Page 67 of The Time Of Kings

The room was so dark, the fireplace had been the only thing I could see enough to follow. But then as my eyes began to adjust, I started to take on more aspects of the room. Like the large pieces of furniture too dark to make out any details, but knowing that if they were in this house… then they were most likely ornate and highly decorated.

It looked like a big room, where a large four poster bed dominated the space at the centre. Thick drapes were pulledacross, hiding the rest from view and making my breath hitch at the thought of what they could be covering.

Or should I say…who.

I didn’t know what possessed me, but I was drawn to it like a moth. One no longer interested in the light but totally fixated on the potential of something far more dangerous. I needed to stop. Willed myself to, but it was to no avail. My feet had a mind of their own and simply took me there against all good sense. I stepped closer and closer, only stopping when I reached the side of the bed.

It was dangerous.

It was wrong and foolish.

But my hand rose all the same. My fingertips coming into contact with the heavy drapes before they curled enough to take hold of them. Then as slowly as I had entered the private space, I pulled them back to reveal what I already knew in my heart I would find.

A lone figure asleep in the bed.

But not just any figure… one I knew intimately.

I silently gasped, placing my free hand to my open lips as I stared down at him. A large white shirt was open at the top, showing me his corded neck and a hint of a muscular chest beneath. But he looked to have gone to bed half dressed, as his trousers remained too. As if he had removed his jacket, cravat and boots before passing out over the covers.

The breathtaking sight had me frozen to the spot, whereas it should have had me running. Because what was I doing?! I had wandered into the very last place I wanted to be. A cage that currently still had the door open. Although I knew it would not be that way for long.

Not if he woke up.

Which was why I needed to leave, starting with putting the curtain back so he wouldn’t see me if he did wake. However,this ended up being just another mistake made on my part, as quicker than my eyes could track, his hand whipped up and shackled my wrist. His eyes snapped open and found mine staring back at him in the dark. I cried out and backed up quickly. However, this meant that I ended up knocking into a lamp he had at his bedside. It fell to the floor and smashed instantly. The sound must have jarred him enough that his hold on me slipped, meaning I managed to pull myself free.

However, in doing so, I fell back, falling on the floor, calling out when glass stuck into my palm. I yanked it free, at the same time scrambling back to my feet and making for the door. Running my only option now as I grabbed the handle and yanked it open. Nevertheless, this turned out to be pointless, as my past haunted me once more. A past that crept up and struck out in the form of having the door slammed shut thanks to the hand now held above me.

A large body at my back now prevented me from leaving, as well at that all too familiar feeling of a blade felt come to my neck. Which was when I knew without a doubt what it meant. That every other timeline we were to meet in, other than that of my own, I would find my husband’s dagger at my throat. I had little time to question why, only knowing that it was obviously the Fates way of saying…

Not now.

However, like all those times before, he didn’t strike me down. Not when he heard me whisper his name, as it escaped my trembling lips.

“Draven.”

I heard thequick inhale of breath at my back before he gave me a stern order. As it was clear whenever we were first to meet, that I was to play the part of the enemy.

The intruder.

The thief.

The outsider.

“Turn around…do it slowly.”

I swallowed hard at his tone, knowing I would be a fool not to take it seriously. So, with little choice, I did as he asked after he gave me space to do so. Now turning slowly until I was soon facing him. However, with my eyes remained lowered, this wasn’t good enough for him.

“You watch me as I sleep, but now I wake, you are not so brave it seems,” he said, and I flinched when I felt his bent finger under my chin. I released a shuddered sigh when my head was lifted, happy, for once, for the darkness that surrounded us. As well as the cloak I had stolen, but more so for the hood that covered most of my face. It was low enough that it kept me hidden, even from his enhanced eyesight.

In fact, he was just about to push it back from my face when I knew that I needed to act. Because I was still hoping to escape this, and I knew that the second he saw me, he would know who I was to him. Which meant I would be right back in the same position I had just run from.

So, with only one thing left to do, I used the only weapon I held in my arsenal. A certain way to distract him. Which prompted me to quickly throw my arms up around him, so I was able to pull him down for a kiss.

At first, he seemed too shocked to move but then my lips parted, and my tongue dipped out to caress the seam of his mouth. And boy, did this ever work! It was more than enough to coax a response from him. Starting when the dagger hit on the floor as it tumbled from his hand.

This was my only warning before he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me slightly so I was higher and therefore making it easier for him to kiss me. His lips parted so he could take his first taste of me and when he did, a growl of pleasure rumbled up from his chest. And seeing as I was plastered to historso, it was also one I could feel as well. This gave my shivering body a new reason to shudder other than from the cold.

It felt like coming home, no matter what time it was. The feel of being held by him, it was the safest place in the world. The taste of him as his tongue duelled with my own. I naturally found my head tilting further to the side so we could deepen the connection. One that would have continued if a knock on the door hadn’t disturbed us.

---