Page 38 of King of Storms and Feathers

The Storm King attacked with his heated touch, with the hardness of his body, making me desire him, and it pained me to know I was defenseless against such weapons.

I needed to stay vigilant against his strikes and do everything I could to resist him.

Chapter 10

Arrow

“Are you hungry?” I asked, looking up from my bowl of soup.

The human stood beside me while I sat at the dining table in my chambers, the air crackling between us as she fought her nature and tried not to lash out in anger.

Provoking her was fast becoming my favorite form of entertainment.

“You withheld my breakfast this morning,” she said. “So, yes, of course I’m hungry.”

“Yes, King Arrowyn would have been the appropriate reply.”

“Yes, King Arrowyn,” she said, repeating my words in a dull tone that failed to hide her longing to stab me with a spoon.

The delicious aroma of lentil soup curled up from my bowl in steamy wafts, likely torturing her. Good. It was about time the girl suffered for her impudence.

I leaned over the bowl and sniffed. “The mint is perfect, but the cumin is a little overpowering,” I said, glancing at her downturned mouth. “And I did not withhold your breakfast. Ari was busy, and I forgot to arrange for someone else to deliver it.”

She said nothing in response.

“Sit on the floor in front of me while I eat.” I pointed to the cushion opposite the table.

She shifted her weight from one bare boot to the other. “Why?”

“Because I wish to look at you.”

I picked up my spoon and said, “If you don’t obey, I’ll forgo the soup and have you for lunch instead.”

Quick as lightning, she sat on the floor in front of the table, her legs crossed and eyes blazing like emerald flames as they trailed over the glyphs on my arms and stomach. The weather was humid, so I wore only a pair of loose silk trousers and my breastplate of feathers.

“Have you never seen a half-naked male before?” I asked, smirking as I ate.

I studied her, and she stared at the floor.

Roughly cut brown hair the color of cocoa beans fell to her shoulders. The right side was shorter, framing broad cheekbones, a petulant mouth, and feline green eyes. At first glance, they seemed too big for her heart-shaped face, but in truth, they enhanced her fragile human beauty tenfold.

Initially, the girl’s appearance deceived observers into thinking she possessed a sweet nature. But when they looked closer and noticed the lean, compact muscles and fiery gaze, the smart ones realized she was trouble. A slave who needed discipline and a strong master. Someone like me to tame her.

Questions circled my mind.

I wanted to know what her last memories were before she woke in the cage at the gilt market. And if she’d remembered her birth name. But I said nothing, listening instead to her rapid heartbeats, which were louder than the noise of the auron kanara and the bubbling river on the floor below.

The burn of curiosity replaced hunger as I ate my lunch.

I beckoned her to rise with a flick of my hand. “Come here.”

She shifted on the cushion, hesitating.

“I said come here. Now.”

Slowly, she rose and padded to my side. I nodded at the flatbread next to my bowl. “Soak the bread in the soup and feed it to me.”

“What?” Her mouth fell open, revealing the enticing gap in her front teeth. “Why?”

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