Page 49 of The Sunbound Princess
“Dinner?” I asked, plucking the tray from her hands. “Smells divine. Thank you for the hospitality.”
We rushed past her, bare feet slapping against the floorboards. By the time we reached our chamber, laughter threatened to burst from my chest. Dain fumbled with the door, and the three of us hurried inside.
The moment Dain closed the door behind us, the three of us collapsed in a fit of smothered laughter.
“I feel terrible,” Ezabell said when she caught her breath. With a glance at the door, she lowered her voice. “That innkeeper thinks Dain and I are brother and sister.”
“She’ll get over it,” I said, inspecting the food on the tray. “Money makes people forget things.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Even incest.”
“Nikolas!”
Dain rubbed his jaw, his gaze thoughtful. “We should probably give her something extra for that rug.”
I winked at Ezabell. “Worth every coin.”
She blushed furiously, but she couldn’t hide her smile. As we dressed and settled down to eat, it was obvious that something had shifted between us. Things were easier between us now. But they were also more complex.
And more dangerous.
My argument with Dain lingered, the issue of the sunstone unresolved. Time was a sword hanging over our heads, and despite the assurances I’d given him, I didn’t have a plan.
But my body still hummed with pleasure, and the table groaned with food. A clean bed awaited me. For the moment, my problems could wait, too. They’d still be waiting in the morning, but I was fast. I’d spent a lifetime running. Thinking on my feet. I’d come up with something.
And when a voice in my head tried to whisper that some problems were too big to outrun, I ignored it.
Chapter
Twelve
DAIN
Iwoke with a violent jerk, my body buzzing like I’d been struck by lightning. The tug in my chest was back, but this time it wasn’t a gentle pull. This was a vicious yank, as if someone had reached between my ribs and grabbed hold of my heart.
“Fuck,” I rasped, sitting up and clutching at my sternum. For a moment, the sensation was so intense that I couldn’t breathe.
Beside me, Ezabell bolted upright, her golden eyes wide with shock. “The Dokimasi,” she gasped, her voice trembling with excitement. “It’s pulling me toward the sunstone.”
She looked at me, her hair a black cloud around her shoulders. “You feel it too?”
“Yes,” I said.Unfortunately.
Her eyes sparkled. She clutched my arm. “Oh, Dain, I’m so relieved. This is going to be the best day ever.”
Obnoxious, tugging magic aside, the morning was shaping up to be pretty nice—and it was entirely due to her sitting stark naked beside me. Purple predawn light streamed through the window and over her pink-tipped breasts. The pillow next to her bore the imprint of Nikolas’s head, although he wasn’t in the chamber.
Probably, he’d gone to the privy. The three of us had dined the night before and then fallen into bed together, exhausted and sated. We’d slept tangled in each other, Ezabell nestled in the middle of the feather bed with me and Nikolas bracketing her.
My dick stirred. When Nikolas returned, maybe the three of us could?—
The door swung open, and Nikolas entered with a covered tray in his hands. He kicked the door shut, his smile wide and his eyes bright. He’d obviously been up for a while. He was fully dressed, and his damp hair curled against his collar.
“You’ll never guess what I found,” he said, crossing the room and setting the tray on the small table by the window. With a flourish, he pulled off the cover. “Eggs!” His smile faltered as he looked us over. “The magic is back, isn’t it.”
“Yes,” I said, rubbing my chest.
Ezabell threw off the covers and left the bed, heedless of her nudity. “It’s never been this strong before,” she said, her voice breathless as she gathered her clothes. “We need to go. Now.”
Nikolas’s mouth tightened, but he nodded. “Eat first,” he insisted, gesturing to the tray. “We don’t know how far we’ll need to travel.”
