* * *
Bale
That wasthe first time anyone ever asked me that question, and it threw me off. I was a fighter, loyal, and I didn’t stray from my course. But was that all I was?
I’d never considered that there might be more to me. There was no time to think about things like that when I was continually moving from one battle to the next. The only things I thought about were surviving, keeping my king alive, and winning.
I’d never considered who I was outside of that, and after meeting him, I’d never know the answer. We would kill each other.
“I’m a fighter,” I said.
“Ah,” he murmured. “So, you have no idea who you are.”
I gritted my teeth against giving into the volatile reaction he was seeking from me. “I am a warrior in the king’s army, and I will die for my cause.”
He arched a sleek, black brow. “How noble of you.”
“It’s better to have a noble purpose than none at all.”
His black eyes shimmered in the flames covering his hands. The amusement shining in those eyes annoyed and fascinated me. Didn’t he take anything seriously?
“I have a purpose,” he said. “To take down your king. But first, I intend to take you.”
I laughed. “You better find some new purposes, because you’ll fail at both.”
“Will I? I felt you caving in your dreams, and I know you crave my touch.”
My nostrils flared as he reminded me of his presence in my dreams.I will not punch him.It was what he wanted, and I wouldn’t give it to him.
His thumb brushed my lower lip; when he pulled it down, the amusement faded from his eyes. When he leaned close enough that I could feel his erection pressing against my belly, I was ashamed I had to lock my knees into place to remain standing.
He leaned so close his breath caressed my lips, and the fiery scent of him filled my nose. “You were getting closer and closer to giving in to me in those dreams.”
Like many demons, he smelled of fire and Hell, but he also held the musky scent of man and the wild aroma of horse. His scent was as enticing as his touch.
“Stay out of my dreams,” I commanded.
A small quirk to the right corner of his mouth revealed the tiniest hint of a dimple in his cheek. That boyish dimple was entirely out of place with the powerful, ruthless man before me.
“I don’t think that’s what you really want me to do,” he said.
His touch sent currents of electricity over all my nerve endings, but his words were igniting my temper. “Wrath—”
“I bet that in those dreams”—his hand settled on my hip, and his fingers slipped beneath my shirt as his gaze met mine— “you enjoyed letting me touch you.”
I balled my hand to punch him in his arrogant face, but before I could hit him, his lips claimed mine in a harsh, punishing kiss that stole my breath.
Chapter Seventeen
Bale
At first,I was so shocked I couldn’t respond. And then anger swelled within me. Howdarehe?
I was about to punch him in the face when he caught my fist and pinned it to the wall. He bit my lip to let me know his displeasure. I jerked against his hold, but it was impossible. Lifting one of my feet off the ground, I planned to bash my knee into his groin when his tongue stroked my mouth.
When a hot bolt of passion speared me, I would have believed Lust had entered the chamber if she wasn’t already dead. That one stroking motion caused my body to betray me. He felt so right ineverysingle way. I’d never known it was possible to feel so torn and so at home at the same time.
His mouth on mine, his muscles flexing around me, and the rigid evidence of his arousal against my belly were sensations I’d never known I was missing, but all of them felt as natural as breathing. My body screamed for its Chosen as my brain shouted denials and started spewing rational at me.
