Page 18 of The Sunbound Princess
“You’re there, my lady.”
The title put heat in my cheeks. Correcting him risked opening doors I wasn’t certain how to close, so I murmured my thanks and stretched on the ground.
The ferns were dry and surprisingly soft, and it wasn’t long before sleep tugged at my eyelids. The Dokimasi was a low hum in my chest, and I couldn’t resist slanting a look in Dain’s direction.
He lay on his back, his thick fingers folded over his broad chest and his lashes against his cheeks. Somehow, I knew he wasn’t sleeping.
Whatever connection bound us together, I’d unravel it in the morning. Turning onto my side, I pulled my cloak over me and let sleep tug me into its arms.
The next timeI opened my eyes, the fire was nothing more than a few glowing embers. Moonlight flooded the campsite. Stars winked in the sky.
And Nikolas and Dain were gone.
I bolted upright, my cloak puddling at my waist. Helios slept propped against a tree, his chin on his chest and a soft snore rumbling from his nose. Like the sun, he wouldn’t rise until daybreak.
Panic gripped me as I stared at the sky, trying to gauge the time. Why would Dain and Nikolas justleave? Where could they have gone? Instinctively, I patted my bodice for my coin purse, only to remember the villagers had stolen it.
And now two other thieves had left me stranded in a strange, human forest. Helios was right. I’d been stupid to trust the men. And now I was alone in Saldu Kuum. For all I knew, Nikolas andDain were working with the villagers just like the sheriff. They were probably on their way back to the clearing to fetch?—
The sound of splashing water halted my runaway thoughts. I peered into the shadowed forest, straining for more sounds.
There.The low rumble of male voices, followed by more splashing. A soft chuckle.
Curiosity—and something else I didn’t want to acknowledge—pulled me to my feet. With a final glance at Helios, I gathered my skirts and crept through the trees, careful to move as soundlessly as possible.
A few moments later, I paused behind a thick stand of trees a dozen steps from the riverbank. My breath caught—and it wasn’t because of the striking landscape.
No, thestrikingpart was the two nude men standing in the river. They faced away, the water reaching to their knees, which gave me a clear view of their thick, powerful thighs and round buttocks.
Dain’s hair was unbound, the wet mass reaching the center of his back. He bent forward, splashing water over his arms and chest, and his heavy sack and thick penis dangled between his thighs.
I clapped a hasty hand over my mouth.Turn around, a little voice in my head urged. I had to turn around and go back to camp. This was a private moment, and it was wrong to watch.
But my feet didn’t move. My heart galloped like an unbroken horse as I leaned forward, fixated on the men.
Nikolas angled his body toward Dain, his elegant nose and firm jaw in profile. Moonlight silvered the water droplets clinging to his chest, making them glitter like stars against his skin. He was leaner than Dain but no less powerful, his biceps flexing as he ran his hands through his wet hair. A bead of moisture traveled a slow path down his stomach.
I followed it, digging my teeth into my bottom lip as the droplet bumped over the ridges of his abs. It disappeared in the thatch of tight, dark curls above his dick.
Don’t look lower, the little voice—which sounded a lot like Helios—said in my mind.
I looked—and froze at the size of him. His shaft was long and thick, the surface traced with veins visible even with the distance between us.
“Want me to help you wash your hair?” Nikolas said, one corner of his mouth quirking in a grin.
Dain stooped and sent a handful of water toward Nikolas. “And get my scalp ripped off? No thanks.”
Nikolas dodged the spray with a deep chuckle. “That’s not what you said last time. I believe your exact words weremagic fingers.”
“I was being polite,” Dain said, but his tone was warm. He faced Nikolas, and the two of them drifted closer, water lapping around their knees.
A tingling awareness settled over me as I looked between them. They were friends…right?
Nikolas rubbed a big hand over his mouth, the edges of his smile peeking around his palm. But the look in his eyes was anything but amused as he ran his gaze down Dain’s body. “I thought you appreciated a firm hand.”
Dain snorted, and his cock bobbed as he lifted his arms and wrung water from his hair. A single drop of river water clung to the tip of his rounded shaft. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” Nikolas moved forward until they were nearly chest to chest. “Turn around,” he said huskily. “I’ll be gentle this time.”
