Page 21 of A Reign of Storm and Madness

With a gasp, my eyes shoot open and the world tilts as I’m jerked down the mattress, my legs split open and hooked over two thick muscular thighs. Instinct has me reaching over and ripping the dagger I keep hidden tucked between the stone wall and my mattress since the night Theos had snuck in. Before the shadow that falls over me can move, I have the sharpened edge of the blade pressed to his throat. I blink away the lingering effects of my sleep and stare at the face that comes into view before me.

Grinning wickedly and thoroughly amused, Kalix drops back on his ass. The movement causes my blade to nick his throat and a thin line of blood appears as it digs in. I waver between wanting to pull the dagger back and wanting to finish the job.

“Nervous, little mortal?” he asks, entirely unafraid of the knife I have pressed to his skin. I’m sure it’s because he doesn’t truly realize the depth of my secrets and how dangerous I am to him. It almost makes me want to show him. Then again, he’s psychotic. No doubt, even if he did know, he wouldn’t care. He seems the type to get off on pain.

Slowly, I pull back the blade, setting it to the side of my thigh on the sunken mattress before I lift my attention back to his face. “What are you doing in here?” I demand. My gaze flicks over his shoulder to my door and I follow up my question with a statement. “I locked my door.”

Kalix’s smile doesn’t even dampen. “Yes, you did,” he affirms.

I twist my head to the side and look over to the window. It’s closed. The grate outside still in place. “Then how did you—”

My question is cut off as Kalix arches forward and his scent invades further. That dark fiery oakwood smell shrouding me, muddling my senses. “Do you always hide a dagger by your bed?” he inquires, his voice amused.

I press my lips together, gritting my teeth as I answer him. “Only when I worry that some pompous God spawn will sneak into my room without my consent.”

Careful, I silently warn myself despite the anger curling around my throat threatening to voice the rage I’ve kept buried for days.

Kalix sighs as if my response is boring him. “You were practically devouring me with your eyes during sword practice today,” he says. “What else was I supposed to do when you disappeared and went off to do other tasks for other people?”

I lean my head back. He really doesn’t like me performing work for other people in the Academy. “What business is it of yours?” I demand. “I was commanded by the Gods themselves to—”

Kalix sinks down on me, once again interrupting me as he groans. His chest hits mine and his legs stretch over my thighs and calves as he presses his palms to the mattress on either side of my shoulders. “I don’t care what those fuckers command,” he mutters. “They should know better than to take what’s mine.”

Is he pouting? Even with Kalix’s heavy form draped over me, I turn my head and peer at his expression. He is—his lip jutted out and his eyes gazing up at me from beneath the thick dark lashes that any courtesan or prostitute would kill for. What the actual fuck?

Bucking my hips beneath him, I strain to push my feet into the mattress and roll him off me. In response, Kalix merely settles that much deeper onto me, his hips trapping mine as our groins connect. I freeze.

“What were your tasks tonight?” he asks. The query surprises me far more than the feeling of the hard shaft against my thigh.

I roll my eyes up to the ceiling. There’s no point in praying to Gods that don’t give a shit anymore. Yet, still, I find myself sending out a hope—a wish—to the universe for Kalix Darkhaven to burst into flames. A moment passes and that wish goes unheeded.

Oh well, it was worth a try.

“Why do you want to know?” I ask instead of answering.

His hand reaches up and idly touches the end of my braid, his skin tan against the silver moonlight color of the strands. He plays with it for a moment, twisting the end back and forth before he pulls the leather tie free and the pieces unravel.

“I want to know everything you do,” he admits. “Call it curiosity.”

Obsession. That’s what it is. A perilous obsession.

“Are you ordering me to answer you, Master Kalix?” I hiss out through still-clenched teeth.

He blows out a breath, the puff of warmth blowing over my collarbone. Tingles travel over the patch of flesh and goosebumps rise to dot my skin. My eyes slide shut as if needing to not look at him or else I’ll lose the tenuous strain of control I have in my grip.

“No, I’m not ordering you, little mortal,” Kalix grumbles. “I want you to tell me.”

“And if I don’t want to?” I shoot back, opening my eyes to find him grinning once again.

He shrugs. “Then I’ll take a penalty instead.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “What kind of penalty?” I demand.

His grin widens. “Deny me and find out,” he offers.

No. Not just no, but fuck no. The feeling of his cock against my leg is all I can seem to think of. My insides clench and I temper myself, keeping my gaze steady on his face. He knows it too, the bastard. His hips shift forward, and coming from anyone else, it would be an innocent adjustment, but from him, it’s anything but innocent.

Through the dark wash of his breeches, I feel him. The hardness, stiff and thick and swollen. His lips spread ever wider, a hungry glint in his eyes as he gazes down at me. How fucked up would it be to fuck one Darkhaven brother only to jump into bed with another?

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