Page 121 of Shadows of Winter

That urge to kiss him returned, especially if it might be the only chance they got, but she sublimated it and rose on her tiptoes so she could bury her face in the side of his neck. Her lips brushed his warm skin, and she breathed in his masculine scent.

“I keep meaning to drive you off, for your own safety,” Vlerion murmured, his lips brushing the top of her ear, making pleasure streak through her. “I keep failing.”

Kaylina hugged him tighter, kissing his neck and wanting… what they couldn’t have.

“I’m not great at self-preservation,” she admitted, half-forgetting that the guards were there watching. She wanted to show Vlerion that she appreciated him, that it meant a lot to her to have him stand up for her. To want to protect her.

He exhaled slowly, almost a growl, and it reminded her of the danger. Of the beast.

His hand slid down her back, pressing her tight against him. Would his desire make him forget the threat of what he could become?

If she roused the beast, he might kill all the guards, but that wouldn’t be a victory. For punishment, he would be killed himself, just as his brother had been. And once he changed, he might not recognize her as a friend. He might kill her too.

Maybe that crossed his mind, because he unhooked her arms and stepped back.

“The cell,” he said, a rasp to his voice.

That glint of savagery she’d seen before in his eyes was there, more than a glint, and she realized how close he’d come to being overtaken by his emotions. A trickle of fear joined her other anxieties, and she nodded and hurried into the cell.

He shut the gate firmly. To protect her from the guards? Or from himself?

Before letting go of the bars, Vlerion closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and hummed a stanza of his song.

“What is that noise?” one of the guards whispered.

When Vlerion opened his eyes and stepped back, he’d reaffixed his mask. He nodded at Kaylina, as if to say he was under control.

“I’ll be back for you,” he said quietly.

“I know.” She might not know why he cared, other than his admission that he’d liked her bravery, but she trusted that he did. “Any chance I can have a book and a lantern? Assuming you don’t think I can use the pages as instruments to effect my escape.”

Vlerion walked toward the case, plucking a lantern from one of the wall hooks on the way.

“She doesn’t need a book,” the lead guard said with exasperation.

Vlerion looked coolly at him, and the man lifted his hands.

Surprisingly, Vlerion considered the titles on the spines instead of grabbing one at random. He withdrew a thick tome and gave it and the lantern to Kaylina.

“The Ranger’s Guide to Honor, Duty, and Tenets?” she read off the spine. “Seriously?”

“You might as well educate yourself while you wait.”

“I was hoping for a romantic adventure.”

“Dungeon reading material is limited.”

“No kidding.”

After giving her a nod—and a glance at her lips that promised he would rather leave her with a kiss—Vlerion walked away with the impatient guards.

Fortunately, they all departed. As unpleasant as her new circumstances were, they could get worse if the leering guard was left with her. She doubted the queen had cared enough to stipulate that her new prisoner not be harassed. Jana, Kaylina was certain, hoped she never walked out of the dungeon.

She rested her forehead against the cool bars, trying to figure out how she could avoid that fate.

31

Fortune favors those who prepare themselves to receive it.

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