Chapter 8 #3
Serenna threw her arms around the prince’s neck as their mouths collided. She kissed him desperately, met with the same urgency as their lips fused together between gasps for breath. Weaving her fingers through his silvery hair, Serenna greedily pressed into him.
Vesryn’s mouth muffled her moan as he pinned her to the cell floor, settling between her thighs.
Serenna inhaled a hiss of pain when his teeth grazed her split lip.
Apparently he wanted her to feel it, not absorbing the sting through the bond.
The prince deepened the kiss, his tongue soothing over the sharp twinge with a tingle of pleasure before diving further into her mouth.
The bond’s magic writhed under Serenna’s skin, blurring all sense of who the frenzied need belonged to.
She combusted with an explosion of desire when Vesryn rolled his hips rhythmically against hers, driving her into the ground.
Tongues intertwining, Serenna arched into him, losing all capacity for thought.
Their bodies clashed, frantically moving faster and faster.
The leathers between them were too much. She needed more. Snaking her fingers between them, Serenna grappled with the ties of his trousers.
One of Vesryn’s hands shot down and circled both of her wrists. He wrenched her arms above her head. Cheeks stained with a flush, the prince was just as out of breath as she was when he pulled away.
“Not here with a wraith,” he said.
As if he wasn’t the one pounding their bodies into the floor. “Then toss it through a portal,” Serenna protested, hooking her legs around his waist, fighting to pull him closer.
“Your training session isn’t over.” Untangling himself from her, Vesryn retreated with a chuckle. He pushed Serenna’s eager hands away when she tried to haul him back on top of her.
“Of course it isn’t.” Serenna released a disgusted sigh, sitting back up.
With an irritated huff, she retied the laces to her bodice, unsurprised that the prince had loosened them without her knowledge. What am I doing? She paused on a knot. On a dungeon floor, no less. She glanced at the wraith, still mindlessly flailing against Vesryn’s restrictive magic.
He’s promised to Ayla, she sharply reminded herself.
That thought extinguished any lingering kindling of lust. I want to be something more than his plaything.
Serenna’s heart twisted at the distance the realm had established between her and the prince, even if no one would bat an eye if they were involved.
I just want to feel like I belong somewhere.
Serenna pulled her legs to her chest, lacing her fingers around her knees. Working up the courage to put her unease into words, she cleared her throat, unsure how to voice her concerns without succumbing to envy. “About this bond and your engagement…” The scowl on the prince’s face made her falter.
“We’re here for your training,” Vesryn said, his irritation flashing through their connection. Flaring Essence, he tugged a water flask to his hand that she hadn’t noticed resting against a wall. “I’m in no mood to discuss my royal responsibilities.”
Conveniently, he never seemed to be in the mood for that. Serenna opened her mouth to press on with a question about Ayla, but bit her tongue when Vesryn clenched his jaw, shoving the canteen at her.
“You need to be ready if the wraith return.” A command. His tone suggested that now wasn’t the time for the conversation she wanted—needed—to have.
Serenna didn’t feel like she was asking for a lot. I just want some assurance of what will happen to us once he’s married off.
She drank from the offered flask while her heart battled with shame and dejection, sinking her with doubts.
Resentment of her failures sent her in a downward spiral.
I don’t deserve to be his champion, let alone anything more.
I’m a liability to him, not an asset. Defeat pricked at the corners of her vision.
Unable to meet Vesryn’s eyes, Serenna absorbed herself with twisting the cap back on the canteen as she assembled her thoughts.
“I’m sorry my incompetence distracted you during the attack.
” Despair needled an ache in her chest. She swallowed, making a poor attempt at furiously blinking away a stream of tears.
Her voice broke without her permission under the strain of her inadequacies.
“I understand if you want to reject the bond—”
“What?” Vesryn interrupted her. He cupped her face, turning her head to meet his gaze, eyes searching hers.
Serenna barely heard her words. “You were so angry when you brought me here.” She hastily swiped at a stray tear before it spilled down her face.
“I’m not angry with you.” Vesryn’s eyes softened as his thumb brushed her cheek.
“I’m angry at the wraith. And furious that I wasn’t able to protect you.
That’s why we’re doing this.” He dropped his hand, his brow forming a severe ridge.
“I want to ensure you can defend yourself in case…I can’t be there.
” His voice lowered, and she sensed regret rolling through him. “Again.”
Serenna rapidly blinked, processing his words. “Oh.”
Relief unwound the tension in her shoulders.
He couldn’t have said that when we portaled here?
Serenna studied the snarling wraith, talons clacking as it clenched its claws, still mindlessly fighting the shadowy restraints.
Regardless of the prince’s motive, he wasn’t wrong.
I need to be able to fend for myself. I can’t always count on being rescued.
They sank into a swelling silence. Vesryn unfolded from the ground, offering a hand to help her rise.
“Wraith can fade into shadows unless they’re in bright light.
” Vesryn suddenly dispelled the illumination, plunging the cell into darkness.
“We’ll level the playing field.” His voice echoed from every direction as he left Serenna’s side.
“If you can detect their life force in the dark, their invisibility won’t be a match for you. ”
Serenna slumped with a weary sigh, hearing the wraith charge across the chambers. “I really hate you,” she muttered.