Page 223 of The Spider Queen
I needed a distraction. “So. You’re a dragon?” I blurted out.
Her blue eyes, the color of aquamarines in sunlight, glinted with humor. “Sometimes. You’re a spider?”
“Sometimes.”
We shared a laugh and then she sobered. “I saw you—jump in front of Thane.”
I inhaled a shaky breath. “Yeah. I did that, didn’t I?”
Auri’s gaze met mine. “I also saw him weep over your dead body. It’s difficult to kill an immortal, but not impossible. Youweredead. And then you weren’t. How?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Emotions screamed inside of me, begging to be let out. I channeled my focus and forced them back, envisioning them behind a solid stone wall. The pressure in my head lessened immediately.
Lust blasted through me like a battering ram. Mine, Thane’s, I couldn’t tell. I looked over my shoulder to watch him.
His clothing was streaked with blood and gore, his face was lined with exhaustion, but he looked alert and ever at the ready.
He’d killed his own brother. We hadn’t had a chance to talk about that yet, either. Hadn’t a chance to talk about anything. But all that would have to wait.
My lust couldn’t.
Thane’s gaze left Gabriel’s face to rest on mine. His black eyes were unwavering as I pulled the blanket closer to my body and made a motion to stand.
He said something to Gabriel and then stalked toward me.
“Ah, crap,” Auri muttered. “You guys will be loud, no doubt.”
At any other time, I would’ve laughed and thrown it right back at her. But I was too focused on the man coming for me. Thane swept me up into his arms and carried me toward the forest.
“Hey, Gabriel!” I heard Auri yell. “You up for blowing off some steam?”
Seemed like I wasn’t the only one in the throes of bloodlust.
I stared at Thane. His jaw was tight. I didn’t dare try to soothe him. I didn’t want soft, anyway. I’d ask for tenderness later. Right now, I needed it rough. I needed to be branded. I needed to remember what it felt like to be loved by him.
A few feet before the tree line of the forest, we came to a tent. Thane pushed aside the silken curtain and stepped inside. Sunlight filtered through the filmy material.
“We have complete privacy,” he said. He removed his arms from underneath my legs, and I slowly slid to the ground. I took a few steps away from him, trying to get myself under control.
“Are you afraid of me?” he rasped. His voice sounded harsh, like he had trouble forming words.
I whirled. “How can you even ask that?”
His shoulders were taut, and he watched me with a predatory stillness while he waited.
“It’s not you. It’s me.” I laughed, but there wasn’t humor in it. “Sorry, that came out—that’s not what I—Iam the one who…who…”
“Died?”
I nodded.
“You’re not the same.”
“I’m not. No.”
“Do you still love me?”
