Page 103 of Spirit Trials
“He tried to save me.” I can barely get out the words.
“Well, the fact that you’re here in my arms means he was successful; and I will be eternally grateful he did. Lox does what he wants to do, always has. He knew what he was doing. He was protecting you when I couldn’t.”
“And now, he’s dead because of it.” I can’t help the bitterness in my words.
Rysden leans forward and kisses my forehead softly. “If it wasn’t you, it would have been somebody else. That’s just Lox. He’s dramatic—wanted to always have the last say. His spirit will probably torment us and never let us forget that he died saving you.”
I can’t help but smile at his words. “Yeah, probably. What happened to you before the attack?”
He makes a sound low in his chest. “A guard led me to a room far away from the ball room. There were black clansmen waiting for me. I had to fight my way out of the room to get back to you. I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”
“You got there when it counted.”
Rysden shifts and pulls me closer to him, shifting us so my back is against his chest. “Sleep now. I’ve got you; you’re safe.”
“You need to sleep too.” A massive yawn escapes.
“Sleep, Farrah,” Rysden says in his low voice. As if he commanded it to be so, my eyes close and I finally sleep.
The door crashes into the wall, startling me awake. “Farrah’s gone! She—” The voice abruptly cuts off, and I try to still my thundering heart.
I push up on one elbow. “Kinsley, what in the world?”
Her wide eyes bounce back and forth between the two of us. “I’m so sorry. I did not see that coming.”
“How could you not see it coming?” I hear Harper’s voice but don’t see her. “Every time he looks at her, he looks like he wants to rip all her clothes off.”
“Harper,” I croak in a hoarse voice as my cheeks flame.
Kinsley closes her eyes and shakes her head before meeting my eyes.Sorry,she mouths before quietly closing the door. I blow out a breath and drop back onto the bed.
“She’s not wrong,” Rysden says in a low voice.
I turn towards him, wholly unprepared for the sight of him like this. My eyes run over his bare muscular torso with black swirls and markings. “About what?” I ask, totally losing my train of thought. When he doesn’t say anything, my eyes snap to his. He's staring at me, with that intensity I’ve begun to crave.
“Like what you see?” he asks, a smirk at the corner of his lips. I scowl at him and throw back the blankets, intent on getting out of bed and getting ready for the day. “Wait,” he says, lunging for my wrist. I stand on the side of the bed and stare down at him. He's holding my wrist, but it’s not tight. I could get out of it if I wanted.
I lift my chin and meet his gaze head-on. “Yes.”
It takes him a moment, and then his eyes heat. He's out of bed and stalking towards me before I even realize what’s happening. He’s in front of me a moment later. “We got interrupted last night.”
My thoughts threaten to go back to the atrocities of last night, but I fight to stay present. I stare up at him, into those gorgeous dark eyes. “We did.”
“I think we should carry on that conversation we were having.” His voice is low and sexy.
I smirk. “I don’t think we were doing much talking.”
He cocks an eyebrow, looking awfully smug. “What were we doing then?”
I take a step back. “If you can’t seem to remember, then—”
“I remember everything,” he says in a growl, tugging me close and meeting my lips with his.
I sigh and sag against him as everything fades away but he and I in this perfect moment together. He deepens the kiss, and I moan against his mouth. He pulls away, leaving not a breath of space between us. “My sole purpose in life now is to draw these sounds from you.” His voice is so low, his chest vibrates. I don’t get a chance to respond before his lips find mine again, and I can’t get enough of him. I reach my hands up to the back of his head and run my fingers through his hair, earning a low growl from him. He demands entrance to my mouth, and I let him in. He pushes me back, so that my back is against the wall, leaving his hands free. A knock on the door makes us both stop. He pulls away slowly, bracing his hands against the wall on either side of my head.
“Um, sorry to interrupt but there are guards from the castle at the front door,” Kinsley calls out through the door.
Instant guilt floods me, and I put my hands on Rysden’s chest to push him away. “Don’t do that,” he says softly. When I meet his eyes, his are locked on mine. “We’re not going to feel guilty because we have each other.”
