Page 26 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

I drew in a deep breath, and it came out with a slight moan as I slowly parted my bent legs.

This definitely didn’t feel like a doctor’s exam or even as an inspection.

What was it, then? Why did it feel so natural for me to be naked in front of this man who was practically a stranger?

I wasn’t trying to seduce him. I wasn’t… Except that… WhatwasI doing, breathing deeply and arching my back while hoping to look graceful and attractive?

Voron circled the chaise, stopping briefly to admire the view I presented with my thighs spread open. He spent but a moment or two there, standing between my legs, then moved on toward my head and stopped, separated from me by the back of the chaise.

Yet I still held my legs wide open, as if in invitation.

His throat bobbed with a swallow.

“You can get dressed now.” He wouldn’t look straight at me, staring at the corner of the blanket under my head instead.

I closed my legs so fast, my thighs slapped against each other, like my body was applauding me for coming back to my senses.

Apparently, Voron didn’t need to add any magical substances to my food to cast a spell on me. Why else would I act this way? Why else would I feel anything for him other than resentment?

He picked up my robe from the floor and held it open for me while still having that odd detached look in his eyes, staring past me.

I dropped my gaze, stepping into the robe. He briefly stroked my shoulders, smoothing the material of the garment over them.

“The guards will take you back to your room.”

I turned around slowly, keeping my eyes down. The massive bulge in his crotch was impossible to miss. The soft material of his pants stretched over his thick length pressed against his thigh.

I didn’t remember if a man had ever had the same reaction to me before, but I knew what that bulge meant. Voron was affected by this “inspection” no matter how hard he tried to pretend otherwise. A hot jolt of desire shot down to my core at the sight of his hard-on straining to rip through his pants. I wished I could touch it…

I fisted my hands in the silk of my robe, lest they stray in his direction.

Voron was an incredibly beautiful man. But there was more that pulled me to him. I wondered what sadness was hidden behind his cool exterior that would make it so difficult for him to muster a wide, open smile. I longed to find out. But I couldn’t possibly allow any feelings of attraction between us.

My pull toward him was unexpected, insane, and so very wrong.

He’d deprived me of my past. He’d refused to set me free, mostly because he just “didn’t want to.” He’d put me through this ridiculous inspection, which was clearly meant to humiliate me, even if it failed to do so at the end.

But most importantly, Voron had brought me to this palace as “a gift” for another man. I should never forget that.

I stepped around him on my way to the exit.

“And?” his voice stopped me. “Did I pass your trust test, dear Sparrow?”

He’d kept his word. He hadn’t touched me. Was he expecting to hear praise from me now?

“Trust?” I placed my hand on the door handle. “You behaved this time, but trusting you, I fear, would be a huge mistake. Of all the feelings I could have for you, High General, the only one Ishouldhave is hate.”

His chest rose with a long, slow breath. He flexed his fingers, spreading them wide at his sides, then fisted his hands so tight his knuckles paled. Other than that one gesture, he remained perfectly composed.

“Of all emotions in existence,” he said evenly, “hate is the wisest one to have between us.”

Something pinched in my chest at him agreeing so easily, though I knew it was for the best.

I had but one more thing left to say to him.

“Yesterday, you mistook my state, induced bycamyteor saffron or whatever that drink was, for ‘pitiful’ meekness of character. You may think of me as a weaklittle bird. But I am a person, and I am not weak. Sooner or later, I’ll prove it to you.”

There was more to me than my past. My memories didn’t define me. I would figure out who I was even without them.

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