AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Acheron is on the high rise to your left about a mile out.”
“That is sight, not sound.”
He arched his brow sharply.
“Are you implying that you are comfortable with my blades seeing me take you?”
A blush instantly splashed across her entire body. The surprised laugh that came from him worsened it, infuriating her. “That is not to what I allude. I wondered how is it that your blade Acheron could hear us from such a distance.”
His hand stroked to her thigh. “Interested in my blades’ skills, hari?”
“Of course not, merely…curious.”
“What else are you inquisitive about, hari?”
She noted the soft threat beneath his question. “I am curious about you. I want to know you, Ajali. I desire to learn about what makes your people revere you so much. How it is that wraiths exist within your kingdom, and how it is that your mother defeated a Darkan.”
Ajali met Tehdra’s gaze with a calm
ness that hid the deep suspicions that flared within him. Her method as a spy was unorthodox to say the least. She did not approach him with subtle subterfuge; no spy would stare at him with such raw hunger, such thrumming lust. She did not even try to hide her reaction. He could see it—naked, intense and honest. It could be a ploy, but somehow he knew it wasn’t. He looked at the pale, silken softness of her skin, the seductive poutiness of her lips, the dark temptress that lurked in her obsidian eyes.
All of it waged war with his resolve. The need for her gnawed at him, yet when she presented herself to him tonight he would not bed her, he would leave her under Acheron’s care.
He would not let his kingdom fall due to his desire for a woman.
She would be tortured until she spilled all her secrets.
Denial sliced through his blood like poison, and Ajali gritted his teeth. How had he come to this? He sat with a known enemy, yet the notion of imprisoning her and doing all in his power to learn her secrets was fucking unbearable. The thought of her writhing and screaming in pain killed his appetite and he shoved away the food.
Fuck!
No words were spoken further. Her pull on him, even in silence, was strong. How she ate, licked her fingers, scrunched her face when a taste she did not enjoy burst in her mouth, the delightful smile when she savored something she appreciated. The companionable quietness lulled him into speech. “Kezriel means descended from kings. My mother gifted him to me. It was the last tribute she bestowed on me before the enemy took her from us. There was a message in giving me a beast that all other kingdoms shunned.”
Raw emotions flared in him, and he ruthlessly buried it.
She slid across the blanket so that their knees brushed. “Mevians took your queen?” The naked emotions that had flickered in his eyes, ensnared her stronger than the sensuality of which he reeked.
“Darkans took my mother.”
Tehdra flinched, spilling her wine.
“Are you well, hari Tehdra?”
Blank, cold eyes clashed with hers.
“You startled me. Darkans are not people I hear about so casually. All know that Mevia has been an enemy of Nuria and has been since the second Great War. Darkans did not participate in the Great War according to our history tomes.” It was hard for her to hide her disbelief.
“My mother was assassinated by Darkans.” His tone was filled with such cold menace Tehdra had to subdue the answering surge within her.
Her people had assassinated the queen of Nuria, which her king and nation knew nothing about? “There is no whisper, no knowledge that Queen Xie lo died of anything but natural causes,” she said hoarsely.
“Is there a reason you are so rattled, hari?”
The menace had disappeared as if it never were. Her honed instincts flared to life. The soft, lazy indulgent tone that remained was meant to lure her into a false security, meant to entrap her.
Tehdra struggled for an answer in the midst of her sudden turmoil. If he perceived Darkans as Nuria’s enemy, her people could not be found in his kingdom under any circumstances. The imperativeness of her mission increased. Darkans at war with Nurians. Her King might be drawn into warring with her mate. Tehdra’s soul burned cold then hot, as feelings which were turbulent and unfamiliar in their intensity clashed inside her.
“You are disturbed, hari.”
