Page 54 of King Elijah (The Zemiran Chronicles 2)

It felt as if his brain shut down for a moment, not able to think clearly about what he was doing. He needed to gulp for air to breathe, but he resisted the urge, not wanting to let Janelle go.

As swiftly as he had taken her, she pressed her hands to his chest and pushed him off. He released her, rolled off her body, and stood up. She let out a heavy sigh, placing her fingers on her red lips.

“Why to the stars did you do that?” she asked, taking heavy breaths as if he had kissed away all the air left in her.

Elijah looked down at her and stepped back until his back pressed against the broken door. His swollen lips tingled. Time seemed to stop as they stared at each other. All he could hear was the clock in the room.

Tick, tick, tick.

“Fuck!” he cursed, his lips parting ever so slightly.

Janelle stood, straightening her shirt. What looked like frustration flitted across her features.

“We are never to speak of this again,” she said. “Not to anyone or each other. Understand?” She looked away, uncomfortable under his gaze.

Elijah gave her a bitter smile. “Don’t worry,” he said, ignoring the pang of hurt that tore through his chest. “I can think of a thousand humiliations that I’d prefer over letting anyone know I swapped saliva with a surly elf.”

He placed his hand on the doorknob and looked over at her. His mind was washed out with bitterness and regret, but he refused to show it. His lie had sounded hollow, even to him.

“The innkeeper has been knocked out. Once he awakes, he will be running for help. We leave now.”

Janelle snapped her head toward him and stared, and he fought the urge to wither under her stern gaze. He didn’t regret kissing her. In fact, it was one of the most arousing experiences of his life to date. But it was foolish and even more ridiculous to assume whatever passions had driven him were reciprocated. He felt like a spurned schoolboy, not a king, which was a sharp sting to his ego.

Janelle closed her eyes and shook her head.

“The next town is miles from here, Elijah. Your damn horse got injured on the way up the hill, so we would have to go on foot. The one place where we could have stayed, at least a day to gain our strength, you assault the innkeeper. Gah, you’re a bloody idiot!”

Oh, you infuriating woman, he screamed in his thoughts.

“Then we put up a no vacancy sign on the door and lock him up for the day until we find another horse,” Elijah suggested. “We don’t have a choice.”

Janelle folded her arms across her chest and looked out the window, as if half expecting someone to already come for her.

Another silence loomed between them, and Elijah scratched his head. “Stay here.”

He left the room and came downstairs to find the man still lying on his back.

Elijah lifted the man and carried him upstairs, heading into one of the open rooms, and placed him on the bed.

The sudden movement jolted the man awake, and he gasped.

“Shhh,” Elijah said. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you . . . again.”

The old man attempted to flee, but his frail body wasn’t strong enough to withstand Elijah’s power. The smoke crept up again, but he didn’t touch the man that time. Instead, it circled him like he was sitting in the middle of a fog.

“Now,” Elijah said to the man. “Where can I find some rope?”

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