Page 16 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
“Fire. Flames. That’s what they call you. And for me it doesn’t matter, does it? All flowers die in the end,” I answered in between gasps.
He let go of me, dropping me back to the ground. I was so shocked by the loss of his hands on my most intimate parts that all I could do was stare dumbly at him.
“Not you,” he swore, his eyes ablaze. “I will see to it.” He glanced down the hallway, then back at me. “When the others are abed, I will come for you. Would you like that?”
My mouth went dry.Remember your mother. You want to end up like her after how far you’ve made it?Yet for some reason, what came out of my mouth was “y-yes. After they’re asleep.”
He twirled his fingers at me. A clear dismissal. Feeling a bit like a misbehaving child caught stealing a sweet, I quickly puttered back to the ‘flower’ wing. I was thankful not to encounter any guards and sighed with relief when I recognized our door. Adrenaline made it easier to pull it open and sneak inside.
The common area lay empty and dark. I made it back to the room I shared with Azalea and Leilani. “Where have you been?” Azalea whispered at me, eyes sharp with suspicion.
I already looked flushed and bothered, so I played into it.
“I uh … got lost when I stormed out,” I admitted sheepishly, not needing to fake the red stain on my cheeks and neck.
Leilani sat up in bed, her eyes crusted with sleep. “Oh. Hey Mari.” She laid back down and promptly started snoring again.
Azalea rolled her eyes and went back to her book. Wondering where she got it, I glanced around our room, noticing there were indeed books and other trinkets on the various shelves and on top of the tables.
Huh.
Not that I could read any of them.
I put it all out of my mind and at least pretended to go to sleep. My brain still spun in circles; my body abuzz with all the sensations Zariah had drawn from me.
What if I could marryhiminstead of the prince?
The thought felt as forbidden as his touch. And why not? The prince would not choose a mud girl; everyone knew that. Surely I was good enough for a lowly fireguard, wasn’t I?
I closed my eyes, images of myself dancing in one of the colorful prima’s purple robes frolicking around in my head. Sleep snuck up on me before I knew it.
* * *
I woke to a hand on my mouth and silver-green eyes staring down at me. My hands flew to my face, but Zariah smirked. Confident I wouldn’t scream, he moved his hands under my chin and pulled me up to his lips. My eyes shot to the beds to my left, but both Azalea and Leilani were still and silent.
Zariah’s kiss was ravishing and possessive, and as vicious and blistering as he was kind and considerate on the streets. It was a side of him I didn’t know existed, but I was quickly becoming addicted to it. He bit down on my lower lip, and I opened my mouth wide in surprise. His tongue stroked in eagerly at the opportunity, probing deeply inside of me just as his fingers had hours ago.
When he finally released me, I tried in vain to catch my breath. “I thought we were going to your … er, somewhere else,” I whispered lamely. He hadn’t exactly promised that we’d go to his chambers, had he? Surely, this was just as dangerous though, if not more so? What if they caught him in here, deflowering one of the prince’s little blooms?
Zariah buried his head in my chest. “Here is safer. They don’t watch you like they do me. Besides, everyone thinks I’m up on the wall.”
He was shirking his duty for me? The very thought sent a hot bolt of need through my veins.
Leilani made a grunt of unconscious protest in her sleep, rolling over so that she was facing me.
As much as I was into Zariah, this couldn’t happen here. Plus, I didn’t want to get myself entangled in any situation where I’d suddenly get with child. I would learn from my mother’s example. I gently pushed him off. “Find somewhere else then if we can’t go to your quarters, but it can’t be here.”
His eyebrows nearly went to his forehead in disbelief. “You’re saying no?” His voice rose to an incredulous pitch, and I smacked his arm to remind him toshut up.
“I’m saying we’re both idiots. Find somewhere else. Don’t come here again in the night, and—”
The dragon suddenly roared, drowning out what I planned to say next. He was so loud and so close that the castle walls shook. Leilani and Azalea bolted awake, and I grabbed Zariah and rolled with him off my bed.
“Get under the bed,”I whisper-yelled at him, shoving him at the small space and hopping back onto the mattress to find Leilani wide eyed and staring at me.
The dragon roared again and must have been spewing flames as an orange glow filtered in through our open door. Azalea and Leilani scrambled out of bed to race toward the balcony. Sighing in relief, I went behind them. Surely, as a guard, Zariah was smart and stealthy enough to get out of the room while we were all preoccupied.
ChapterSix
