Page 39 of Shadows of Fate

He led me through the manor, pointing out various rooms. There was more than one kitchen, five different offices—only two of which were in use by Micah and himself—and fifteen extra bedrooms, not including the suites we occupied. Then there was the conservatory on the back of the manor, that was the one I’d found him outside of, and there was another one that led to the side of the manor. The gardens took up a vast space outside before you hit the forest.

There was definitely more he’d mentioned, but honestly, after a while, my mind stopped working and was too busy focusing on the way his shirt cut down his chest and how it tightened when his arm lifted to point something out to me.

By the time we were outside in the gardens, I was a disaster mentally. All I could think about was how to make him act out the threats he kept throwing my way. There was no way he didn’t scent my arousal the way his fist kept clenching by his sides.

We were strolling through the overgrown pathways, and he was quiet next to me.

“So, what’s next for the Court of Shadows? I mean, after all the Eternal Outcast rebels are dealt with, what do you want to do?” I asked. I was so antsy, I felt as if I needed to talk about something—anything at this point.

He stopped walking and stared down at me for a moment. “The next part of the plan is to woo you, as Micah and I have started calling it. Then convince you to be my queen.” He said it so seriously that I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me.

“No, seriously,” I replied. Raiden just continued to stare at me, not laughing. In fact, he looked incredibly serious right now.

I stopped laughing and stared at him for a moment. “I’m leaving when this is done, Raiden,” I whispered, as if I was afraid if I was too loud it would ruin everything even more than I knew my words were. “I’ll probably go and stay with Cedar for a while in the Court of Ravens and then move on from there. I don’t… I don’t normallystayanywhere.”

He started laughing then. At first, it was quiet but then it grew in strength until I wasn’t sure what to say or do. “Oh, is that so?” he finally asked.

I stared at him for a moment and gently bit my lower lip while nodding my head slowly.

“Well, in that case, I guess I have nothing to lose,” he growled.

“What do you mean, nothing to lose?” I asked quickly, my heart rate increasing more by the moment as I looked into his darkening eyes.

He stepped toward me, and I did my best to hold my ground. I would not show fear. Not to this male, never this male. My breathing all but stopped as he stepped in front of me. Barely any space remained between us as I looked up his chest and into his solid onyx eyes. I swear they looked like they’d gotten darker in the last few moments.

“I mean, I have nothing to lose when I do exactly what I’ve been dying to do since the moment you walked into The Arcane Theater that night.” His hand came up as his thumb gently caressed my jawline. “I crave you, Silvana, every second of every moment. I crave the touch of your skin against mine. I crave the feel of your breath intermingling with mine right before our lips touch. I crave your body pressed against mine in the early morning hours as the sun rises for the day. I crave meal sharing, reading together in the library, everyday things I wish to share with you.”

I didn’t try to form words as his hand fell down from my face and circled around my neck. “I crave the opportunity to build you a throne from the bones of our enemies, so that you may rule by my side until the end of our days, Silvana.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond before his lips were pressed to mine. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting or mentally preparing for, but this wasn’t it. My entire body felt as if it was on fire. His lips were cool, yet soft. He started gently, but the moment I returned the kiss and parted my lips for him, he was ravenous.

We were devouring each other from the inside out, and it took all of my self-control to remain standing and fully clothed. I’d never been kissed like that a day in my life, and I never wanted it to stop. He gently bit my lower lip and slowly pulled away, breaking the kiss.

I quietly groaned and tried to contain the whimper building in my throat as his lips left mine. Looking up into his eyes, all I could see was longing and pure desire. I needed to know if he was struggling as much as I was. Words are beautiful, but I needed the actions to enforce them. Almost as if he were reading my mind, he growled.

“When I tell you to run, my little ice queen, I want you to run,” he growled. I knew the confusion was written on my face as he took a step closer to me and ran his index finger along my exposed collarbone. My breath hitched. “You heard me, darling. I said run.”

I could feel my eyes widen, but before I could think more about it, I took off into the forest behind us.

Chapter21

Roses

Raiden

She was looking at me, wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe what I had just said. Standing on the edge of the forest, the moon reflecting off her long silver hair just like it had that first night, I was feeling rather bloodthirsty. But all I could think about was her and what she had just finished telling me.

She was leaving when we were finished—over my dead unbreathing body was she stepping foot outside of my court without me next to her.

I hadn’t been trying to placate her or make her fall into bed with me by my confession. Every word of it was true. But I could tell by the look in her eyes she needed more, so I’d give it. I’d give her everything she needed.

“You heard me, darling. I said run,” I growled.

She looked at me for another moment, and then turned toward the forest, taking off at a run. Part of me was thankful for her leggings and sweater this evening. If she’d been in a dress or something other females tended to wear, this wouldn’t be fair. But as it stood, she was dressed perfectly for an evening run.

I gave her a few moments’ head start before I started to trail after her.

Running through the Forest of Feronia reminded me of when I’d first been turned. My mentors had brought me to this forest to teach me how to hunt, fight, and use my shadow magic. The latter was never successful until Micah started helping me, though.

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