Page 42 of Throne of Ice and Blood
I whirl around and dart back into the living room.
The booming of massive wings echoes through the room, and before I can even make it halfway to the front door, Draven flies past me. A distinct click sounds as he locks the door before turning towards where I’m now standing frozen in the middle of the living room. And when he reaches out and turns on the closest faelight, I can see the exasperation on his handsome face.
“What were you going to do? Huh?” He shakes his head before nodding towards my body. “Run out into the corridor stark naked?”
My gaze shoots down to my own body. Heat floods my cheeks when I remember that I am in fact completely naked. Meeting Draven’s gaze again, I open my mouth, but I can’t figure out what to say.
“Azaroth’s flame,” he mutters, and shakes his head again. Then his expression sharpens, and he takes a step towards me. “I’m still waiting for an answer. Where were you?”
I back away as he keeps advancing on me. But then I remember myself before I can bump into one of the dark gray couches close to the balcony door. Forcing myself to stand my ground, I raise my chin and just hold Draven’s gaze as he closes the final distance between us. The soft light from the faelight gem makes his golden eyes glitter as he comes to a halt right in front of me. This close, I can count every ridge of his sharp abs and every muscle visible on his half-naked body.
“I won’t ask again,” he warns.
“Fine.” I shoot him an annoyed look. “I was trying to get down to the kennels to see Isera and Alistair.”
Frustration flashes across his face. “I told you?—”
“I know what you told me. But I don’t care. I wanted to see them.”
He blows out a controlled breath through his nose and flexes his hand. “How did you get out?”
“When you left and then came back to get something from your room,” I lie. “I snuck out then.”
There is no way in hell that I would have had the time to actually sneak out during those brief moments when he was getting whatever it was that he had forgotten, but there is no way for him to know that.
“Azaroth’s fucking flame,” he growls. “Did anyone see you?”
“No.”
He gives me a sharp look.
I throw my arms out as if in frustration. “I couldn’t even make it down the stairs! There are guards in every stairwell.”
I don’t want him to know that I have already talked to Isera and Alistair. Or at least Alistair. And I most certainly don’t want him to know that I’ve talked to Lavendera. Because I have a feeling that she and her tree magic is going to become our hidden weapon. The one thing that will tip the scales in our favor and get us all out of here.
Raking his fingers through his hair, he blows out a long breath of relief. “Thank God for that at least.” After dropping his hands again, he locks serious eyes with me. “I’ve told you.Everyonehere works for them. And if they find you sneaking around the castle, without your collar, they are going to do unspeakable things to you. Which is why I couldn’t risk drawing attention to you by tearing this whole fucking castle apart with my bare hands to find you the moment I discovered that you were gone, even though every nerve inside my body was screaming at me to do exactly that.”
The sheer worry and protectiveness in his voice, and the fear in his eyes, stun me so much that all I manage is to stare back at him. He truly is worried about my safety.
That realization makes my heart do strange things in my chest.
No one has ever cared about me before. And certainly not this intensely. But for some reason, and in his own twisted way,hedoes. The thought makes an unexpected burst of warmth fill my chest.
And suddenly, this all feels too intimate. Too real. And I can’t handle that. Because this isn’t real. Nothing between us is real. We’re on opposite sides in this war, and all we have ever done is to deceive each other. So I reach for the one thing that feels safe. Feels natural without being too intimate.
Taunting challenges.
“So now what?” I bait. Raising my chin, I give him a look dripping with challenge. “You’re going to punish me?” A sly smile spreads across my lips as I add in a mocking voice, “Master.”
Dark desire flares up in his eyes. Closing the final distance between us, he slides his hand around my neck. With a commanding grip on my throat, he stares me down while his chest rises and falls with slow and controlled breaths.
“Do you want me to punish you, little rebel?”
A spike of forbidden pleasure shoots straight down my spine.
He slides his gaze down my utterly naked body, and when his eyes meet mine again, the fire in my veins is mirrored in his expression as well.
I once more try to remind myself that Draven and I are enemies. That I shouldn’t enjoy his commanding hands on my body. That I should just block out all the confusing emotions about him that have been twisting inside me ever since the Atonement Trials. But when he’s looking at me like this, like I’m the only person in this whole world who matters, it’s impossible.
