Chapter 40
This time, I let the moan take over—even more so when he forces me to walk backward so that my back is pressed to the wall.
He drops heated kisses on my throat as I lace my arms around the back of his neck. As he starts to pick me up, coaxing my mouth open a bit more with his tongue, we hear a solid thud sound in the building.
I gasp and drop my leg. Thane freezes, looking toward the sound. His orbs disappear.
I hear footsteps click along the marble floors, coming from the hallway.
“Who’s there?” someone calls out.
Thane takes my hand, and I immediately feel warmth coating my skin as a guard steps around a corner and marches into the gallery.
He holds my hand tight, allowing the whispershade to take effect while the guard walks deeper into the room, searching the area with a slight frown and a hand on the pommel of his sword.
His iridescent buffers gleam under the spotlight, appearing more like pearls left in the sun.
My heart speeds up as the guard looks past us. If he takes one more step closer, he’ll bump into us. Thane’s whispershade can hide us from view, but it doesn’t prevent touch.
Raising his left hand, Thane gives his wrist a flick. One of the paintings across the room falls off the wall and crashes to the ground. I’m glad it’s not a Devell piece.
“What the shadows?” The guard whirls around, storming across the room to inspect the fallen painting. When he does, Thane tugs on my hand, and we hightail it for the exit.
Our footsteps thunder across the tiles, and the guard shouts, “What the shadows?” so loudly it echoes through the building.
We don’t stop running until we reach the end of the footpath leading to the inner city.
Coming to a halt between two buildings, Thane takes a sweep of the area while I place a hand on the wall to catch my breath.
A stretch of silence passes between us as we look at each other.
Then the widest smile I’ve ever seen spreads across his face before he breaks out in deep laughter.
I bust out laughing myself, despite the burning sensation in my lungs. “Oh my gods,” I wheeze. “Did you see that guard’s face?”
“I think we scared the shadows out of him.” Thane’s laughter continues. I’ve never heard him laugh like this. It’s always a grunt or a dark chuckle. But this laugh is brighter, clearer—infectious, even. This is a new side of him, one I very much enjoy.
I press the back of my head to the cool wall. “I shouldn’t be having this much fun during a death journey.”
Thane shrugs his shoulders. “Better to laugh your way through it.”
I swallow hard to clear the dryness in my throat, breathing a little easier now. “Can I be honest with you?”
He nods. “Of course.”
“I just… I worry that I won’t make it back to Analla. What if that captain doesn’t show tomorrow, or even the day after?”
“We’ll steal a boat,” he says.
I frown and fold my arms.
“Fine. We’ll buy a boat,” he corrects himself.
I sigh. “Being on a speedship will be interesting. I’ve never been on one before.”
“Neither have I.”
I push off the wall, wiping my forehead. “Anyway, we should probably get back to the inn before that guard comes looking for us.”
Thane gestures in the direction of Irina’s inn, allowing me to take the lead.
…
The bath in our room is perfection. I feel like I can swim in the wide clawfoot tub.
The many scented soaps and the warm water that pumps straight from the heating well are such pleasures.
To top it off, the towels are nice and fluffy.
I wrap myself in one before putting on the nightgown I got from the wardrobe in Bernwood.
Gadonia is way ahead of any other kingdom when it comes to inventions and convenience.
When I walk into the room neither Thane nor I wanted to share, it hits me that there’s only one bed. I try not to react as I sit on the edge of the mattress to detangle my hair and then braid it into sections.
As I do, I look at the sofa in the corner of the room, where Thane is making it into a bed.
“I’m curious about something,” I say after several minutes tick by.
“Mmm.” Thane glances at me.
“Why didn’t you push back harder about the rooms? You could’ve easily told Algar that you were sharing with him, and it would’ve been final. You know he was joking about Zephra, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
My heart flutters. “So you wanted to be in this room with me?”
“I agreed to protect you,” he murmurs. “I can’t do that if I’m in another room.”
“You were in another room in Bernwood,” I remind him.
He removes a quilt from the wardrobe. “I put a lock spell around your door.”
“You did what?”
“While you slept,” he adds as he spreads the quilt on the sofa. “No one could approach it or come in, but you could leave whenever you wanted. I’d have felt you leaving, though.”
“Thane,” I breathe in disbelief.
Maybe Kelrean did try to come to my room, after all, but couldn’t get close…because of Thane. For all I know, Kelrean assumed I wanted the spell in place so I wouldn’t be bothered. It should frustrate me that Thane did that…but it ignites something in me instead.
