Page 129 of Wolf Caged
“The most powerful unseelie male in this world lives there?” She leaned over the map to study it more closely. “It’s so small compared with the other courts.”
I smiled wickedly and took hold of her arm, done with my work and determined to make the most of the fine day. “A title is not the only measure of power. How many alphas in your world are taken down by a more rabid wolf?”
She walked beside me, her arm looped around mine, a thoughtful expression on her face as we exited the room and strolled along the corridor on the ground floor of the castle.
As if it was the most natural thing in the world for us to be doing.
As if she was my queen.
“You do realise you liken yourself to a rabid wolf,” she said as we stepped out into the afternoon light and she released my arm. She tilted her head back, her face to the sky, and drew down a long, deep breath as her eyes fluttered closed, so much pleasure in that small action, as if the war room had been a cage and now she was free.
“Not myself. I am neither rabid nor a wolf.” I held my hand out to my right, gesturing towards the spot in the garden I had noticed she favoured. The same spot where I had found her conversing with Oberon as if he were as nice as she believed him to be. I prayed she never found out just how cruel and violent Oberon could be.
One of us deserved not to be judged a monster by her.
“You know what I meant. If you could seize that power and become high king, would you?” She ambled ahead of me, her shoulders shifting in a sigh as her blue eyes flitted about the flowers that lined the path towards the wall and the waterfall overlook.
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I believe I would prefer to remain here, at my court. Power is not everything.” I slowly raked my gaze down the line of her spine, taking in her tempting curves, images of her spread out before me on her bed flashing across my mind. Such a wild, unfettered thing she had been once she had let go and embraced her passion in pursuit of her pleasure rather than being ashamed of it.
“Quit staring,” she muttered as she scowled over her shoulder at me, a touch of red on her cheeks.
The flicker of heat in her gaze said she did not mind me staring.
Not really.
She was just clinging to her sense of right and wrong again, closing herself off to the pleasures of this world and the flesh because someone had told her it was the right thing to do.
I lengthened my stride to keep up with her, closing the distance between us. “You were the one who insisted I beg forgiveness on my knees. If anyone is responsible for the mental images I now have of us, it is you. I merely indulge them, taking pleasure where I can.”
Her eyes flicked to me and back to the path, and the colour on her cheeks deepened, a delightful blush that made me want to trail the backs of my fingers down her soft skin to feel the heat of it.
“I’m still waiting for that apology.” She touched the spot on her chest where I had given her my brand, drawing my gaze there and then lower as her hand fell to her breast.
“And I will gladly give it one day, in a form that might please you.” I licked my lips, gaze fixed on her breasts.
She rolled her eyes and folded her arms over them. “Nothing you do pleases me.”
I chuckled, the sound slipping out before I could stop it, and she gaped at me.
So I scowled at her and swept my left hand forwards, summoning shadows to sweep her along. They twined around her limbs and cupped her backside, the sensations relayed to me as if it were my own hands touching her. She fought them every step of the way to the gazebo, hands slapping at the tendrils of night, her beautiful face set in a black snarl as she bared fangs.
When we reached the gazebo, I released her and she was quick to hurry away from my shadows as I withdrew them, pulling them to me. She strode to the wall that embraced thegarden and leaned against it, staring first at the waterfalls that thundered into the bay below and then out to sea.
Ships bobbed on the gentle waves, slowly making their way towards the port, while others anchored out at sea.
“Why don’t they enter the port?” She frowned at them, her lips pursed. “The only vessels I ever see in the harbour fly your flag.”
She absently touched the brand on her chest again, one that also bore my court’s seal.
“Because no outside ship is allowed to dock here. Any goods they bring to my shores must be handed over at sea, beyond the boundary of the Shadow Court.” I watched as one of my ships met one from the Night Court at sea, the two boats bobbing in unison as they were lashed together so the goods could be transported between the two.
“Why?”
“Such a curious little lamb.” I smirked at her.
She huffed. “Wolf. And you said I could ask any questions I wanted. You gave me permission to question people of this court about things that happened here and how they came to be here, remember?”
“I did not expect you to be interrogating me, but I will answer your questions. They must meet at sea to trade goods because the Shadow Court borders are closed and have been for many years now. No one from outside my court is allowed to enter it, whether that is on foot or by sea.” I charted the course of another two ships, neither of which looked as if they were making their way towards Falkyr. One bore the dragon flag of the Stygian Isles and had been built for war. The other was a small merchant vessel bearing the flag of the Forsaken Court, most likely heading back from a trading mission with the Winter Court to the north.
