Page 82 of Swift Wings Shadowed Heart
I melt into his arms, a strange feeling washing over me. I try to put a finger on it, but I can’t decipher what it is.
“Oh, Rhealyn, what have you done to me?” he asks, then pulls away, shaking his head.
I hold on to the edge of the pool, my arms feeling empty. I wrap them around myself, covering my breasts. Nodding my head, I give him a sad smile, my defenses going up.
“I know,” I say. “We shouldn’t have. It was a mistake.”
He’s quiet for a moment, blue eyes scrutinizing me. At last, he says, “Yes. Thisisa mistake, but I’ve never been the type of man to do anything in half measures. I already was having a tough time getting you out of my head, Rhealyn. After tonight, it will be impossible. So if you’ll let me, I won’t only own this mistake, I will make it over and over again.”
His vehemence takes me by surprise. I don’t know how to respond. What he’s saying is incongruous with the man I know, and it makes it clear that my assumptions about who he is are entirely wrong. I never thought he would risk his position in the Sky Order for any reason at all, much less a dalliance. And what about me? Am I willing to do that?
“I… maybe it isn’t wise,” I manage.
“I never said it was.” His mouth tips, forming that crooked smile that makes his blue eyes fill with dark mischief, a spark that makes me wonder what sort of dark thoughts cross his mind and what unspeakable deeds he has committed.
“I don’t want to lose any of this.” I gesture all around me.
“I can keep secrets. Can you?”
If he only knew. I almost laugh out loud. If he even had a glimpse of the secrets I’m holding, would he be so willing to risk so much? This is a bad idea. If we’re found out, it could destroy us both. The King would never sanction a couple like us. He feels sufficiently threatened by our separate strengths as it is.
Yet, as I consider telling him we can’t let this go further than it already has, my stomach twists with discomfort, a clear sign that my body is entirely opposed to my brain.
So instead of irrevocably sayingno, this is what comes out of my mouth, “I need to think about it.”
He nods, that spark of mischief growing brighter in his eyes. “I hope tonight I have given you plenty of food for thought.”
Turning, he takes the stairs and climbs out of the pool. My mouth goes dry at the sight of his muscular back. His shoulders are round boulders that ripple as he moves.And Goddess!Is it legal for a man to have a bottom like that? But what else was I expecting? The man is all muscle, and those magnificent thighs couldn’t be paired with anything less glorious.
He takes a robe from one of the pegs. I will him to turn and give me a good look at his front before he puts it on, but he slips one arm in, and then the other, ruining the view. He starts to face me, robe open in the front. I salivate with anticipation, but in the last instant, just as I’m about to catch a glimpse of that powerful shaft I felt against my abdomen, he closes the robe and ties the belt.
Wyrm’s rot!It’s not fair. He got to see every part of me.
He starts to leave but stops abruptly. “Oh, you should know that I will start taking Stillseed. If you decide you would like to… make another mistake, I won’t miss the opportunity to fuck you and hear you beg. Not again.”
36
Rhea
In the morning, I jump in for a cold shower to make myself feel alive. After Vaylen left me in the hot spring pool, I waited to make sure he was gone, then gathered my things. I hid everything under my robe as best as I could, then sneaked back to my bedroom.
Once there, I hung everything to dry and sat at the edge of my bed, gaze glued to the floor while my thoughts churned like a stew roiling over a stove. Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep.
In the shower, I absentmindedly scrub my face, everything that happened yesterday slowly coming back to me.Damn!As if it weren’t enough with the Chief Inspector’s visit looming over me like a bad omen, I’d gone and had sex with my Prime.
By the four winds!What have I done?
At least Vaylen didn’t find out what I was up to. That would have been the ember’s brightest glow.
At last, the chilled water chases away the heavy sleep that threatens to slam my eyelids shut, and I make it to the mess hall for breakfast.
Vaylen sits at the Prime’s table with his usual sternness. He doesn’t glance in my direction as I make my way to my friends, who already seem halfway through their meals.
“I can keep secrets. Can you?”Vaylen’s words echo in my mind, the memory of his suggestive tone sending a thrill down my belly.
“Where were you last night?” Adelaide asks as she butters a piece of toast.
Phoebe sends a reproachful glance in her direction. She probably thinks I was hiding from Silas and doesn’t want to make me feel bad.
