Page 64 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

“What did you do to me?” I demanded. “Why are you the only man I can think about?”

“Mating bonds are strong.” He pried my fingers off his tunic and stepped back. “You need some time to cool off, before you do something you might regret.”

“Why do you keep turning me down?” Nobody turned me down. I simply had to bat my eyelashes and I got any man I wanted. Any man but this one.

“Trust me, it’s not easy,” he said, his voice a little husky.

I glanced down and noticed the bulge in his trousers. So it wasn’t just me. I reached for him, and he caught my wrist. Slowly, he leaned down so his nose nearly touched mine. I was staring into his deep green eyes. “Naughty.”

My insides heated until they were molten. I squeezed my thighs together, then pulled my arm away. “You’re not as tough as you think you are.”

“Neither are you, princess.” He rose to his full height, a confident smile on his lips. The kind that reflected victory.

He thought he’d won.

I grabbed him again, but this time I reached higher on his tunic and pulled hard. He bent unexpectedly and before he could react, I pressed my lips to his.

He tensed, his lips stilled. I dragged my tongue along his lower lip and he groaned, then he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the ground. I threw my legsaround his waist and dug my fingers into his shoulders to steady myself.

He devoured me like I was his last meal and I returned each stroke with even more intensity.

I won.

He was mine.

His hands found their way up my tunic and let him explore until I could tell he was at the point of no return. Then I released his waist and broke free, quickly distancing myself from him. Panting, I watched as he gazed at me with the frustrated look of a predator who’d just had his meal stolen.

“We wed tomorrow,” I managed between breaths. “Then I’m all yours.”

“You are my punishment from the gods, aren’t you?” he bit out.

I made a show of smoothing my tunic, then freed my messy hair from the tie that had held it back at the base of my neck. My long gold hair tumbled free. “I look even better when I’m naked.”

“This is your last chance for a taste of freedom,” he warned. “Once I marry you, there’s no going back. You’re the Queen of Drakous. The mother to the future heir to the kingdom. My queen. My mate. Mine.”

The growl that came out with his final word made my knees weak, but I held myself together. “I’ll arrange for a priest at sunset.” Before I could give in to the urge to tear all of his clothes off, I left the room, leaving my soon to be husband behind.

24

Ryvin

Bones rattled and shook,spilling all over the ground as something emerged from a pile of them near the rear of the cave.

The figure was that of a man. He was three times my size, but still in the shape of a man. I sent an orb of light into the air and it illuminated the space enough for me to get a better look.

“Fuck,” Vanth said with a growl.

“Shift. Now,” I hissed as I reached for my shadows.

The cyclops roared, spittle flying from his mouth. I wrinkled my nose against the scent of rotting death that came from the monster as it lumbered forward, arms extended.

“I can’t shift,” Vanth said through gritted teeth.

My shadows weren’t responding, either. “I don’t have my magic.”

Vanth took a step closer so he was next to me, then rolled his shoulders. “Then we kill him with steel.”

Jaw clenched, I nodded. We attacked, charging the monster with our weapons drawn.

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