Page 14 of Kiss of Fire

He drew himself up imperiously.

“A deal I expect to be honoured. I will give you whatever you want. And in return, you will be my future bride.”

In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have led with that.

Seven

Raya stared at him in disbelief. Had she heard right? Had he actually said she was going to be hisbride?

“Hell, no. No way. I didn’t get out of one prison just to get straight into another.” Maybe she should have been scared, but it had been a long day. She’d gone through fear and out the other side. “I’m not being your fuck-toy, no matterwhatyou give me. Forget it.”

His eyes blazed so blue she could barely look at them.

“You have already acquiesced. When you agreed to accompany me.”

“I had a head injury, you moron. And I was desperate to get out of there. I didnotagree to some weird sex thing.”

“I assure you, I am not trying to lure you into some tawdry arrangement for sex.” His lip curled. “Believe me when I say I have no desire foryouto fill that particular role.”

Raya was stung. Fine, she wasn’t particularly glamorous but there was no need to be rude.

“Well if you don’t want…that, whatdoyou want?”

“I need the Vulcani to ally with the jinn.”

She blinked.

“Huh?”

“The Vulcani. The fire fae. The most powerful of the elementals. I need them to form an alliance with me so that I can consolidate my claim to the throne in Nush’aldaam. A union with the head of the clan will make the alliance binding.”

He was saying words at her and she understood each individual word. But she didn’t understand the sentences. Vulcani? Fire fae?

“Look, pretend I don’t know anything. Which I don’t. First off, you keep talking about Nush… Nush’aldaam, did you say? Well, I watched plenty of National Geographic in the hospital and I’ve never heard of it.”

“It is the name of our realm. A place not of this world, where supernatural beings reside. It can only be reached through the Gate.”

“And that’s here? In the middle of a pine forest?”

“You sound sceptical.”

“Just a bit. An entrance to another world? If you tell me we have to go through a wardrobe, then I’ll know you’re taking the piss.”

Shadeed frowned. He didn’t understand her references. For a fleeting moment he considered simply dragging her through the Gate. But he needed her co-operation. With an effort, he reined in his temper.

“There is no wardrobe. The Gate is here, in the place humans call Norway.”

She stared in disbelief.

“You flew us all the way to Norway?”

“The wall between our worlds is thin here.”

Questions raced through her head.

“You said your world is for supernatural beings. But you also said you wantedmeto go with you.”

“That is correct.”

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