Page 50 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

Why did I feel disappointed not seeing him here now?

The king handed me his glass of wine between the meal courses. Careful not to drink too much this time, I barely dipped my lips into it.

“You don’t speak much, do you?” the king said.

Was he complaining?

“Would you like to talk, Your Majesty?”

I set the glass down on the table, racking my mind in search of an appropriate topic. It had to be something exciting as the king got bored easily. To my horror, my mind grew completely blank. I couldn’t come up with a single entertaining thing to say.

He made a face. “Long talks bore me. Especially when they come from the mouths of pretty women.” He slid a finger along my bottom lip. “This mouth is better suited for far more exciting things.”

My heart thudded in my chest. Was this it? Would the king make his move now? Or was I getting ahead of myself?

I didn’t know if I had sex before, though the possibility of having it didn’t scare me. Sex was generally considered to be a pleasurable activity, wasn’t it?

But I was nervous. My heart leaped ahead in a wild gallop and my hands turned sweaty as the king drew me closer. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth in a kiss. He tasted like the wine he’d just drunk. I tried to return his kiss, to show him I enjoyed it. But my mind buzzed with anxiety.

I had no memory of kissing anyone. How was it done? Did I do it right? What if he thought my efforts were lame? What if he realized I had no idea what I was doing?

The mighty king of Sky Kingdom surely wouldn’t want a clumsy lover. What would happen to me if he lost interest? If he sent me away, where would I go if I couldn’t return home?

He closed his teeth over my lip, no longer a kiss—a bite. I gasped at the sting of pain and shrank back from him, breaking the kiss.

“Don’t move.” He drew in a sharp breath, flexing his arms around me.

He kissed my neck, nibbling at my skin as he moved lower, over my collarbone and down to my chest.

Yanking on the end of the scarf, he untied the bow on my shoulder and let the thin material fall down, uncovering my breast. The spikes of his crown pressed to my painted skin as he kissed along one of the golden swirls of paint, then sucked my nipple into his mouth.

Avoiding his antlers, I tentatively placed my hands on the back of his head, my fingers sinking into his luscious, golden white locks. Lifting my eyes from his head, I glanced at the set of doors behind the throne, opposite to the ones I’d entered through.

My gaze crossed with the stormy-gray eyes of Voron, who now stood by the doors on guard. My breath hitched.

I knew I should look away, but I couldn’t. His stare trapped me, searing me with heat that spread through my entire body. The king’s hands and mouth caressed my skin, but it was the look in Voron’s eyes that ignited me with desire.

My lips parted. My eyelids lowered. My face flushed with warmth.

And Voron saw it all. He knew exactly what his heated stare was doing to me. He skimmed his lips with his tongue, and my lips tingled as if he kissed me. A corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. He was clearly enjoying learning how much power he had over my body.

Air rushed out of me with a moan I couldn’t hold back.

The king leaned back. “Aren’t you precious? With those little whimpers of yours.”

Voron spun on his heel. His cloak whipped around his legs, lashing against the doorframe as he left the room. Only then could I finally look at the king.

He grinned. His mouth glistened with the gold paint from my breast.

“Look at you.” He tapped the tip of my nose. “All hot and bothered and glowing with need. Desire makes you look lovely, my baby chick.”

It was all I could do not to stare longingly at the closed doors behind which Voron had vanished.Hewas the man I wished would lap at my nipple, squeeze my breasts, and kiss my mouth.

Voron was the man I wanted, not the king, I realized with horror.

This was bad. Very bad. Inconvenient and potentially dangerous.

How did I let this happen?

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