Thane begins to remove his boots.
I hesitate before saying, “You don’t have to sleep there.”
“I figured you’d want space.”
“This bed is huge. And as long as you don’t punch or jab in your sleep, I don’t mind sharing.”
“I may have a habit of throwing an elbow or two in my sleep.”
I pause as I regard him. “I can’t tell if you’re joking…”
He smiles. “I am.”
I laugh. Seriously. I like this side of Thane.
A stretch of silence spreads through the room.
After I’m done with my last braid, I dry my hands off and adjust my nightgown, which seems to be clinging to my curves now. “Well…feel free to climb in.” I place my spectacles on a side table, then lift the cream-colored quilt on the bed.
Thane watches every action, eyes blazing, hardly moving.
When I settle in, I flip onto my right side. At first, the room is quiet and still. Thane hardly moves, and I’m practically holding my breath. My pulse quickens as I wait to see if he’ll take the invitation.
Then I hear rustling.
Clothes dropping to the floor in gentle wooshes.
The bed dips behind me, and a gust of air flies beneath the quilt as Thane slides into the bed.
He doesn’t touch me, but I notice the magic-infused bulbs in the room slowly dimming.
When I glance over my shoulder, one of his hands is in the air to control them.
He only leaves one light on across the room so we’re now bathed in darkness.
“You’re a bold one, Quinlocke.” His voice seems louder in the dark.
“Am I?”
“I took you as a coy woman. I mean, other than when you constantly talk and ask the most annoying questions.”
I fight a smile.
I feel him shift closer. His skin is warm, radiating on mine. He smells like smoke and pine, shadows and salt.
“Why do you really want me in this bed?”
I gasp when I feel his mouth on the shell of my ear. His warm breath spills down the curve of my neck.
“Unlike you, I’m considerate. You’re way too big for that sofa.”
He unleashes a throaty laugh. “Lies.”
He shifts closer, and I feel his stiff erection press into my backside. I curl my fingers into the pillow beneath my head, trying to bottle my excitement.
“You asked me why I didn’t put up more of a fight for my own room, but I noticed you didn’t, either. And you know what that tells me?”
I don’t answer—can’t answer. His mouth is now skimming over the slope of my shoulder and causing a delicious stir between my thighs. I hold back a moan and close my eyes, falling victim to that simple act.
“Shall I explain?” he asks, sliding a hand over my hip to find the hem of my nightgown and ease it up.
“Explain,” I breathe as he cups my sex.
“It tells me that you want more.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
The hand that was cupping me slides into my underwear, and I hitch a breath. He skims a finger between my delicate lips. “I do now.” His laugh is dark and delicious. “You may think you can resist me, but your body will betray you every time.”
Oh, gods.
“And what about you?” I ask, breathless. “What do you want?”
“To be the only man who can do this to you for the rest of our time together. Will you give me that?”
He sucks on the bend of my neck while creating small loops around my slick bundle of nerves with his finger. I nod in pleasure, answering his question.
“What else do you want?” I ask.
“To watch you come again. Only this time, I want to witness it while I’m buried deep inside you.”
“Is it wise to go that deep?” I ask through a breathy moan. It’s now I realize I’m rolling my hips and grinding against his hand, desperate for more.
“I didn’t mean that in the physical sense.”
“Emotionally, then?”
“Precisely.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” I assure him. “It’s impossible for me to fall for an assassin.” I can’t help but smile.
He pulls his hand out of my underwear and flips me onto my back in a blink. “I’m going to trust your word on that,” he murmurs, searching my face. “Shall I?” He tugs my nightgown over my head and then gently starts to remove my underwear.
“Polite of you to ask.” I tilt my hips, and he slips them off. When his mouth claims mine, I force him out of his undergarments, then slip from under him so I can be on top. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, mounting him and catching him by total surprise.
He stares up at me, eyes glazed. One of his hands slides up to my breast, and he squeezes, playing with my nipple, while the other curls around my waist. I rock on top of him, and he expels a ragged breath, eyes roaming my body.
For once, he looks powerless, desperate, like he would rather die than be anywhere else but here.
I lean down to clasp his face in my hands and kiss him again, swallowing his groan as I grind my hips. He’s unbelievably hard right now.
When I feel like I’ve worked him up enough, I lower between his legs and settle on my knees. He watches as I lick my palm and then wrap it around his shaft.