Page 110 of Dueling the Suitors

Astoria gasped softly at the rush that exploded inside her, overpowering her being with the passion pouring from him. Shegrasped the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer, kissing him back clumsily. Fire ignited between their lips, and the chill of the dungeon was long forgotten. Astoria moaned as Cyrus angled her head, deepening the kiss.

He kissed her like a man who had been in the desert for a long time and she was the stream. He kissed her like he wanted her to know how much he loved her. He kissed her like she was his life and he would die without her.

Then she kissed him back with equal fervor.

If Astoria had known this was how kissing him felt, would she have let him kiss her before?

She didn’t think so.

Kissing him while knowing that she loved him and he loved her was the right way of doing it. The perfect, beautiful way.

Astoria pulled away for air and rested her forehead against his. “You do know how to kiss a woman.”

“Only the woman I love.” Cyrus looked into her eyes, and the desire in his loving gaze nearly turned her into a puddle in his arms. “Promise me we will continue this after saving our empire. Tonight.”

Her smile turned shy. “Promise.”

22

The Last Stand

Astoria and Cyrus made their way through the dark, narrow dungeon pathway towards the exit. She had expected Rowan’s men to be thundering towards them by now. Hadn’t they heard the wall crumbling down?

Maybe they had been called off duty for some other emergency.

Astoria peered into the cells lining either side as they passed by. They were empty.

“You would be surprised, but the crime rate in Draken is really low,” Cyrus whispered to her as though he had heard her thoughts. “The ones with petty offenses we keep in the city prison. There hasn’t been a serious one in years.”

“Sounds like we could make use of these cells for Rowan, Orion, and their men,” Astoria replied in the same hushed tone. “And no, I’m not surprised. Not anymore.” She gave him a besotted smile.

Cyrus lifted their joined hands and pressed a long kiss to her knuckles, his lips twitching into a soft smile.

As they neared the exit, Astoria heard men’s laughter coming through the heavy iron door. She glanced at Cyrus, confused. How could they have been there the whole time but not heard anything that happened inside?

“If my guess is right,” Cyrus began in a whisper, “our powers produced a silence shield when they were magnified.”

That had to be it. There was no other way the sound of a crumbling wall didn’t reach them.

“Ready?” Cyrus looked down at her.

“I was born ready.” Astoria fixed her eyes on the door, prepared to push it open.

“Promise me you won’t leave my side. At all. No matter what awaits us beyond this door.”

“Never.” She turned to him and shook her head. “Never again.”

Cyrus turned to the door, his face grim with determination and his eyes hard with resolve. He stretched out a hand, and a bolt of lavender-grey entwined with gold shot forward. It hit the door with a powerful blow, bursting it open.

Astoria’s breath caught at the force of the power and its colour.

Shouts filled the air. Astoria and Cyrus walked through the door with purposeful strides. The men who had been laughing at one another’s jokes now looked shock-stricken. Before they could move, Astoria waved her hand and immobilized them in their spots.

“Now, which one of you called my husband a rat?” She looked at each of them and stopped on the man she recognized. “Ah,you!”

Though he couldn’t blink, the fear that entered the man’s eyes was hard to miss.

“Wait until I return after dealing with your master.” With that, she turned and stalked away with Cyrus, who couldn’t hide his fond smile.

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