Page 161 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
My eyelids fluttered as he approached; good thing he couldn’t see how fast was heating up after Ifelthis short intake of breath as his eyes roamed down my back.
Skin still slightly damp, I wore one of the silky slips in my wardrobe. The soft fabric clung to my body as small drops of water dripped from the ends of my hair.
“Not into sneaking around?” I asked, still not turning. Gods, my voice had gone low. The very essence of Zandyr brought out a nymph from inside me. I had no clue where she was hiding most of the time or why she’d chosen this moment to come out.
Zandyr hummed low in his throat, the heat of him tempting. It would be so easy to lean back, rest against his powerful chest, and have his strong arms engulf me.
Before I could decide, one of his fingers slid up my spine, trailing one of the water droplets.
A couldn’t suppress the shiver that radiated through me when he picked up the drop on his finger. The sound of him sucking it into his mouth filled the room. Heat pooled between my thighs and I was powerless to stop it.
Ever since that night when he surprised me with Dria’s statue, I was so completely attuned to him, mind, body, and…gods, I didn’t even know what my soul was doing right now, except frantically telling me to turn and touch him.
We no longer fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed and then found ourselves entangled the next day. Now he had a hand constantly on my body, even in his sleep, as if afraid I might vanish in the dead of night.
I’d never felt anything like this before. This almost constant fixation on someone else. I’d neverwantedanyone else until Zandyr.
His small touch, as searing as it was, felt more like a question. He had sensed the turmoil Valuta had sprouted in me.
I tilted my head to the side, revealing my neck. A silent invitation he took without hesitation, circling my waist and pulling me into him.
The moment my back molded to his chest, my senses ignited even more. His nose trailed along the column of my neck, inhaling deeply. It made me weak in the knees. Good thing his strong arms coiled around me, to ground me.
Such a simple gesture. I wonder if he knew how much I’d been craving it all day.
“Between the two of us, you’re the expert at sneaking,” he murmured.
Because he was the mighty prince and I was the Protectorate usurper. I didn’t kid myself, the Oracle had assuaged some of the Capital’s fears, but not all. There was a long road in front of me to gain this Clan’s trust. The harder I thought about it, the longer and more perilous the journey felt.
But not impossible.
“You’ve had an eventful day. I could feel it,” he whispered against my skin, as if he didn’t want anyone else in the world to hear. So nobody else knew how we burned for each other. A secret only meant for the two of us.
My mouth went dry. I still hadn’t turned. “I did.”
His lips ghosted over the junction of my neck and shoulder. Almost kissing, but not quite. Definitely driving me wild. “More breaking into dangerous places?”
“Why bother? Danger finds me whatever I do, less effort on my part.” I steeled myself against the next words that were going to spill from my lips. “Valuta paid me a visit today.”
He’d been molten desire against me until this moment. As soon as he heard her name, he stilled completely. He even stopped breathing. But I felt the sudden swirl of emotions raging inside him, pure anger above all the others.
“Luckily, she didn’t get into the house, Adara sent her away,” I went on, keeping my tone calm and light, as if discussing the beautiful weather we were having. “But she cornered me before she left.”
Zandyr’s jaw clenched so hard, I heard his teeth grinding, but he kept his voice as civil and calm as mine. “Did she now?”
“Oh, yes. She also tried to make me averytempting offer.” I swore my heart would beat itself out of my chest if I kept this up.
“How tempting?” Zandyr ground out.
“More gold than I could carry and a secret island nobody knows about to grow old and unbothered on.”
The rage inside him threatened to burst to the surface. I knew this sensation well. It was the same fire that had ravaged through me when Valuta had hinted at me leaving Zandyr. Some primal fury that would not accept that possibility.
“And what did you say?” he asked, a part of that fury snarling through his calm voice.
I took a deep breath, the air around us crackling with tension. “That I’ll think about it.”
If I thought he was angered before, it was nothing compared to the explosion of wrath spiraling inside him. But there was more there. The fury was laced with deep, crushing disappointment.
