Page 23 of The Sunbound Princess
He brought his face closer to mine, his breath fluttering over my lips. “We needsomething, Dain.”
“I know what you’re thinking?—”
“Do you?” he pressed, dark eyes glinting. “Because I thought we were in agreement. She fell into our hands for a reason.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know that.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “I know we’re out of options.” As I opened my mouth to respond, he tugged me against him, his mouth dangerously close to mine. “And before you lecture me on avoiding trouble, you have to admit it’s too late. The elf is trouble, but the very best kind.”
Desire shot to my groin. Nikolas sensed it right away, and a wicked spark entered his eyes as he trailed his hand down my arm.
“She liked watching us,” he murmured, walking his fingers to my dick. Leaning closer, he brushed his lips over mine. “And you know something else?”
Blood pounded to my cock. Still, I heard the exasperation in my voice as I grunted, “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”
He cupped my erection with a practiced hand, and his mouth made another pass over mine. “You liked her watching,” he whispered.
I dragged in a breath. “Nik?—”
Crunching leaves made us spring apart. Nikolas went to one of the logs we’d used for seating and tossed it into the trees. As he went for another, Bel and Helios appeared.
“Ready to go?” Nikolas asked, sending the log spinning into a thatch of brush. A second, unspoken question hung over the campsite.
Where are we going?
Bel held her skirts above the ground as she made her way over the leaves. As she neared me, magic flared hot in my chest. For a split second, a bright spark sizzled in the air between us.
We both froze. The magic yanked, and I couldn’t resist it. I faced due east, where a faint path was worn into the ground between the trees. Bel turned with me, and we stared at each other. She looked as startled as I felt.
More leaves crunched, and Nikolas and Helios moved in front of us. For once, the sunsprite was silent, although he didn’t hide his concern as he looked between me and Bel.
Bel sighed, an air of resignation settling over her as she met my eyes. “I’m looking for something extremely important to my family,” she said finally. “It’s a…piece of jewelry. I don’t have the first clue where it is. But when I’m near you, I feel like I could find it.” She glanced at the path. “I feel like I know where to go.”
I followed her gaze to the barely-there trail. The magic pulsed in my chest, and I knew she was right. Whatever magic connected us, it wanted us to gothat way. I’d never been more certain of anything.
I turned back to her. “All right.”
She blinked. “All right? That’s it?”
I lifted a shoulder. “You saved my neck. I pay my debts.”
She absorbed this. Then she looked at Nikolas, who offered one of his dimpled smiles.
“It’s like I said before, my lady. Dain and I are a package deal.”
She flushed, and I didn’t need magic to be certain of something else. She liked what she saw at the river.
We finished erasing the campsite. Then we started down the trail, following the faint track between the trees. The magic in my chest tugged me forward, guiding me like someone had anchored a tether in my bones.
Bel walked at my side. Nikolas and Helios brought up the rear. The magic guided me, its certainty filling me with an odd sort of lightness. I didn’t have to think. I only had to put one foot in front of the other. It should have been comforting, but my conversation with Nikolas remained. An argument brewed there—and I couldn’t avoid it for much longer. For the moment, however, all I had to do was walk.
The certainty lasted until we rounded a bend and came face to face with a large piece of parchment tacked to a tree. Nikolas spotted it first, and he darted around Bel, blocking the parchment with his body as he guided her away from it.
“I think the path leads this way,” he said, steering her.
She ducked under his arm and went to the parchment, which displayed a sketch of two men standing side by side. Bold lettering appeared under the drawings.
Facing us, Bel hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “These men look like you.”
