Page 15 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
Without another glance in the Warsword’s direction, Drue gave a soft whistle, which brought Terrence back to her shoulder. Then she set out to talk to her father.
Drue arrangedit so that the Warswords were given guest quarters near her own, and then she waited. Sharpening her blades, she sat by the fire until the revelry had died down, until she heard the creak of the door two down from hers. She waited even longer to allow for the bath to be filled, for the Warsword to sink into the false lull of security, and then she crept towards his chambers.
Silent as the dead, she picked the lock and slipped inside.
‘Come to kill me, Wildfire?’ that deliciously dark voice said from the corner of the room.
There, Talemir Starling’s enormous frame took up the entire wooden tub, his torso sprawled above the waterline, muscular arms gripping the sides. His broad bare chest was on display, a series of scars dotted around his heart.
Drue froze. Her eyes locked on his.
Challenge filled that hazel gaze and water poured from his naked body as he stood.
Every thought emptied from Drue’s head. The room was instantly too hot, and another heat entirely pulsed between her legs as she took in the mouth-watering sight of him, drank in every glorious inch of him.
Talemir Starling was a figure carved by the Furies themselves and he moved like a graceful predator, stepping from the tub, not deigning to cover himself. Droplets gleamed in the dark trail of hair across his sculpted chest, where a blue jewel rested against his sternum – the only thing he wore. Water sluiced down the rippling plane of his abdomen, across his scar-littered golden skin.
Drue couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe as his sinful magic caught her in its talons. The urge to move towards him was nearly overpowering; the urge to run her hands across that skin nearly overcame her. Her gaze travelled further south, following the defined V-shaped dip of sinew below his hips, directing her stare to the perfect cock that hung low and heavy between his muscular thighs.
Her breath caught.
And a dark laugh forced her attention upward.
A wicked smile played on Talemir’s lips. ‘Do I look like a master of shadows to you?’ Desire blazed in those hazel eyes, desire that matched her own. Every part of her tightened under that stare. Every part of her sang out to him.
Drue suddenly felt wound too tight, so much so that every breath that heaved her breasts sent a thrill of need through her, a stark reminder of how much she wanted to be touched, touched by him. A fire had ignited within her.
Still naked, he approached her, leaving a trail of wet footprints in his wake.
As he drew closer, she realised it was a sapphire he wore around his neck, a woman’s jewel. Had his presence not been so overpowering, she might have wondered to whom it belonged, but then he was before her, close enough that she could feel the heat of his wet body radiating outward.
‘Do you believe me now?’ His voice was low, sending a thrill through her very bones.
The longing coursing through her was like nothing she had felt before, a rush of white-hot need that had her taking a step towards him.
But it wasn’t real. It was magic. His dark power had come to claim her. There were no shadows, no claws or wings, but he was a monster. She was sure of it.
‘No,’ she ground out, though her every movement said she didn’t care. She fought her desire back, forcing it down. ‘My cuff doesn’t lie.’
Something in the warrior’s eyes shifted, and he reached for a towel, securing it low around his hips in a quick, angry motion. ‘So you admit it, then? You’ve been meddling with the steel source? Don’t you realise that all blades from that source are connected? That by interfering with the origin point, with the magic of the Furies, you have weakened the Warsword weapons? The very weapons used to defend the midrealms?’
She scoffed. ‘I have done no such thing.’
He ignored her protest, his gaze darkening. ‘The darkness growsbecause of you. You have a lot to answer for.’
‘Me?What aboutyou?A shadow wraith masquerading as a Warsword? Is that not more of an insult to Thezmarr?’
He flinched.
There, she thought,there’s that pain point again. Let’s see if you come out to play.She palmed the dagger she’d been hiding in her arm sheath. ‘Do your brothers-in-arms know what you are?’ she spat. ‘Do they know that while they fought back the darkness, one of those monsters was among them? Perhaps you were working with them the whole time. Perhaps it’s your shadow side that drew more wraiths to that final battle in the first place. That caused the fall of your friend —’
His expression was changing, the veins around his eyes turning to webs of black.
Drue wasn’t done. It wasn’t enough. Not yet. ‘Perhapsyouare to blame. Perhaps it isyourfault —’
Suddenly, she was pressed against the wall.
And darkness exploded.
