids.
“I’m alright,” I quickly offer, rising to my feet. Cassius’s broad arms snap out to catch me as my legs collapse. Dammit, did those shadows fuck the bones right out of me? My body is wrecked. My limbs are like gelatin.
“I’ve got you.” Cassius pulls me into his chest, allowing me a few seconds to find my footing. I breathe in his spicy scent, the warmth of it settling over me like a blanket.
When my legs decide to work again, I take a step backward. “Sorry about that.”
“What happened to you? I can’t accept an explanation other than you were nearly devoured by the labyrinth itself.”
I cringe. ‘Devoured’ is such an appropriate word. Chewing on my bottom lip, I toil for an answer that doesn’t involve being eaten out by a monster. “The dark forest is so close by. Some of its darkness must have seeped into the labyrinth. It… it must have tried to drag me into the woods. I had to fight back.”
His gaze shifts in the direction of the forest. “Why did you not call out to the guards?”
“I did. The darkness must have stolen my voice.” The lies come so easily. My voice was stolen, so that part is true. Not by terror, but by some type of shadow gag. I definitely don’t have the time to think about that right now nor the desire to share that information with the prince. “How did you find me?”
“I looked everywhere for you after King Hoff fell, but you were gone. I feared you’d drunk the wine yourself and had been hauled away by some unknown enemy.” He takes my hands,drawing them into his chest. “When you didn’t turn up, I thought you may have run from the castle in fear. I remembered you said you knew the labyrinth inside and out. My best guess was that you sought refuge here. I came as swiftly as my legs would carry me, but the ways of the maze are foreign to me.”
His confession pulls me further from my lusty haze. The prince actually listened to me that day in the gardens.
I blow out a puff of breath. “You made it through surprisingly fast.”A little too fast. What did Harrow have in store for me next?
“Let us return to the castle, Princess. Everyone is worried sick.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “King Hoff is dead and the culprit is still at large. We need to get you someplace safe.”
Cassius keeps one of my hands in his and places the other lightly on my lower back. He strides—shoulders back, his head held high and his footsteps measured—away from the heart of the maze. I can’t help the light laugh that slips out.
He looks both ways before peering down at me sheepishly. “I’m going the wrong way, aren’t I?”
I nod. “Yes, but you were doing so with such confidence.”
He laughs, putting his bright smile on full display. “Would you mind leading the way this time?”
Smiling, I tug him in the right direction. Why is it I can’t seem to stop smiling around Cassius?
The sharp caw of a raven perched overhead has me nearly jumping out of my skin. Jade-green eyes leer down at me.
“That damn bird again,” Cassius grumbles.
That is no ordinary bird. The darkness surrounding the raven has Harrow’s name written all over it. Mytha. The woman, or thing from the Underworld. It must be her.
