Page 75 of Crown of Slumber

“You can’t?—”

I shut the door in his face. Even his obnoxious boots couldn’t stop the force of it. The frame rattled from the impact, and Aurelia skirted away from me like a startled rodent.

I turned toward her, but she raised her hands to stop me. “Don’t—Don’t touch me. Please.”

I froze. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated in fear. Her face was drained of color once again, making her appear bone-white.

“Aurelia,” I said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know.” Her voice was sharp and frantic. “Logically, I know this. I know you aren’t Tyrone. You aren’t Callan. But the memoriesare suffocating now, and all I can think of are those two damned brothers and their damned claims on me and how they think I am just an object to be tossed around, and I… I…” Her voice rose with each word until she was practically screaming at me, her chest heaving as if she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.

I yearned to close the distance between us, to draw her into my chest and hold her until her breathing evened out. But I couldn’t. Right now, she needed space. A sense of desperate helplessness filled my chest. I had to help her. Somehow.

“What—What can I do?” I asked. “Aurelia, please. Tell me what to do. What is it you need?”

“I need…” She faltered, considering this. “I need to not feel their skin on mine. Everywhere I look is a reminder of them. Both of them. Tyrone violated me, but Callan… He wanted toownme. And I don’t think I realized it until now. He wanted me for himself because I was forbidden. Because he wanted what Tyrone had claimed.” She shook her head, her breathing ragged. “Gods, I just want to be free of this place. I want to forget. I want something else to occupy my mind. Distract me, please. That’s what I need. A distraction.”

On instinct, one eyebrow quirked, and a slow smile spread across my face.

She groaned, throwing her hands in the air. “Not that! Are you daft? I saiddon’t touch me.”

“I didn’t say anything about touching.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Though every part of me longed to close the distance between us, I forced myself to lean against the heavy oak door, my arms crossing over my chest. “Darling Aurelia, I can unravel you with my words alone.”

She went perfectly still, her wide eyes fixed on me, a mixture of curiosity and confusion crossing her features. Her hands clasped together in front of her, her fingers toying with the folds of her crimson dress. A nervous chuckle escaped her lips. “I don’t?—”

“Do you know what I would do first, if I were toproperlydistract you?” I asked.

She wet her lips, and my eyes followed the movement of her tongue. No, it wouldn’t be hard at all to envision how this night would go if things were different—if I were to go about seducing her like I did every other female courtier whose bedchamber I occupied.

I remained silent, waiting for her. My eyebrows lifted.

After a moment, she asked in a strained voice, “Are you really going to do this?”

“Humor me. If it does nothing for you, I’ll stop, and you cancrawl into that massive bed—alone—and fight your nightmares for the rest of the night.”

She winced.

“You wanted a distraction,” I reminded her.

She sighed. “Fine.” She waved her hand idly and rolled her eyes. “Unravel me.” The doubt in her tone was abundantly clear.

But a strange sense of relief and boldness had swept through me from the knowledge that shedidn’tlove Callan. It wasn’t his body she yearned for. Besides, her doubt only made me embrace the challenge even more. My grin widened.

“Do you recall how my fingers twisted in your hair when I kissed you?”

Her eyelashes fluttered, but she said nothing.

“Your hair is like silk. So soft and lush. First thing I would do is plunge my hand into those curls and pull the last of those pins free. Let it all loose. You’re most beautiful with your hair wild and untamed around you. Like the feral dragon queen you are.”

Her breath hitched. Her right hand twitched, as if she was about to reach up and touch those tresses I referred to. But she merely blinked at me, her face as stoic as ever.

“Then, I would slide the thin sleeves of your dress down,” I continued, my voice low and sultry. “I would count every single freckle on your shoulders. With my tongue.”

A strangled sound escaped her. She cleared her throat and swallowed hard.

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