Page 51 of A Baron of Bonds
“She did not.”
He brought it closer for me to touch, and I gasped when I slid my fingers over the silk, my conduit ring a brilliant emerald accessory to such a beautiful gown.
“Can I wear it?” I looked up at him standing over me next to the bed and a wave of desire hit my body, flooding me with heat and an ache to touch his bare skin. I didn’t know if its origin was me or the man standing over me, holding the most beautiful nightgown I had ever seen.
“I hoped you would.”
I shot him a delighted grin—a woman charmed by her lover. I picked at the ties to my bodice, wiggling out of my sleeves clumsily, standing to pull the rest of the dress and my undergarments off my waist.
I managed to fumble out of the dress and kicked it aside, unclothed and excited to slip the soft silk over my skin.
His eyes roamed over my body, and he clenched his jaw, filling his lungs fully.
“Oh,” I murmured, looking down at my bare breasts, my skin exposed and prickled. “I’m naked.” I giggled, the truth of it hilarious, though I wasn’t sure why.
He shook his head and huffed. “Yes, I see that, Karus.”
Grabbing the hem of the gown, he pulled at the opening, helping me slip my head and arms through, letting the full length of it fall to the floor above my toes. I looked down, my face jubilant seeing my curves accentuated by the cut and the detailed lace that showed my creamy skin through its pattern.
“It’s so beautiful. Thank you,” I managed to whisper in the firelight.
He said nothing while I swished before him.
He stepped away, back to the table and poured from a pitcher into a cup, bringing it to me. “Here. Drink all of this.”
“What is it?”
“Just water. You’ll thank me when you wake.”
“Are we going to sleep?” I mumbled, bringing the cup to my mouth. The water was cold and welcome, filling my belly with its weight and quenching the thirst from traveling at least one thousand stairs.
“Yes. You are going to sleep.”
I finished my drink and swept a hand over my lips, handing the cup to him and turning excitedly. Climbing into the bed, I slipped under the mound of white blankets and sheets.
The cool cotton slipped over my legs, and I moaned in pleasure. My head was suddenly too heavy to keep upright as it landed on the pillow.
He pulled the covers up to my neck, tucking them around me.
“You will not sleep with me in this great big bed?” I questioned, my eyes too heavy to keep open any longer.
“Sleep I would not want in this great big bed,” he whispered close to my ear, pulling my hair back from my face and kissing the base of my jaw softly.
I hummed and left him, falling into a place empty of thought or decision in a single bed at the very top of the tallest inn in Hyrithia.
Chapter 29
Rev
Mumbling each title aloud,I continued my list in the soft quiet. “Felgren’s Power Unraveled: A Look into the Magic of Arcaynen.A History of Green.The Magic You Siphon: Understanding What You Wield.”
For the last seventy-five minutes, I had tracked time by glancing at the small clock on the fireplace mantle. The woman I was bound to continued to sleep off her drink, tangled in the sheets of the only bed in the room.
I grimaced, my thoughts roaming to her again. I fixed my gaze on the parchment and continued my list, adding,SimpleSecrets of Felgren Forest.
That book had been partially destroyed by the Blight. Its thin black thorns had torn through the last third, but my channelers could still learn from its pages as soon as we returned to Felgren.
In my fuming, distracted thoughts, I had paced the room for too long before deciding to put myself to use. The list of books the four channelers would be given to study had become a distraction in itself, and as I finished it, I dropped the quill on the table and leaned back in the chair. My eyes darted immediately to the bed.
