Chapter Thirteen Riela #2
was staring at the ceiling, but it had been infinitely boring, so despite the awkwardness, I must’ve fallen asleep.
At some point in the last few hours, Garrick and I had switched places. Now I had him pinned to the bed, and I was lying nearly on top of him, with my cheek pressed against his sternum and my legs sprawled over
his.
I’d been nuzzling his barely covered chest. And now that I was awake, I definitely was not noticing how nice his body felt under mine.
It was too late to pretend to be asleep, so I mentally shrugged and snuggled in farther. If he was going to kill me, I might
as well enjoy my last few minutes. “You used me as your personal heater earlier, so consider this payback,” I murmured.
“I did no such thing.”
I should probably be offended at the level of outrage in his tone, but I just chuckled. “You absolutely did. I tried to get
up and you refused to let go. You don’t remember?”
He stiffly admitted, “No, I don’t remember.” After a moment, he added, “I apologize.”
The words sounded like they’d been dragged out of him, but he seemed sincere.
“Does that mean I should apologize for snuggling you now?” I asked without lifting my head.
When he didn’t respond, I propped myself up so I could see his face. Mistake. This close, I could see every detail. Whatever had scarred him had missed his eye by the narrowest of margins. And his eyes . . .
they weren’t solid silver, they were a multitude of shades from storm gray to platinum, and the color constantly shifted.
It was mesmerizing, so I dropped my gaze, but that left me staring at his mouth, which wasn’t much better.
His lips parted, and I was so focused on their movement that I nearly missed his words. “You don’t need to apologize,” he
said, his voice low and rough.
What would it be like to hear him growl my name in that exact tone? I shivered with desire. But as much as I wanted him, he
was still an Etheri king—one I wasn’t entirely sure was on my side.
Time to put some distance between us.
Unfortunately, I was tangled in the sheet, which made leaving more difficult than expected. I moved my leg higher to help
me balance, and Garrick’s jaw clenched. It took me a second to process exactly what I was feeling: he was hard, and my thigh
was now resting directly atop his erection.
His impressive erection.
Before I could remember how to move, he rolled over, taking me with him. My thighs parted, and his hips landed between them
like he was meant to be there. We were both clothed, but the friction still sent delicious waves of ecstasy skating along
my nerves.
Garrick’s expression shimmered with heat and hunger as he lowered his head toward mine. All thoughts of putting space between
us vanished. I wanted him closer.
I lifted my arms to pull him down, but he stilled and tipped his head to the side as his magic rose. “Why is there a dagger
in the bed?”
The question was mild, but it felt fraught nonetheless.
It was difficult to think with his hips pinning me in place with delicious weight—weight that could be used to seize as easily as seduce.
Last night’s anxiety began to creep back in.
“I didn’t know why you were unconscious.
I was worried something would try to break in and finish the job.
Why were you unconscious? Were you attacked? ”
He leaned closer, and I bit my lip. He was still hard, and every time he shifted, he rubbed against me in a way that made
my toes curl. My body didn’t care that he was dangerous, it just wanted relief—now.
“You were trying to protect me?” he asked, voice deceptively soft.
I snorted. “For all the good it would’ve done, yes. Anything that could take out an Etheri sovereign would’ve made short work
of me, but I felt better having a weapon nearby.”
One dark eyebrow rose. “Are you sure you know how to wield a dagger?”
“Of course.” I kept my voice light and the memory of the fight with the chagri locked down. “The pointy end goes toward the
monster, the other end stays in my hand, and then I start stabbing.”
I mimed stabbing an imaginary foe with more enthusiasm than skill, and Garrick barked out a surprised laugh. The vibration
buzzed directly between my legs in a white-hot bolt of pleasure. I instinctively arched into him, chasing more, and his laughter ended in a groan.
Garrick thrust against me once, twice. I moaned and rolled my hips with him, urging him on.
He bit out something in an unknown language, then jerked back, breaking the connection between our bodies. I groaned at the
loss and reached for him, but he had retreated to the far end of the bed. His face had lost all of its previous warmth, leaving
me chilled.
A moment later, Grim padded out of the bathroom. Garrick touched the floor and there was a pulse of magic, then Grim disappeared.
Pleasure and disappointment and confusion jumbled together. Why had he stopped? His closed expression did not invite questions, but I refused to let that deter me—at least, not entirely.
I sat up with as much dignity as I could muster and cleared my throat. Garrick’s jaw tensed, but I wasn’t going to ask about
the past few minutes.
I could take a hint.
Instead, I asked, “What happened last night? You were out cold, and I couldn’t open the door.”
“Renewing the protection charms on all of the boundary stones at once was enough to tax even my power,” Garrick told the far
wall.
I remembered the searing agony that had come with diverting the flood. I’d refused to die from the rampaging water, but by
the end, I’d thought the magic would take my life in return for saving everyone else. It hadn’t, but apparently it had been
a near thing.
My power was a mere drop compared to the magic of one of the six Etheri sovereigns. Just how powerful were the protection
charms around the castle if renewing them drained Garrick so deeply?
And how had I destroyed half of them?
Anxiety fluttered through me. I was amassing a debt I would never be able to repay, no matter how much magic I gave him. What
would happen when he tired of my many failures and turned me out?
Or, potentially worse, decided I couldn’t leave at all because of the risk of King Roseguard finding me?
My breath caught and the room shrank as the full implication of what it meant to be hunted by the Blood King began to sink
in. Would I be trapped in this castle forever, a prisoner in all but name?
Garrick slanted a glance at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Will you take me to the edge of the forest? Please?”
He frowned, and I braced myself for rejection. The walls shrank further. “Please,” I begged again, past pride.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” he said and my heart sank. After a moment, he sighed and added, “But if you must go, then I will
take you.”
I peered at him. Perhaps questioning him was foolish when he’d already agreed, but I had to know. “Why would you risk yourself for something you think is pointless?”
His expression hardened. “Because hope is the most dangerous thing of all.”