CHAPTER1
My hand reached across the sheets in search of him. A groggy fog enveloped me as warmly as the blankets did. It felt like I had only slept a few hours. The heavy curtains were pulled so the room was dark. I instinctively knew it must be morning. I inhaled deeply and smiled, though I was desperately tired. I thought of the previous hours, of his hands slowly trailing along my skin. Like a whispered promise, his touch had ignited a burn in both of us which was the sole reason we had been up until almost dawn. It had beeneverythingand at the same time, never enough.
Feeling the buzz which was familiar to me by now, the buzz of his magic, I placed my hand on Krew’s bare chest assuming he was having another dream which was causing his magic to flare.
As soon as I touched his skin, he jolted awake with a start.
I picked my head off the pillow as far as I possibly could this tired, mere inches.
A lazy smile graced his lips as his eyes found mine, but then it fell, his eyebrows reaching for one another immediately.
I gave my head a shake, remembering the rest of the night’s events. We had gotten married. And bonded. Not just bonded, we were evidently soul bonded. So though it was habit by this point, I wasn’t even sure I could calm his magic anymore.
His magic which he had given me all but a drop of.
“Jorah.”
The worry in his tone had me reaching for the covers and turning to sit up. “Hmm?”
Before I could form a full thought more, I was in his arms and we were moving.
“More sleep,” I managed to mumble. I didn’t know what he had planned, but I needed sleep first.
He sat us on the ledge of the tub and immediately twisted the knobs to turn on the water, placing my feet on the ground. We were taking a bath? I wasn’t entirely opposed to that idea, I just wished I had more sleep first.
“Jorah, love,” he said gently. Far too gently.
“What?” My eyes found his steel blue ones.
“Look at your skin.”
I looked down at my hand. My right hand still held the cut from our bonding, though it was already almost gone this morning. Next to the pink cut, pale strands of magic were swirling in my palm and racing along my wrist. White strands? Was my magic white?
It hadn’t been his magic that had woken me, it’d beenmy own.
I gasped and stood, taking a step back.
Krew grabbed the hand I was not looking at. “Jorah, listen to me. If it woke you up like that, you likely need to use your magic. Release just a little. It needs to be used and then we can go right back to bed.”
“No. It was supposed to take days to settle.” I shook my head, my eyes on him. “Days.Not hours. I’m not ready.”
He cocked his head. “Yes, you are. It’s going to be okay.”
“I—” my eyes went back to him where he sat on the edge of the massive tub. “You’re naked.”
His eyebrows went up. “So are you. I believe we got that way together, love.”
I looked down at myself realizing he was right and saw that my entire body now seemed to be lit up with my magic slithering and weaving along my veins. It almost felt like a faint pulse, I assumed matching with the beat of my own heart. All things considered, after the previous night, being naked and standing before Krew should be minor. I just hadn’t expected to start day one of our marriage in quite this fashion. Powerfully naked.
“Will the magic to the water, Jorah. Envision turning it to steam and then let a little of it go to do exactly that.”
My eyes trailed from his eyes down his body. That collarbone was still as distracting as ever, and as my eyes wandered lower, I knew the rest of him did not disappoint. This artwork before me of muscles and moodiness was now my husband. Prince Darkness, my soulmate. And I’d much rather go back to bed for multiple different reasons than figure out this business of my magic.
“Jorah.”
My eyes snapped back up to his. “I’m sorry. I’m still not over the fact that you’re naked.”
A smile played with the corner of his mouth. “I gathered that. And you can ogle my naked body all you wish later, my wife. Right now, I just need you to release a little of that magic, okay?”