Page 54 of Vow of the Shadow King

A growl rumbling in his throat, he lifts his fist from where it’s pressed against the door, wraps his large hand around the back of my head and drags me into another kiss, harder and hotter than before. Beneath my shift, his scorching fingers slip around to my back, slide down lower and lower still, until he holds me cupped in his palm. He pulls me to him, flush against his body. All my softness melts against his stone-hard flesh.

“What have you done to me?” His voice is a low snarl against my mouth, my cheek, my ear, my neck. “What have you done, Faraine? Deeper Dark damn me for a fool!”

Desire warps my answer into a breathy, wordless gasp. My hands slip through his hair, down his neck, his back. My fingernails dig into his skin. I must have more of him. I must have all of him. I must—

A terrible pounding rattles the door behind me, right where I’m leaning. I swallow a cry as Vor jerks his mouth away from where he’d been kissing sparks of fire against my throat. His hand rips out from under my shift just as Hael’s brusque voice barks, “Princess! Are you in there?” The latch turns, hits the small of my back. “Morar-juk,you haven’t even dropped the bolt! Do you never think of your own safety?”

The next moment, the door begins to open, pushing me along with it. Vor is already halfway across the room, leaving me to stagger and catch my balance as Hael bursts into the room. “Princess!” my bodyguard exclaims. “Thank the gods above and below, you’re here. Where did you go? My fool of a brother found me and told me you’d given him the slip, and the king . . . the king . . .”

Her voice trails away even as her eyes take in my disheveled state. My body, clad in nothing but a damp, clinging shift. My hair, mussed and tousled. My face a roaring fire of blush. From there, she turns to the king, standing at the fire, leaning heavily against the dragon-carved mantel. Naked to the waist. His back like a wall.

Hael’s gaze snaps back to me.“Juk!”she gasps, her eyes widening. Then she veritably leaps for the doorway, muttering something in troldish.

“Gurat!”Vor barks, his tone imperative.

“Juk,”Hael mutters again but stops in her tracks. She pulls herself to attention and faces her king. Vor takes a step back, draws his shoulders straight, and gives his head a single shake. Only then does he turn around. His face is a mask, utterly unreadable. He speaks a string of troldish, all very cold and clipped. Hael answers in kind. She doesn’t look at me. Or her king. Her eyes are fixed intently on the far wall.

Vor crosses the room in a few quick strides. I try to catch his eye, but he won’t look at me. He makes straight for the door without another word and disappears into the hall. Leaving me. My heart still racing, my blood still burning, aware of every place on my body where his hands and lips had touched. Is this it then? Is this the last I will see of him? Will he keep me here, imprisoned in this room, until that cursed messenger arrives from Beldroth? Have I lost my chance?

“No, no, no,” I growl, and leap into motion. Ignoring Hael’s cry of, “Princess, wait!” I dart from the room. “Vor!” I call.

He’s down at the end of the passage. One second more and I would have missed him entirely. For a moment, I fear he’ll keep going and never look back.

But he stops.

Pulls back his shoulders.

Then, slowly, turns.

I wrap my arms around myself as I hasten down the hall toward him. I’d not felt cold until this moment, but now I can hardly keep from shivering. I wish I dared reach out and touch him. From the way he’s poised, I fear any sudden movement will send him fleeing again. I stop a good ten paces from him and lift my chin. Thelorstlight from the nearest sconce gleams on one side of his face, sparks in the depths of his eyes. “You said you expect the message from my father.” I keep my voice firm, level. “Either tomorrow or the next day. Is that true?”

“Indeed. It should take no longer, Princess,” he replies stiffly.

“And then we must say goodbye? Forever?”

He hesitates. Then nods. Once.

I can see the little bruise on his lip where I’d bitten him. I can still feel the fire on my skin where he’d touched me, gripped me. And yet he stands there, like he’s carved from stone, all his feelings locked down fast. It takes every ounce of courage I possess to speak again: “In that case, I would beg a boon of you, great King.”

His brow tightens. “A boon?”

“Yes. If tomorrow is to be my last day in Mythanar, I prefer not to spend it alone in my room. I’ve seen so little of your city. I’d like an opportunity to see more before I am gone. So that I may at least have tales to tell around the winter fires of my own world in years to come.”

He stares down at me. “Captain Hael—” he begins.

“I should like you to show me.”

He stops. I hold his gaze hard, all my hope and longing in my eyes. I don’t know if he can see it in this dim light, don’t know if he can be moved to heed me. “Princess,” he begins.

I press on before he can finish. “We shall be out in public. In the city.”

His jaw works. His resolve wavers.

“Please,” I press gently. “When I return to my father, he will send me back to the convent. I don’t expect I shall ever leave it again. My life will be . . . very small. Narrow and confined. Give me this one boon. Give me this one last chance to truly see something of the worlds beyond my limited scope. Show it to me as you see it, as you love it.”

Vor’s head bows. He breathes a long sigh before lifting his brows and peering at me once more. “And this is your last request of me, Princess?”

“It is. If you grant it, I shall never ask another.”

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