Page 33 of Clash of Storms
"She's beautiful."
"If one is inclined toward blondes, then yes."
Malin's eyes narrowed. "You don't like blondes?"
"I quite like blondes. I've bedded many blondes."
But it seems I prefer women with darker hair.
And bottomless, galaxy-spanning eyes.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Damn her.
"You don't like princesses?"
"I have no qualms with princesses."
Malin slowly lowered the fur, giving him a glimpse of her pillow-shaped mouth. He lost himself in the shape of her lips, imagining the soft intake of breath upon them as he leaned closer and—
"Do you prefer men?" she asked.
"What?" Sirius blinked back to the here and now.
"Men," she whispered. "It's not entirely uncommon, and would explain why you don't take lovers."
Of all the—Sirius glared at the fire. "Why this sudden fascination with my bed and the contents of it?"
"I'm not fascinated with your bed! I'm just.... You were betrothed to the princess, and yet you willingly allowed her to leave. I'm trying to understand why. I'm trying to work out if I can trust you. And that wasn't a no."
"No, I do not prefer men," he stated very clearly, leaving no room for her to misinterpret his statement. He knew there were certaindrekiwho did, but he wanted no mistakes of intention between him and his mate. "And why don't we turn the statement around: your bed is empty too. As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been a single soul within it. Ever. Any particular reason?"
"How would you even know that?"
Because I've spent the last ten years watching you, tormented by the thought of another male taking what belongs to me....
"Wouldn't you like to know? And that wasn't an answer, Malin."
Oh, she didn't like him turning her own questions back upon her.
Nor did she seem to appreciate hearing her name on his lips, each consonant lovingly caressed.
"You might have noticed the court tends to spurn me and my kind," she said, her cheeks flushing with heat. "I want a lover who treats me as an equal. A lover who courts me and showers me with affection." Her gaze took on a dreamy quality. "I want a drekling who loves me. And I won't accept anything less."
"A drekling?" His heart skipped a beat.
Malin gave him an odd look. "Or a human."
"Nodrekimale on that list?"
"Adreki? One of those vile, inbred bastards at court? No. No, thank you. You may have noticed, my prince, thatImyself am a drekling, and hence beneath the notice ofdrekimales."
"I have noticed," he muttered under his breath.
His father would kill him if he even suspected Sirius had found his true flame in a drekling woman.
He'd never have the power he yearned for.
But for one heart-stopping moment, thedrekiwithin him hissed and stretched beneath his skin. It didn't care whether Malin would cost him everything. It merely wanted her.
