Page 109 of Crown of the Dunes

“Why did you have to wear red?” he rumbled into my ear. I could barely make out his words as his fingers traced torturous circles over my most sensitive spot, but I desperately tried to hang on to the sound of his voice. “The way you look in red is enough to make me want to burn this whole city to keep you to myself.”

Finally, his fingers slipped inside me, a balm to the burning ache that pooled between my legs and began climbing up my spine. My head fell back against the wall as he stroked me insistently. My vision blurred until all I could see was the molten silver of his eyes in the dim light as he watched me with a predatory intensity.

He barely even blinked as he pumped his fingers inside me, the wave of heat under my skin growing into a raging inferno. His thumb found its rhythm at the apex of my thighs as he stroked me, and I came apart.

Only Erix’s thigh between mine and his free hand pinning me to the wall kept me standing as I shuddered. His palm muffled the wordless cry that bubbled up from my chest as pleasure crashed through me. He didn’t stop stroking me until my moans turned into pants, when he finally eased his fingers from me.

I waited a long moment, proving that I could be quiet, before he removed his hand.

“Erix, something feels strange,” I finally voiced. “I need… I need—” I couldn’t voice the rest, but I could tell Erix gathered my meaning from the way his fingers slipped through the obscene wetness now dripping down my thighs.

His brow furrowed, and he began to pull back. I clutched his arms tighter, unwilling to lose his touch.

“Keera, you’re burning up,” he started.

“The laka,” I murmured my head spinning. “It tasted strong and strange.”

He leaned back, scanning me up and down. I wondered what he saw—my silk skirt bunched up around my legs and my beaded top slipping off one shoulder as my mouth hung open and I breathed in short pants. I squirmed uncomfortably, wishing he would touch me again.

“Keera,” he murmured, “We have to get you out of here.”

Chapter twenty-eight

Erix

She had been drugged.

I felt incredibly thoughtless for not having seen it immediately—the way she had stumbled into the prince’s arms when she normally moved with the dangerous grace of a caracal, and the glazed-over look in her eyes when I had touched her.

I leaned in and took a deep breath, to which she responded by brushing her nose against my cheek, as if seeking out my mouth. The nutty smell of laka clung to her, undercut by a sugary floral scent.

A groan escaped me as I pulled back, recognizing the nectar of the anza flower. It was harvested from succulents during the rainy season and was used by some in the clans for recreational purposes.

Many had thought it useful in promoting fertility, but I had always suspected that was due to its other effects. Anza nectar was a potent aphrodisiac, and from the way Keera clung to me, she had been given a heavy dose.

“Sands,” I swore, as I gathered her into my arms. A squeak escaped her, and she nuzzled into my neck in a way that made my already hard cock throb.

“I’m going to take you to your room.” I stopped at the corner of the darkened corridor we had hidden in, looking both ways to check that the main hallway was empty. Seeing nobody, I quickly strode deeper toward the long stairs that spiraled up through the bowels of the palace.

“Who gave you the laka?” I asked Keera as I climbed up the stairs, keeping her cradled in my arms.

She hummed, running her nose up and down the tendon of my neck in a supremely distracting manner. “Warrick. He told me that marrying Calix would make an enemy of Doran.”

A growl rumbled deep in my chest. I had already had my suspicions of the copper-haired general. Perhaps he had hoped to ruin the engagement by giving Keera liquid encouragement to do something rash—and I had tumbled headfirst into his trap. If Keera and I had been caught in that hallway, it could have destroyed the alliance with Viltov that fed the people of Kelvadan.

The dark knot of power within me shivered with rage.

I was falling to the same failures as my ancestor, and still all I could think of was the way that Keera twisted and turned in my arms, as if trying to burrow under my skin.

Finally, I reached the door to her room near the top of the tower. I shouldered through it before kicking it closed behind me. Striding to Keera’s bed in the center of the room, I pushed aside the gauzy gold curtains and laid her in the center of it. After nestling her on the pillows, I made to pull away, but her fingers tightened around the front of my tunic, keeping me close.

“Keera,” I insisted. “I can’t.”

But the way she twisted and rubbed her legs together called to me inexorably. I screwed my eyes shut, trying to convince myself to pull away. Keera’s hand landed on my cheek, gentle and painfully tender. My eyes snapped open. She stared at me determinedly, and though her hair clung to her forehead and neck with sweat, her eyes were clearer.

“You promised you would not abandon me again. Stay.”

And just like that, I was doomed. I let her pull me down and press her lips to mine. A groan escaped me, and she swallowed it down as her lips parted sweetly. It had been weeks since I had been with her like this, and every inch of me ached for her touch. My tongue darted into her mouth, tasting the mix of laka and anza nectar that lingered there.