Page 97 of A Reign of Roses
A gruff laugh cracked out of Kane as he crossed the roof to stand beside his friend. “I don’t believe my commander’s ever actually had to pay for sex.” He gave Griffin a loud smack on the shoulder followed by a jovial squeeze. “Though I cannot fathom why, women are constantly giving it to him for free.”
Mari’s eyes widened into shock.“Constantly?”
Kane failed to suppress a smirk.
“Don’t listen to him,” Griffin said to her. “I don’t— I’m not—”
“No, it’s fine.” Mari swallowed. “Obviously.” She sat down right on the rooftop floor and conjured a spell book to leaf through. “To each their own.”
Griffin’s glare at Kane was downright menacing.
I shot him the same one.
Kane plucked his newly sharpened sword from Griffin’s hands, and sauntered over to me. “And what’s that look?”
“Stop torturing them,” I said under my breath.
“Why? It’s very pleasing.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a nuisance.”
But Kane’s eyes were focused on Mari as she read over another spell. And Griffin, as he watched her like she was his very heart, twirling hair and folding down pages, right outside his body.
“It’s painful, isn’t it?”
“They’re scared to give themselves over to it,” I said. “I don’t blame them.”
Kane’s smile was faint in the glittering night. “Would you scream at me if I locked them in our room until they just fucked already?”
My lips twitched. “I’m not much of a screamer.”
“Really?” Kane’s gaze sharpened on mine. “I could change that.”
“Oh?” I smirked, even as my blood heated. “How?”
His silver eyes simmered. “On my knees.”
Unable to help myself, I stepped a little closer, desperate to press all the pulsing parts of me against him. Kane grasped my fingers with feline precision as they crawled up his chest. Without lifting his eyes from mine, Kane said, far too low, “Arwen and I are going to bed now.”
26
Arwen
Dragging me behind him, Kanehurried us down the rickety steps before giving either of our friends a chance to reply. We slipped down into the darkened bedroom below and Kane closed the contraption with a flick of shadowed power.
“You can’t leave them up there all night so you can bed me.”
“Can’t I?” Kane arched one elegant brow, and a slant of city light glowed across his ridiculously carved jaw. The portrait of kingly male arrogance.
I hid the curve of my lips as I pulled my boots off one by one. Then I lifted my blouse overhead. My hands found the waistband of my leathers and I shimmied them down around my ankles and then off entirely, tossing the garments into the corner beside our bags.
Through the red-hued room, lit only by one steady oil lamp under a crimson shade and the glow of the city through the dusty windows, I realized Kane hadn’t moved.
Not a muscle.
He only looked me up and down, noting every curve of my body, every rise of my chest.
And I didn’t meet his eyes. I knew, if I did, it would be over. Twin dams bursting at once.
