Page 6 of Lera of Lunos
I wrap my arms around myself and meet River’s eyes, my chin up. “If you’ve come to remind me that you are the prince of Slait or quint commander, or to—”
River takes a step forward, grasping my hips. “I don’t recall you minding the commander too much a few days ago,” he murmurs into my ear, his soft, rumbling voice making my skin blaze so hot it’s a wonder the drapery doesn’t catch on fire. River chuckles before reining in his voice. “But actually, I came to tell you that what you said in the common room was right on point.”
“I—wait, what?”
“Autumn and I have a tendency to squabble.” He shrugs. “Shade says he keeps waiting for us to grow out of it but is losing hope by the decade.”
“So you weren’t really going to... I’m not sure what you were going to threaten actually.”
“I’m not fully sure either.” A corner of River’s mouth twitches. “But it would have been very firm. And about as useful as Autumn protesting a protection detail. We’d have worked out as much eventually—you just sped up the process.” The humor fades from his too-perceptive eyes. “What I want to know now is what truly set you off back there.”
Besides that one small detail of my having let the greatest menace known to Lunos get away? Not a thing. “I...” I rub my face, debating the best approach to this.
River’s firm fingers cup my chin, tilting my face up to meet his. The male’s strength and sense of responsibility engulf me much more potently than they did before our coupling three days ago. Who knew that sharing a bed with the male—truly sharing—would send my body and soul into as much of a tailspin as it did my magic. “I’d appreciate the truth, please, Leralynn,” he says. “Given that you expect as much from me, it does seem fair, no?”
The fight leaves me much faster than it has any right to, and I know I will give him the answer, even as I glare. Stars. Those piercing gray eyes might hold more magic than just earthquakes. “Why is yelling at you in the common room so much easier than holding my ground in private?” I mutter.
River smiles, his flashing white teeth confusing my senses even more. Still holding my chin, he rubs his thumb over my mouth. “Because the bedroom and the battlefield are two places I never yield,” he says and, without waiting for an invitation, presses his lips over mine.Takesa kiss. Deep and thorough and so sex-clenchingly strong that my underthings dampen.
He pulls away, his nostrils flaring with satisfaction. Smelling my arousal.
My skin heats.
With a small chuckle, River sits on the edge of my bed, the tall mattress perfect for his height. Opening his knees, he pulls me to stand between them, our eyes nearly level. His broad hands brush along my shoulders, my hips, the undercurve of my bottom.
My breath catches at the memory of what he didtherewhen we last lay together, my face flaming hot enough to melt metal. I hated it. My treacherous body, however... My thighs clench and I try to step back, only to find myself trapped in the male’s muscular arms.
“It’s time to answer my question, Leralynn,” River says, his silver-speckled eyes holding mine. “No evasions, no half truths. I love you. Which means I need to know what had you curling in on yourself back there. What truly set you off?”
Stars, how closely was River watching me to see my body shift? Before I can push the thought away, the memories that sparked that reaction return to wash over me mercilessly.
We were together, River and Coal and Shade and Tye and me, my body echoing the males’ power. Holding enough of it to stop Griorgi and Jawrar. Except I didn’t. I brought the whole damn town down around our ears instead. If River, so injured he could only crawl, hadn’t gotten to me in time to take control of the magic, we’d all be dead. “I’m the reason Griorgi is free,” I manage to say finally. “Because I couldn’t control the magic. And now everyone is paying for it.”
River studies me, his broad shoulders filling my vision, his thoughts too deep to read.
“Andwe have our final trial tomorrow, with no more do-overs,” I blurt out. “We’re one more crazy Lera explosion away from being put to death, whether by my hand or the arena’s wards.”
Still, River stays quiet. Watching. Listening.
I squirm to back away, but he lifts me to sit sideways on his lap instead. “Settle down, Leralynn,” he says into my ear. “And then listen to what you just said. My father has tainted Lunos for nearly a thousand years, managed to break the ancient wards that hundreds of thousands of fae and mortals died to erect, and allied himself with Mors’s emperor. And yet it is you whom we should hold responsible for the mayhem?”
I shake my head. River is missing the point. “We had him in Karnish. If I hadn’t—”
“Griorgi hadusin Karnish.” River’s voice hardens. “And if you hadn’t connected the quint, we’d be dead.”
“I—”
“You failed to singlehandedly defeat the king of Slait, yes. I heard you the first time.” River shifts me to have a full view of my face. Those deep, beautiful eyes study me with disconcerting intensity, as if nothing else exists in the world. With his formal jacket shrugged off somewhere in the common room, the heat of his body seeps through his simple white shirt, filling the air between us. River brushes a knuckle down my cheek. “And I told you that you saved our lives. I wouldn’t like to have to repeat myself again, luv.”
Luv?Heat. Sheer, burning heat engulfs my skin, starting from the spot along my cheekbone that the male just touched and shooting straight through my core. My blood and sex heat at the same time, the indignation and flash of fury as strong as the sudden grip of excitement. The former emotion wins, and I shove River’s chest. “Bastard.”
He captures my wrist, his large hand wrapping easily around my forearm. “Unfortunately not.” His deep, masculine voice brushes my neck. “I fear my lineage is something everyone is quite certain of.”
My thighs tighten, suddenly very aware of being atop River’s. The bed, the dim bedchamber, the low voice... the unyielding gaze and grip that the male has on me. I squirm beneath the pressure of his attention, only to discover a decided hardness beneath my bottom. With the next heartbeat, I can’t bring myself to care about the king of Slait or the emperor of Mors or the trials.
River’s gray eyes spark, raw desire flashing through the mask of control. His lips part, taking small gasps of air as the hardness beneath me pulses gently. Beneath his crisp, tailored shirt, his muscles coil so hard I feel the tiny vibrations of his rippling tension. “Leralynn... ” He swallows and the arm he has around me releases to grip the edge of the mattress in a white-knuckle grip. “There are a great many things going on just now. I don’t imagine you want... You better leave the room. Not too quickly, please.”
My gaze narrows, the very notion of denial rallying my body into alert. If I’m the prey the fae warrior’s instincts sense me to be, I’m a bloody willing one. “It’smybedchamber.” My voice rings through the heated air. Free of River’s restraining arm—which my body wants back where it belongs, no matter what my logic whispers—I twist until I’m facing the male, straddling his thighs as if riding a horse. “You don’t get to order me out of it.”
