Page 111 of Destiny of a King

His hand caressed her cheek. “Tell me nay and I stop.”

Adira heard every word.

Her throat tightened. She could not tell him nay. She could not tell him anything, not yet.

But she could answer him the way she always had.

She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down to her.

Dravic needed nothing more.

His kiss carried them beyond words, and Adira willingly followed, determined to cherish every touch, every sensation, and every newly discovered sound.

For tonight she would not worry about being a woman without title or family, or what future there could possibly be for a king and a woman who had nothing to offer him but herself.

Tonight she had Dravic.

And tonight that was enough.

Dravic held her close after pulling the blanket over them.

Something had changed in Adira.

He had sensed it recently, though he could not put a name to it. She seemed more aware of everything around her, as if this strange land stirred something in her that had lain dormant until now.

He had seen it in the forest. In the way she touched the trees and plants without the caution the rest of them showed. And now the silvren had come willingly into her hand.

Then there was the Wolfin.

Dravic frowned.

He had assumed the magnificent white creature had been looking at him when she approached and bowed. Why wouldn’t he? He was king, but Adira had been seated in front of him on the horse.

Had the Wolfin actually been looking at him? Or had the large wolf’s golden eyes been fixed on Adira?

His frown deepened. First the Wolfin and now the silvren. Both had shown an unusual interest in her.

And tonight?

His gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at her resting against him.

There had been something different about her tonight as well. An excitement he had felt in her every touch, a fascination that seemed to go beyond their lovemaking.

“What is happening to you, Adira?” he murmured.

Her heart jumped. She heard every word, and she kept her eyes closed and her breathing even, pretending sleep had already claimed her.

Dravic continued to watch her. He knew her too well to believe nothing had changed.

He simply did not know what it was.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A World Awakens

When the Forest Stills

Morning brought a pale sky and a bitter cold that had hardened the previous day’s snow beneath their boots.