He accepts the blatant invitation, moving in on me in an instant, his mouth sealing over my nipple, his palm sliding up my inner thigh. A soft moan slips from me as his touch slides across my center, and my legs part to grant him better access. “I suppose this is a start.”
His chuckle against my flesh sends an electric current along my nerves, stirring a fresh, deep wave of need in my core. Our little games never last long. As soon as I feel the heat of his body against mine, I’m done for.
“Do you know how hard it is to keep myself from touching you when we are outside these chamber walls?” He echoes my thoughts as his fingers tease me. “All I can think about is getting back here with you.”
“While you’re planning war? How romantic.”
He ignores my crack. “And then when I finally have you here …” He lifts himself onto one elbow to give him a better view of my naked body. His heated eyes rake over me, stalling on my thighs to watch his hand work me over. “I can never get enough.”
“Good. I don’t ever want you to.” I roll my hips against his touch.
With a groan, he’s moving and shifting down to hook my legs over his shoulders. His breath skates across my damp core, turning my breathing ragged.
With a devilish smile, his mouth closes over me—
Knuckles bang on our door, followed by a loud “Romeria!”
“Is it too much to ask that he shows a little deference to his queen?” Zander complains.
“It’s Jarek. If the door wasn’t warded, he’d be standing at the end of our bed.”
“And then I would have to kill him.”。
I curl my hand around the back of his head, pulling him back to me, even as I holler, “What!”
“You’re needed at the gate,” comes the booming response.
“Now?” Zander and I exchange wary looks. It’s the middle of the night. “Who needs me?” I holler, at the same time Zander calls out, “For what?”
“The Ybarisans have come.”
The clomp of horse hooves along the cobblestones is especially eerie at this late hour.
“Tell us everything you know about this captain,” Zander demands as we ride for the gate, the path lit by flaming lanterns. He wears the mask of Islor’s stony king again, and his tone is especially harsh. The news of Gesine’s secret message to Mordain hasn’t helped their relationship.
I’m not happy with her either, but I can’t waste energy on anger right now. Besides, I know she didn’t do it maliciously.
“Kienen, you said,” Gesine repeats, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she rides behind Zorya, clinging to the warrior’s waist. We found the caster face down in a book in the library, a blanket drawn across her slender body, I assume, thanks to that same warrior who guards her day and night.
I watch her closely; her growing worries about the coming change have taken root in mine. But in this case, I think her confusion has more to do with being woken from a dead sleep and thrown onto a horse within minutes.
“Yes, I know of whom you speak. A soldier who was often at Prince Tyree’s side. He was respectful to the elementals. Far more than others, including the prince himself. He seemed a trusted advisor, always ready with his blade.”
“So we cannot put any hope in him.” Zander’s expression is hard.
“I did not say that, but I would be wary. He is beholden to Ybaris, but if he is at these gates now, he must have loyalty for his princess.”
“He might be looking for direction, now that Tyree is gone,” Elisaf offers, riding opposite Zander.
“Or it is a mission to gather information to feed back to Neilina,” Zander throws back without missing a beat. “Surely he would have heard what is happening within Islor.”
“It would be wise to assume so, yes. At least the rumors.”
“Of which there are many.” Zander’s gaze flitters to me, and I know what he’s worried about.
“Rumors that likely won’t point to me,” I remind him. Those in Norcaster would assume Zander controlled the ring of fire and that anything else inexplicable could be tied to the caster who travels with us. Talk of the princess’s glowing silver eyes would likely be dismissed as a fable—a way to villainize me more. The only people who could speak to my caster abilities are in Ulysede with us. “How well would Kienen know Princess Romeria?”
Gesine frowns in thought. “Not well, if I had to hazard a guess. The princess spent much of her time with Neilina, and she and her brother were not particularly close.”