My gaze flew to hers as I froze. Her words were a reminder. They were also a spark that lit a fire under the need I felt to show her exactly what she wanted.
“I’ll tell you what I want.” I moved my thumb again, slower, harder. “I want you to remove your mask.”
“I…” Her lips parted. “Why?”
“Because I want to see you.”
“You can see me now.”
“No, Princess.” I lowered my head. “I want to really see you when I do this without your gown between you and my mouth.”
Keeping my gaze on her face because I refused to miss a moment, I flicked my tongue over the tip of her breast. The silk was barely a barrier, and as I closed my mouth over the turgid peak, I could easily imagine doing something that rarely ever occurred to me when I was with a mortal.
I could see myself sinking my teeth into the plump flesh, discovering if she tasted as sweet as she smelled. I bet she did. My body answered the cry of pleasure that parted her lips, thickening and hardening.
“Remove your mask. Please.” I slid a hand over the lush curve of her hip and down her thigh to where the dress parted. Her skin felt like the silky material, smooth as I curled my fingers—around something hard. “What the…？”
My hand closed over the hilt of a dagger. What in the hell? I unsheathed the blade, rocking back as she sat up, reaching for the weapon.
The Maiden had a dagger. And not just any ordinary kind.
“Bloodstone and wolven bone.”
“Give that back,” she demanded, scrambling to her knees.
My gaze shifted from the dagger to her. “This is a unique weapon.”
“I know.” A tumble of red-wine waves and curls fell forward over her shoulders.
“The kind that’s not inexpensive.” And one that carried a particular purpose. “Why are you in possession of this, Princess?”
“It was a gift, and I’m not foolish enough to come to a place like this unarmed.”
That was a smart decision. “Carrying a weapon and having no idea how to use it doesn’t make one wise.”
Her eyes narrowed with irritation. “What makes you think I don’t know how to use it? Because I’m female?”
I stared at her. “You can’t be surprised that I would be shocked. Learning how to use a dagger isn’t exactly common for females in Solis.”
“You’re right, but I do know how to use it.”
The confidence in her words told me that she spoke no lies. So, the Maiden knew how to wield a dagger. That was wholly and gloriously unexpected. Instead of concerning me, it made me all the more interested.
The right side of my lips curved up. “Now, I’m truly intrigued.”
Her eyes widened as I thrust the dagger blade down into the mattress and then went at her. I took her down to the bed, settling between her thighs and letting her feel exactly how intrigued I was—
A fist pounded on the door. “Hawke?” Kieran’s voice rang out. “You in there?”
I halted and closed my eyes, telling myself that I did not just hear his voice.
“It’s Kieran.”
“As if I didn’t know that already,” I muttered, and a small giggle left her. The sound opened my eyes and brought a grin to my lips.
“Hawke?” Kieran pounded some more.
“I think you should answer him,” she whispered.
“Dammit.” If I didn’t, he would likely barge in out of concern. “I’m thoroughly, happily busy at the moment.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Kieran replied as I refocused on her. The wolven knocked again. “But the interruption is unavoidable.”
“The only unavoidable thing I see is your soon-to-be broken hand if you pound on that door one more time,” I warned, causing her eyes to widen. “What, Princess?” I lowered my voice. “I told you I was really intrigued.”
“Then I must risk a broken hand,” Kieran replied, and a growl of frustration rumbled from deep within me. “The…envoy has arrived.”
Gods.
I cursed again, under my breath this time. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
“An…envoy?” she asked.
“The supplies we’ve been waiting for,” I explained, which was sort of true. “I need to go.”
She nodded.
And I did need to leave, but I didn’t want to. It took several moments for me to force myself to move. Standing, I grabbed my tunic from the floor as I told Kieran I’d be out in a few. He wouldn’t be waiting for me in the hall. He’d go somewhere quieter. I yanked the shirt over my head, glancing over my shoulder to see that she had retrieved the dagger. I grinned.
Clever girl.
I shrugged on a baldric and picked up the two short swords from the chest near the door, and it was like I had no control over what came out of my mouth. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.” I sheathed the blades flat to my sides, realizing that what I said was the truth. I would come back. “I swear.”
She nodded once more.
I stared at her. “Tell me that you’ll wait for me, Princess.”
“I will.”
Pivoting, I walked to the door and then stopped. Slowly, I turned back and soaked in the sight of her—that surprising mass of red waves and those parted lips, the way she sat there, clutching the edges of her cloak around her, brave yet vulnerable. It was an interesting mix, one I wanted to continue exploring.
“I look forward to returning.”
She was silent again, and I knew it was unlikely that she’d be here when I returned, but I would come back. I would look for her. And if she wasn’t here?
I would find her again.
Sooner rather than later.
She would be mine.
TOO BRIEF MOMENTS
I walked through the thickly forested Wisher’s Grove at a fast clip, wanting to get this meeting over with. Only the thinnest sliver of moonlight made its way through the sweeping pine branches. The woods were unsettling enough during the day, eerily silent except for a bird’s distant, shrill call or the quiet rustle of some small woodland creature. At night? Even I was uneasy here. But due to the fact that very few entered this part of the Grove during the day, something I only knew occurred because of the pathways I’d spotted worn into the soil, it was one of the few places in the entirety of Masadonia where words could be spoken freely without the threat of being overheard.
And from Wisher’s Grove, it would take me only mere minutes, if that, to return to the Red Pearl.
To her.
“You know,” Kieran began, “I wouldn’t have interrupted you if it weren’t for this.”
I nodded. These supplies weren’t exactly what one would typically think of.
“It’s been far too long since you’ve fed,” Kieran added.
His words were like a siren’s call, reawakening a slumbering giant. My upper jaw throbbed as an ache blossomed in my gut.
“And since you don’t like to use those who are only part Atlantian—”
“I know my preferences, Kieran,” I interrupted. A cold breeze stirred the branches overhead, sending a few needles to the ground. And he knew why I didn’t like using them. Half-Atlantians weren’t accustomed to feeding. They were also a hell of a lot easier to injure—or worse—and because of the Blood Crown, I…I’d taken enough lives that way to last me a lifetime. I preferred not to repeat that. “You know, the older you get, the more of a mother hen you become.”