Page 47 of How to Claim A Shadow King

I don’t remember the people in my past lives approving of me or not.

I simply was.

"Riding with you? But we only have one horse," she tells me, laughter in her voice as the horse butts her.

She produces a slice of apple from one of the pockets in her overdress, and I laugh, knowing that she must have squirreled it away while we were eating just for this horse. My bride-to-be has a soft heart—softer than I'd realized—and it makes me like her even more than I already did.

"Druze," I say, and the dryad glances at me knowingly. "Do you have any idea from whom we can procure a pair of riding horses?"

"No," Aveline says, spinning around. "You can't possibly do that."

"What? Buy you a horse?" I say, laughing. "Why shouldn't I? Riding with you sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day."

She hides her face from me, but I have a feeling her cheeks have grown hot again. The thought delights me—that I've embarrassed her and pleased her all at once by offering to do something so easy and simple as purchasing us both horses.

"We'll need saddles too," I add. "Do you prefer side-saddle or astride?" I ask her.

She beams at me. "I hate side-saddle," she says, tossing her hair before turning back to the big blonde draft horse in the stall and kissing it on the nose. "Why do you think my mother didn't approve of me riding?" she says, and then laughs as the horse takes another apple from her outstretched palm.

"I think I can find a pair of riding horses for you," Druze answers, watching me with keen eyes. "If I remember correctly, one of the minotaur brothers had a pair of colts he was looking to sell earlier in the year. By now, I imagine they'll be ready to ride. They might need a careful hand, though," he says meaningfully. "Are you good with horses, then?" he asks me.

"He's ridden many into battle!" Ter offers from wherever he's flown in.

"It's been quite a while," I tell the dryad.

"Well, I'm sure it'll come back to you," Druze says, though he watches me warily, as though the reminder that I'm not human—not anymore—puts him slightly off-guard.

I don't blame him for that. Besides, it's hard to be in a bad mood when Aveline is as happy as she is right now.

"You need to name him," I tell her, gesturing to the draft horse.

"I have to think on it," she says after a beat. "It's too big a decision to make right now. Besides, don't you think I should get to know him a bit more before I make any kind of decision about what we're going to call him?"

"It's entirely up to you, Aveline," I tell her, holding back a laugh.

I have a feeling that after the life this horse lived before, he'd be happy to be called anything she wanted, especially if she's going to keep fattening him up with apple slices and kisses the way she is right now. Never in my life did I think I would be jealous of the attention a horse was getting, especially one that deserves a soft place to land such as this. But the longer she gives kisses to that giant beast, the more I think it might be nice to change places with him.

I offer Druze a curt nod, silently thanking the dryad for his care as I step closer to my bride. The twilight is deepening rapidly, painting the sky above the village in bruised shades of violet and ink.

"Come, day witch," I say softly, the dark vanilla and ozone of my magic beginning to stir restlessly beneath my collar. "The frost is starting to settle, and you have spent enough hours on your feet today."

Aveline looks up from the giant Palomino, wiping a trace of apple juice onto her linen overdress. "Are we walking back? Because as much as I admire my new laced boots, my heels are starting to fully register the reality of a cross-country trek."

"We are not walking," I reply, then pause. “Do you need healing, Aveline?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” She strokes the horse’s neck again, looking at me through lowered lashes.

Before she can voice another witty retort, I reach out and wrap a secure arm around her waist, pulling her flush against my chest. Her breath hitches in a delicious, sharp gasp as I call upon the dark. Reaching out a hand toward the draft horse as well, I wrap his massive frame in a loose wisp of my current so he isn't left behind.

The shadows explode from the cobblestones in a silent, boiling wave, swallowing the three of us whole. For the space of a single heartbeat, the sounds of the village vanish into a weightless, absolute vacuum.

When the darkness dissolves a half-second later, the warm, spiced air of the village is gone, replaced by the crisp, biting wind of the Shadow Keep courtyard. The living stones groan a low, contented welcome beneath our boots, the stacked rock walls rippling like dark water as the house registers our return. The draft horse lets out a bewildered snort, instantly comforted as the stable doors slide open unbidden, welcoming him into what I’m sure will be a plush stall.

“That will take some getting used to,” Aveline says. It’s a breathless sort of whisper that goes straight to my cock, and I swallow hard, trying to contain myself.

I set Aveline down onto her own feet, though my large, calloused hands linger on her waist just a fraction too long, absorbing the staggering heat of her body through her cloak. The physical obsession is a literal fire beneath my ribs, a sharp, grinding friction that tightens with every single breath I take in her presence. I want her—not just the fated, ancient echo of her soul, but this fiercely stubborn version of her. My shadow-magic is a boiling, predatory tide screaming to tear away the linen shift, pin her beneath my weight, and mark every single inch of her pale skin until she is entirely consumed by the same wildfire raging in my veins.

"Well," she clears her throat, her aristocratic features flushing a lovely, telltale pink in the silver moonlight as she adjusts her cloak. "That certainly beats a carriage ride. Though a little warning next time would be appreciated by my stomach."