Folding my arms across my chest, I let out a long breath. “You didn’t need to check on me.”
The door shut. “I just wanted to clear the air.”
My pulse died, and I spun on my heels to find Leena, one hand gripping an amber bottle of spiced acorn whiskey by the neck and the other cradling two small crystal glasses.
“I thought you were Kost.”
She shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint.”Disappoint?I swallowed my laugh. Skin glowing from our recent time in the sun, wearing a thin peach dress that clung to her curves, she was far from disappointing.
Gripping the doorframe, I struggled to keep control over my composure. “What do you want?”
She winced. “To apologize.” The washed-out yellow chandelier lit of its own accord as the night rushed in. She stood beneath it, carefully shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and she stared at my chest rather than meet my gaze.
“That’s not necessary.”
“Isn’t it?” She speared me with her eyes, and my heart thundered against my rib cage. Slowly, she made her way across the room to stand before me. “I should have told you what I was planning. I blindsided you. You deserve to be mad.”
Maddidn’t begin to cover it. An image of Leena coated in blood surfaced in my mind, and a low growl forced its way through my pursed lips. “Do you have any idea how stupid that was?”
Her lips parted, ready to spew an angry retort, but she slammed them shut. Her stare devoured me, and the anger pulling at her brows faded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to risk losing the Myad. If something had gone wrong, if any of you had interfered, it would have been impossible to make him mine. I would have lost him. Or I could have died.”
She said that last part as if it were an afterthought. Like the very weight of her life was less than the worth of taming the Myad. I palmed my face, hiding my expression for fear of her unearthing the truth. “Why was this beast so important to you?”
She set the twin tumblers on the nightstand and poured the whiskey with a heavy hand. Ocher liquid splashed along the ridges, and she brought the first glass to her lips. “What do you know about the Charmers Council?”
I took the other glass from her. Our fingers brushed, and I swallowed the rock in my throat before sinking onto the bed. “Not much. They’re more clandestine than Cruor.”
“Right.” She eyed the space beside me and opted to lean against the wall. “There are seven members total. Six High Charmers and one Crown of the Council. They are the strongest Charmers around with beast networks larger than all other Charmers combined. In order to be considered for a seat on the Council, you need to be more than an A-Class Charmer. You need to own beasts of a certain caliber that are nearly impossible to obtain.”
“The Myad.” I took a slow sip and watched as her face lit up.
“Yes.” She drained her drink and a pink flush tinged her cheeks. “The Myad is one of ten legendary feline beasts. Each member on the Council has a legendary beast, though none have the Myad.”
The Council. They had to be the one pulling the strings behind Leena’s bounty. The mark on my wrist burned. I had no idea how to infiltrate Hireath. I wanted to leave Leena out of this, but it was becoming abundantly clear I might need her to end our predicament. Pushing off the bed, I reached for the bottle and poured more alcohol into her glass. “I didn’t know you wanted to be on the Council.”
She laughed up at me. “A long time ago, maybe. Now, I just need protection. To be honest, if I had never been cast out from Hireath, I probably would have lived a meek life, taming whatever beasts naturally came to our homeland. But now…” Her words died, and she touched the bestiary around her neck with her free hand.
I wanted to be that book. To feel the light stroke of her fingers. I wanted to be that close to her heart and never let go. My whole body ached to touch her. To hold her. To know her.
“Will they think twice about attacking you now?” Hope. It was a dangerous thing. My fingers acted on their own, dancing across her collarbone to trace the links of her necklace. Goose bumps followed their trail, and Leena peeked up at me through her lashes. When she looked at me like that…
“It’s a start. It’d be nice if I could clear my name.” Gripping the rim of her glass, she dropped her hand to the side. Her other hand remained over her bestiary, her fingers tantalizingly close to mine. “Noc?”
“Yes?” I grasped my drink to keep a grip on reality. My mind warred with my heart, and I breathed deeply. Her scent tormented me. Every nerve ending sparked, a painful sort of burn that could only be alleviated by indulging in this. Inher.
“I’m sorry. I really am.” Forced out through shallow breaths, her words were raspy. They destroyed the meager restraint I’d been clinging to. I palmed her neck, caressing the line of her jaw with my thumb. Her chest heaved, and she rested her head against the wall, an unspoken question lingering in her eyes.
Resolve was a fragile thing. One moment it was there, and the next, it was wrecked by the simplest of looks. She was too much and not enough. In one rash moment, I tossed my drink to the side and pulled her face to mine. She moaned against my lips over the shattering of the glass, and her own tumbler crashed against the floor, spattering drops of amber liquid.
She melted into me, and everything that was Leena was suddenly mine. The feel of her breasts pressed flush against my chest. Her tongue twirling with mine. Her lips forming a language I so desperately wanted to learn. To keep private between us. Pressing her harder against the wall, I abandoned her mouth for her neck, trailing my way toward her collarbone, nipping skin and teasing flesh as I went.
“Noc.” Her breathless exclamation killed me. The taste of her skin, the feel of her body—my wildest imagination couldn’t have done her justice. How long had I longed to touch her? Feel her? I dug my fingers tighter into the soft curves of her hips.
She was trapped beneath me, and she did everything she could to encourage it. Slipping her hands under my tunic, she raked nails along my skin, exploring every inch and leaving a delicious sting in her wake.
Moaning into my ear and completely drowning out the sounds of the night, she clutched my back and anchored herself there. The weight of her against me sent a thrill through my spine. Pausing for a moment, I moved away from the swelling red mark on her neck. She let out an exasperated, defeated whimper, and satisfaction brewed in the pit of my stomach.
“What do you want, Leena?”
