Page 121 of Crownless King

“I know.” I pressed my nose to his chest in the narrow opening of his robe. “I read your journal.”

He groaned, “You found it?”

I nodded. “It was addressed to me, so I read it.”

His fingers stilled at my shoulders, digging into my skin. “There are a lot of very angry words in that book. They were not meant to hurt you.”

“I understand. They’re a reflection of the pain you were feeling.” Reading his journal didn’t hurt me as much as it made me angry.

He drew me into him, nearly crushing me against his hard chest. “I would’ve jumped into the River of Mists if I knew I’d find you there. Fuck, I was ready to jump just to end the agony.”

I couldn’t bring myself to feel angry at him again. Right now, I simply wished to revel in his closeness, something I hadn’t thought I would ever get to experience again. I slid my hands into his robe, gliding my palms over his warm skin and the familiar relief of his muscles underneath.

“I’m here now,” I breathed out.

“And I still can’t believe it’s not a dream.” With his hand under my chin, he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. His other hand gripped my backside, yanking me so close, his rock-hard erection dug into my belly through the thin material of his loose sleeping pants. “I want to know everything—where you’ve been, how you lived, who was with you, what kept you away from me all this time. But first, I really need to be inside you, Sparrow, more than anything.” His voice came hoarse and deep. “Only I’m afraid if I do, I’ll end up fucking you until neither of us can draw another breath.”

“What a way to go that would be.” I kissed his chest, then glanced at the trunk behind him. “Maybe Dove has something to help you out?”

“Dove?” He looked confused. “Like what?”

“Let me see.”

I slipped out of his arms and flung the heavy lid of the trunk open, revealing velvet-lined trays with items that looked both pretty and ghastly. It appeared as if Dove had robbed a medieval torture chamber, then wrapped all the metal in silk, fur, and velvet and tied it with ribbons.

“Oh.” Voron peeked over my shoulder. “Did you ask for these?” he sounded curious, still somewhat confused, but not shocked or appalled. I assumed he might know what all these things were for.

“Not exactly, but…” Two pairs of handcuffs lined with white rabbit fur caught my attention. I grabbed them from their velvet nests in the tray. “These may help.”

Voron squinted at me suspiciously, taking a step back. Though, his erection remained as hard as ever, pushing against the fine silk of his pants that could not contain it.

I arched an eyebrow, spinning a pair of handcuffs around my finger. “Are you running, Your Majesty? Already?”

“Sparrow. What are you planning to do?”

Putting my hands behind my back, I hid the handcuffs out of sight and smiled sweetly. “First, I’d like you to remove your clothes.”

“No. You’re first. In fact,” he stalked toward me with a predatory smirk, “I’ll take that sheet off you myself.”

“Nope.” I leaped back, then jumped onto the bed. “Tonight,you’rethe one taking orders, my king.”

I climbed all the way to the headboard, holding the handcuffs and the sheet to my chest, then turned around to face him.

“Take off your clothes, Your Majesty,” I demanded sternly.

Standing at the foot of the bed, he slowly lifted a hand to his shoulder.

“Hurry up.” I twirled the handcuffs in the air again. “Or I’ll tell you to dance while you’re stripping, too.”

He groaned with a long breath out, but slid the robe off his right shoulder, then shrugged it off his left.

I sucked in a breath at the sight of the golden mark over his heart.

“You have one, too?”

Of course he did. Like Sauria had said, the magic bond wasn’t a stream but a bridge, with both people loving each other. But seeing it there took my breath away just the same.

Voron’s mark was nearly identical to mine with one small difference. The letter S came before V. I needed to touch it, to press my lips to it. To feel the raised letters and the crown above them, to trace the frame of thorns and flowers.

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