Page 189 of The Throne Seeker
Her eyes softened as she looked back and forth between his.
He pushed her gently back onto the bed, looming over her as he hovered. “I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again.”
Being wholly accepted by him made her ache for him all over again, her gaze fluttering from his eyes down to his lips.
He recognized the flare of desire as his own became hooded, hunger creeping back into them. He leaned down and kissed her with a renewed craving, slowly forcing her mouth open, letting his lips mold to hers.
And just like that, she knew she’d finally found home.
CHAPTER 70
As cliché as it sounded, the next few days were something out of a romance novel. Rose and Roman were inseparable, spending every waking moment together. Each night was the same, sleeping intertwined. An ever-constant thirst for him lived within her, and he was just as crazed—which, in turn, led to them making love whenever they got the chance. The simplest of touches turned within an instant. A brush of a hand. A peck on the cheek. A lingering stare.
Dangerous games.
One afternoon, their usual training session in the woods took an unexpected turn, evolving into a different kind of session. She’d never been so happy to be pinned to the ground.
Best lesson yet, in her opinion.
Gretta was ecstatic about the blossoming relationship, beaming every time she saw them. She learned to leave food at the door in the mornings when they missed breakfast, knowing better than to enter. Her spirits were so lifted that she’d hardly scolded them as they trailed lake water through the halls, barely making it back to the bedroom before they claimed each other.
Two weeks later, Roman decided to go hunt. Despite Rose pointing out the ominous dark-gray clouds overhead, it didn’tdeter him as he muttered a complaint, something along the lines of not having fresh meat.
She was leaning in to kiss him goodbye when he grabbed her arm. “You think you’re not coming with me?” He brushed her nose with his, his lips slipping into a crooked smile as he handed her a bow and arrow. “Come on, we’ll see if I’ve taught you anything.”
Which was how they ended up roaming the woods that day. Onyx took them farther north than usual. Rose didn’t mind in the slightest as Roman stroked the inside of her thigh every so often from behind, just to make sure the ache for him never left.
The usual turquoise lake morphed into a deep indigo from the dark clouds blanketing the sky. Highland Haven appeared only as big as a single gold coin as they ventured forth deeper into the mountains.
Once they’d gone far enough to satisfy Roman, they left Onyx by a small creek to drink while they continued on foot. They decided to split up to cover more ground, agreeing to meet back at the creek in an hour.
It was embarrassing how she missed him from the moment he left. It had to have only been a few minutes, and she already wanted to go back and find him.
She pressed on, brushing the ever-present need for him aside.
The forest was quiet, the trees still—the calm before the storm. A distant rumble of thunder from the west echoed off the mountains as she kept alert, looking for any signs of tracks or scat like Roman had told her to. To her pleasant surprise, she found a peculiar set of tracks that was reasonably fresh but unfamiliar.
She bent down, running her fingers along its edges. The soil was soft and moist between her fingers. She’d never seen a trackquite like this. It looked like a deer’s, but it was too large—much too large. Perhaps a moose?
She followed the trail. Its leg span was farther apart, much like Onyx’s. Its prints wound through the trees, and she took a mental note of random nibbles on the leaves and branches along the way.
The tracks led her to a large clearing. She continued cautiously, careful to keep her feet light.
A rustling sound came from up ahead.
She strained her ears. More rustling.
Slowly, she readied her bow, stepping out of the tree line. She stealthily cocked her arm, ready to strike.
She froze at what she saw.
In the clearing stood a pearl-colored creature, looking almost radiant against the natural hues of the forest. It resembled a deer, only much larger. Its antlers were intricately beautiful, graced with soft blooms, reminding her of plum branches blooming in early spring.
She recognized the creature from illustrations in her books.
A snawfus.
Based on what she’d read—which was but a mere few paragraphs—it was supposed to be extinct. Said to hold depths of untold power. Arguably, the most powerful magical creature in the realm. Throughout history, many humans had sought to kill them and harness the creatures’ power for themselves. Even esteemed leaders from the past had done so, gaining their power and strength from the blood of the snawfus. It was regarded as a tremendous honor. Undoubtedly why they went extinct.
