Chapter 16 #4
Xandros' gaze moved over my face, lingering as though he were still making certain I had survived the road in one piece. “You trusted me to keep you safe here.”
The pull beneath my ribs tightened again.
I had followed him, knowing what his brother wanted from me. Knowing the road might close behind us. Knowing Xandros had already defied his king once rather than hand me over.
“I trusted you.”
His breath caught, and the tension in his hands eased.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You were trying to leave me behind.”
“Those were unfortunately the same thing.”
The corner of my mouth pulled despite myself. “You make being protected incredibly irritating.”
His breath huffed into something close to a laugh. “You make protecting you remarkably difficult.”
My fingers flexed near the sword at my hip. I had spent years walking the Deepwood with a blade in my hand and the Wild at my back, trained to meet whatever crossed the boundary before it could reach anyone else. I knew how to keep myself alive.
Apparently, convincing Xandros of that was going to be another fight entirely.
Neither of us moved away.
He stood close enough now that I had to tip my face back to hold his gaze, and the heat of him pressed through the narrow space between us.
A flush spread beneath my skin, carrying away what remained of my anger.
Xandros moved closer until his chest nearly brushed mine. Storm-charged air and sultry amber filled my next breath, and gold brightened beneath the constellations climbing his throat.
His gaze dropped to my mouth.
My breath caught as his eyes lingered there before slowly lifting to mine. The space between us had narrowed enough that his next breath seared my lips, and the silver in his eyes seemed almost too bright this close.
My pulse quickened until every beat seemed to send another wave of heat through me. It rose across my chest and throat, pebbling my skin, while a deeper spark caught behind my ribs like a banked ember taking air and spread slowly down into my thighs.
I reached for him.
The front of his cloak was warm beneath my palm, the heavy fabric bunching between my fingers as I curled them into it and pulled.
Something in his expression broke.
His hand caught hold of my waist as he came down to meet me, firm enough to draw me against him, and his other hand slid along my jaw before his mouth found mine.
The first press of his lips stole the breath from my lungs.
He tasted faintly of spice and something darker I couldn’t name, rich against my tongue when the kiss deepened. My fist tightened in his cloak as I arched into him, meeting the solid planes of his chest and stomach through layers that suddenly felt far too thick between us.
Xandros made a low sound against my mouth, and fire flashed through me.
My hands left his cloak and slid upward, finding the heated skin at the sides of his neck before pushing into the pale hair at his nape. The strands slipped cool and soft between my fingers, and I fisted them hard enough to pull his head closer.
His mouth turned hungry.
The careful restraint I had felt moments before vanished as his lips moved harder against mine, his tongue sweeping into my mouth while his hand tightened at my waist. I answered with everything I had spent weeks refusing to name, pulling at his hair and pressing closer until I could feel every hard line of him against me.
His other hand slid down my back.
Lower.
His fingers closed around my hips tightly.
A breath broke from me into his mouth as he gripped me and lifted.
My body reacted before my thoughts could catch up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking myself against him as his hands held me there, and the sudden pressure of his body between my thighs sent another flaming rush through me so sharp that I sucked in a breath against his lips.
Xandros followed the sound, kissing me deeper.
A knock thundered against the door.
I jerked in his arms.
For one breath, neither of us moved. My legs were still locked around his waist, his hands firm beneath me, and his mouth remained close enough that the warmth of his breath touched mine.
The knock came again, hard enough to shake the latch this time.
Xandros lowered his forehead against mine with a quiet curse, his breath panting against my lips.
“Your Highness.”
His entire body tightened.
I loosened my legs from around him, and his hands slid upward to my waist as he lowered me carefully to the floor. My boots had barely settled beneath me when another voice carried through the door.
“His Majesty requests the pleasure of your company at dinner.”
Xandros' jaw hardened.
I smoothed a hand over my tunic, which accomplished absolutely nothing.
“Both of you,” the male added.
Xandros looked toward the door. “When?”
“At the evening bell.”
The silence that followed stretched long enough for unease to work beneath my skin. Then the male spoke again.
“His Majesty has also sent appropriate clothing for the Druid.”
Xandros went completely still.
Something heavy touched the floor outside the door, followed by retreating footsteps.
My fists clenched at my sides.
The Moon King had not met me yet. Somehow, that hadn’t stopped him from making his first move.