Chapter 18 #2
“I came to escort you to court," he said, still looking at me, "only to find your chamber empty. The guard I posted, searching for you." The edge of his mouth twitched, and the muscles in his jaw worked. "Now imagine my surprise when I discovered you'd wandered here of all places.”
The way he said it — here — like the archive was a brothel.
He hadn’t sounded remotely disgusted when he’d actually taken me to one.
I gritted my teeth, my anger only increasing.
“Well, imagine my surprise when I learned I wasn’t even allowed to leave my room,” I snapped at him, “despite what His Majesty promised.”
I intentionally spat the title at him.
For a moment, Daigen said nothing. He only stared at me in silent fury, the depths of it burning deep behind his eyes.
Then, quickly: “How did you leave?”
His tone had cooled, but the fire still smouldered in his gaze.
Nakólys cleared his throat. Daigen dismissed him with a flick of the chin.
“Leave us.”
The archivist hesitated, just long enough to show he didn’t like the command, then he bowed. However, when his gaze brushed mine, I caught a flash of concern in his eyes. I smiled at him—a small, rebellious thing—and he nodded before vanishing behind the nearest aisle.
Now I was alone with Daigen again, and my crystal pulsed in warning.
Or was it longing?
As the silence stretched between us, Daigen reached behind him, his cloak sweeping to the side. My heart leapt when he pulled out the book I had been reading.
Just how long had he been in the archive? Had he been watching me?
He flicked through the pages, fanning them carelessly.
“Learn anything interesting?”
I bit my tongue, then I smiled. “I did, actually. How to say ‘leave me alone’.”
His eyes cut back to my face and there was a dark glint in them.
“Vaerün,” he said slowly, his accent thickening.
I shivered as the Old Tongue rolled from his lips.
Vay-rune.
The way he rolled the R with his thick accent, it was… intoxicating.
No. I inwardly shook my head. I couldn’t let myself think of him as attractive.
I needed to hate him. Not want him.
The side of Daigen’s cheek twitched as if he could read my thoughts.
I stood my ground and held his gaze despite the way it languidly moved across my body. Even as he leaned against the bookcase, he stood so tall that his shadow dwarfed mine, and every slow pass of his stare threatened to unravel me.
“What else did Nakólys teach you?” He tucked the book under his cloak and pushed off the bookcase.
His cloak fell back around him, the deep red a stark contrast to his dark clothing.
“Did you learn that he is also my prisoner?” A smirk curled his lips at my widening eyes.
“Ah, it appears not. Would you like to know why I imprisoned him here? Or rather, why his father did?”
He took one step towards me. I immediately stepped back, aware that only a small distance gave me room behind me. Daigen was blocking the way out. Even if I tried to slip by him and run in the other direction, I knew he was too fast and would catch me. His eyes gleamed knowingly.
“Go on. Try it.”
My back thudded against the row of books, and I shuddered at the anger unveiling itself in his voice.
“Why are you here?”
Another step, and he was only an arm’s length away. If he reached out he could crush my throat with his bare hand.
“Why… are you so angry?”
I cringed at the tremor in my voice that gave away my fear. I didn’t want him to know I was afraid, but who was I fooling? He could probably smell it.
His hands fell at either side of my face, locking me in. “You disobeyed me.”
Despite my fear, I lifted my chin, swallowing back the tremor that caught in my throat. “You went back on your word. You said I could roam freely. You said that the collar — the necklace would alert you if something was wrong.”
“And it did,” he said, very slowly, his hot breath brushing my cheeks. “It alerted me that my fated one was feeling… excited.”
“Excited?” I repeated the word just as slowly, trying to comprehend his meaning. “Excited about what?”
I could only recall feeling excited when I’d curled up to read, and then I had felt strangely relaxed in the archivist’s company.
One of Daigen’s hands moved to my shoulder.
“That, my little moondove, is what I’d like to know.
” Fingertips brushed over my clavicles, trailing a path up to my collar with a slow deliberateness that made me shiver.
I should’ve kept that damn cloak on! “Your heart rate increased, and this little pulse here, fluttered like it’s doing just now.
” He tapped the pulse in my neck, then moved his hand lower until it hovered just above my mons.
“But it was this delicious pulse here that caught my attention.”
I gasped, the sound betraying me.
My body betrayed me too, as heat pooled low, aching for him to move closer.
His hand slid to my throat again, a single finger moving slowly up and down like a predator measuring his prey’s heartbeat, deciding how much of a struggle he’d allow.
“Now why would that be?” he breathed, his lips almost touching mine.
“Let – let me go,” I gasped out, terrified I was about to kiss him.
My voice was so small it hardly sounded like mine at all.
But it was, and the fear that betrayed my body now betrayed me in my voice.
A strange tingling sensation burned deep inside me, threatening to ignite a desire too dangerous to admit.
Still, I kept my head lifted and my chin pointed stubbornly high, refusing to let him know. The subtle twitch of his lips told me that he already did.
“No,” came his dark reply, “I don’t think I will.”