Page 32 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Orion places one hand on the wall next to her head and leans closer, his eyes glinting dangerously. “You know full well that there is nothing tiny about it.”
With an arrogant expression on her features, Isera tilts her chin up to lock eyes with him. A wicked smile spreads across her lips. “Did I hurt your feelings, pretty boy?”
He clenches his hand. “Take it back.”
“Fine. It was slightly above average size.”
“You—”
She snickers and shakes her head. “So insecure.”
With his hand still on the wall, he lifts his other and traces his fingers over her throat while he rakes gleaming eyes down her shirtless chest. Then he locks eyes with her again and flashes her a lethal smile. “I excel at toying with people until they’re on their knees begging for mercy. Are you sure you want to start playing this game with me, little viper?”
“Start playing?” She arches an eyebrow at him and matches his dangerous smile with a villainous one of her own. “We’ve been playing for months already.” Lifting her hand, she gives his chin a condescending push upwards. “Keep up, pretty boy.”
Then she ducks under his arm and saunters back to where her shirt is waiting. Orion just remains standing there for another few seconds, his hand still on the wall, as if he can’t believe that she just outplayed him like that.
Then he sucks in a sharp breath between his teeth. “Her?” With a groan, he throws his hands up in exasperation. “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!”
“Would you keep it down?” Draven suddenly growls. “Some of us are still busy trying not to die.”
I gasp. Whipping my head back down, I find Draven blinking his eyes open and then squinting against the bright morning sunlight. Relief washes over me like a warm summer wave.
He coughs, scowls, and then sweeps his gaze over his surroundings. “We crashed?”
It’s half statement, half question, so I answer, “Yes. Last night.”
His attention shifts to me. For one perfect second, he is looking at me like he used to. Then his mind, or rather the unnatural flame of hatred in his chest, catches up and a jolt goes through him. He tries to sit up, as if to scramble away from me. But pain flashes across his features the moment he tries to move, and he collapses back down on the rough stone floor.
“Careful,” I snap at him. “Or your wounds are going to start bleeding again.”
He huffs and tries to glare at me, but it’s ruined by another jolt of surprise when his gaze slips down my body. Drawing his eyebrows down, he grinds out, “Put your fucking shirt back on. I don’t want to have to look at your naked body right next to me.”
“I would.” I shoot him a stare full of challenge. “But my shirt is currently protecting your cock.”
He snaps his gaze down to his crotch. Stunned silence echoes between us as he stares at the ripped-up shirt that is currently tied both around his wounds to help stop the bleeding, and around his hips to save him from having to lie here completely naked for all to see.
For a moment, I can’t read his expression at all.
Then he rubs a hand over his face and sighs, “Fuck.”
Dropping his hand, he tries to sit up again, but it just ends with him sucking in a sharp breath between his teeth and then collapsing back onto the ground. Still on my knees next to him, I try to keep my expression neutral since I know that if I push for an idea too hard, he is going to reject it just out of pure spite.
“I can give you my magic,” I say in a casual tone. “So that you will heal.”
His gaze snaps back to me. “I don’t want anything from you.”
Grinding my teeth, I suppress the sudden urge to strangle him. It’s starting to get increasingly annoying to try to have aconversation with him when that wildfire of hatred in his chest constantly defaults to arguing with every single thing I say.
“When is Grey coming back?” Draven asks, turning towards Orion instead.
The Unseelie King, who is halfway through getting dressed, pauses with his shirt in his hand and meets Draven’s gaze. “I instructed him to open three portals during the night, and if we weren’t there, his orders were to return to our court.”
“So he’s not coming back then?”
“That’s what I said.”
“It wouldn’t even matter,” I interrupt. “Because we wouldn’t have been able to get all the way back to the edge of that forest with you in this condition.” I lock hard eyes on him. “You need to heal.”
