Under the silvery glow of the moon, his eyeswere impossiblyblueras they perused her. Unlike Malakai,whose lascivious gaze seemed to strip her bare, she didn’t squirmbeneath the prince’s inquisitive stare.
He didn’t make her feel dirty or exposedbefore him; instead, she felt as if he was trying to understand herbetter, and she was becoming increasingly intrigued by him. Forsome reason, this terrified her more than Malakai’s obviouslust.
The dark fae were not known for theirkindness or interest in others. They were known for theirruthlessness, power, and ability to turn once perfectly normalbeings into mindless sex slaves.
It wasn’t something the dark fae did to allof their sexual partners, but they did it enough that cautionarytales about them abounded.
Despite the warnings to stay away, there werestill those who got too close and eventually became one of theshadow kissed creatures seeking only sexual gratification.
She wouldnotbe one of them.
“So, Elexiandra, is this your first time in aShadow Realm?” he asked.
“Lexi,” she replied.
“Excuse me?”
She edged a little further away. “Please callme Lexi. It’s what I go by.”
He smiled at her as he prowled a littlecloser. When he was this close, the heat of his body caressed herskin, and her fingers itched to trace his ciphers.
Lexi gulped and shuffled a few steps back.Getting involved with a dark fae was an excellent way to lose hermind.
“Lexi then,” he murmured.
“And you’re Colburn,” she said.
“Call me Cole.”
She tried to think of a response, but hermind and common sense had taken a vacation when she required themmost.
“Have you ever been to a Shadow Realm?” heasked.
“No, and I admit, I find it fascinating aswell as a little frightening.”
“I think that is most immortals’ reaction tothe Gloaming.”
Turning, she gazed out the windows andfocused on the lush forest outside the glass as she tried to calmher racing heart. “Is there a sun here, or is it always night?”
“There is a sun, and like on Earth, it risesand sets. However, there are always at least two moons visible atone time, and at midnight, all four are clearly seen for at leastan hour. There are all kinds of creatures in this land. Some arelike the human realm, and others… well, others would give younightmares for a week.”
“Amazing,” she murmured.
She’d love to walk outside this castle andinto those woods to explore the wonders they hid. She never heardhim move, but his chest pressed against her back.
Lexi gulped as her skin tingled like littlepulses of electricity were running through it, and her heart racedlike a horse pulling a chariot. The hair on her nape rose as bumpsbroke out on her arms. If she turned, she could touch him anddiscover what he felt like.
Don’t be an idiot!
She tried to remind herself of all the deadlythings the dark fae could do and how treacherous they were, but itwasn’t doing her any good. She yearned to touch him and ease hercuriosity.
She couldn’t get any saliva into her suddenlyparched mouth as the power he emanated crackled against her untilshe felt dizzy from it. Clasping her dress, she forced herself notto touch her forehead and swoon like some woman from the past whosuddenly got the vapors.
“That”—he leaned over her shoulder andpointed to the moon on the right. When he spoke, his breath brushedher cheek—“is Orius, and that one”—he pointed to the moon on theleft— “is Carpton. You can’t see them right now, but the other twomoons are Dashius and Golen.”
Lexi found it increasingly difficult tobreathe as his presence overwhelmed all her senses. He smelled ofallspice and something else, something musky and powerful,something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but it wasalluring.
“They’re beautiful,” she managed to croakout.
