Page 56 of Of Wind and Terror

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Your Highness.” Mikage’s voice sounds high-pitched and breathless. The red on his ears refuses to dissipate. “There’s a…um… You’re needed in the dungeon.”

Draven’s eyes frost over, the change almost instantaneous. Any softness I thought I saw before is now nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll be right there.” He straightens nearly imperceptibly as he watches Mikage’s retreating back. Only when the other male is out of sight does Draven whirl towards me and cage me against the wall. “I need to go, baby bird.” He softly kisses my forehead, both of my cheeks, and then the tip of my nose. “But I’ll be back soon. Stay here.”

The last sentence holds a hint of a warning.

Thoughts of dungeons remind me of the fae I saw before. Questions rise on my tongue, but Draven doesn’t give me the chance to voice them. Instead, he leans forward to kiss my eye—yes, my actual eye—before stepping back.

“Stay, mate. I’ll be back.” With that pronouncement, he turns on his heel and stalks away.

I watch him go with a sinking heart. One word echoes over and over again in my head.

Mate?

21

DRAVEN

My little bird is just full of surprises today.

And I love a good surprise, especially when they come in the form of enticing, golden-haired, blue-eyed fae.

Instinctively, I bring a hand to my lips, running my fingers back and forth, collecting the taste of her. Memorizing it.

Has there ever been anything so divine?

I could bottle it up and sell it for profit, if I felt so inclined. But no…I don’t want anyone besides me tasting my little bird. I don’t even want them looking at her.

I flick my gaze in Mikage’s direction, but my best friend stares straight ahead, his cheeks still tinted a light shade of pink.

Is he thinking about what he saw?

About my little bird? About her plump breasts and tiny pink nipples? About her long, porcelain legs? About her flushed face and parted lips?

With an almost blistering speed, I throw Mikage against the wall and hold a knife to his throat. He gulps convulsively, his eyes widening in terror. It’s an emotion I never saw from him before—at least directed at me. Mikage has never feared me a day in his life.

And yet…

I inhale deeply, and there…in the air…contaminating it…

Fear.

A grin curls up my lips. “Are you afraid of me, old friend?” I purr as I trail my blade up his cheek and rest it just below his right eye.

It has gone impossibly wide, his pupil almost swallowing the iris, a pool of rich black.

“Draven…” His voice holds a hint of warning.

“Are you thinking about my little bird?” I ask in a low voice, applying the slightest bit of pressure to the blade.

It cuts his skin, and a trickle of blood cascades down his cheek. Still, he doesn’t pull away, doesn’t whimper in fright.

Yet his fear permeates the air.

The second sweetest smell in the world.

I inhale again, and I swear my cock jerks to life in my trousers.

---