Page 110 of Vicious Princess
All the pieces I’ve overlooked before click into place.
Quietly, I slip into the home library and make my way through his dark corridors, then up the stairs to the second floor, where I know the primary bedroom is located.
I keep trying to reason with myself. I try not to jump to conclusions. I try to find an explanation.
Something, anything else that would make sense. Yet…the only thing that makes sense is the cold, hard truth. One I refused to see. It’s like a sharp blade lodged in the middle of my chest.
Daegel’s sprawled in the middle of a large bed when I enter room. A couple of candles burning on the nightstand offer dim light.
He’s awake, though.
“Phoenix? What a pleasant surprise.” His voice is sleepy, words coming out in a gentle growl. He yawns and stretches his strong, massive body. It takes up more than half the bed.
Trying to bide some time to clear my mind and figure out the next step, I circle the bed. I have so much on my mind, I don’t even know where to begin.
A light frown edges between his eyebrows. “What’s wrong, Phoenix? Talk to me. Don’t keep things from me.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe. It’s too painful. Daegel hasn’t changed since I last saw him. He’s the same man.
Yet he’s a total stranger.
“Come here, Phoenix.” Daegel crosses his hands behind his head.
So handsome.
So dangerous.
So devious.
Keeping his gaze, I approach the bed and climb onto it. Daegel watches me crawl up his body until I finally straddle his hips.
Desire ignites in Daegel’s gaze as it slides down from my face to what’s between my thighs.
“Are you in the mood to fight like the other night?” His hands grip my hips. Even through the leathers separating us, the heat leaches from his body into mine. “Or would you rather skip to the good part? I missed you, princess.”
While before his gaze caressing my body felt like the gentlest, most loving caress over my skin, the sensations it elicits today are very different. It feels like the very tip of the sharpest blade tracing the lines of my body, waiting until it’s time to strike true.
I flatten my palms on his stomach and glide them up to his chest and over his folded arms until my chest meets his and warmth floods my body despite my mind’s protests. Daegel doesn’t fight me as I gather his wrists above his head.
Daegel’s eyes burn with desire. That’s all there is right now.
Over his lips, I whisper, “You don’t want me keeping things from you, yet that’s what you’ve been doing all this time.” My voice is seductive and gentle, but my words are harsh.
It snaps Daegel from the trance immediately. “Please, princess. We’ve been through this already.”
I straighten my back, glaring at him pinned underneath me. “Do you know where I was just before coming here?”
“No. But I hope you’re about to tell me.”
“At the Ezkai General’s office. With him and TaaslordNoire.”
Daegel is sober after hearing that.
He blinks. Wets his lips. His gaze sweeps over me. “You’re okay. They didn’t hurt you. Did they expel you?”
“No, they didn’t. But, oh, they told me things. So many things.”
Suddenly, I need space.
