Page 68 of Kiss of Fire

“Yes. But when it’s over, I’ll hate you for it.” He went very still and she forced herself to continue. “You said it yourself. You’re only doing this to make a point. To teach me a lesson. And afterwards, I’ll despise you.”

He stared into her eyes, evaluating her words. Weighing them. The bleakness in his face terrified her.I don’t meanit, she wanted to shout.Please don’t stop.But she knew there'd be a price to pay. After, when he'd taken what he wanted. When the passion had been sated.

Without a word he released his hold on her and pulled away. He climbed from the bath and stalked to the window. He spoke without looking round.

“Tomorrow evening at dinner, I will formally present you to my people as my betrothed. I trust you will act the part.”

He stepped off the ledge and dropped from sight, his shadow wings unfurling as he fell.

Raya watched him fly away, her body bereft of his touch. She stayed in the bath until the water turned cold around her.

Twenty Five

Shade hung in the air, his shadows cloaking him in smoky darkness. He was sick to his stomach, furious and disgusted with himself in equal measure. He had been enraged when he discovered Raya had spent the day with the Sylvan but that didn’t excuse what he had done.

He had gone too far, let temptation take control, and that was unforgiveable.

He flew to his favourite place. A hill on the other side of Nurhan. A wide grassy plateau at the top of a rocky crag. Impossible to reach unless you could fly.

He came here when he wanted to think. The solitude calmed him. Normally.

Why was he letting her get under his skin? What was it about her that made him act so irrationally?

She was an infuriating mix of contradictions. Tough yet vulnerable. Smart but naïve. And brave, despite the conditions she’d lived in for the past decade. He had never met anyone like her.

And yes, he acknowledged ruefully, he wanted her. By the gods, he hadn’t wanted anyone this badly for a long, long time.

He glanced down at his still semi-aroused state. What was that epithet Raya used all the time? The one that summed up his exact mood right now? Ah yes.

Fuck.

He left the plateau and glided back to his room, his shadows trailing behind him like a wake. He would have to apologise for his transgression. He would have to make it right. He would…

He stopped.

Raya was waiting for him. She stood in the middle of his bedchamber, wrapped only in a towel, her hair tumbling wildly down her back.

His throat constricted at the sight of her. He searched her face for any sign of anger or mistrust, and found none.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“I want you.”

“But you said…”

“I changed my mind.”

In two strides he was at her side, taking her into his arms as she let the towel drop to the floor. He tangled his hands in her hair as he brought her mouth to his, kissing her with a ferocity which he couldn’t control.

In the next moment he pushed her away, eyes blazing.

“Leona.”

“Does this form not please you, my Lord? I thought you would enjoy it.”

“You thought wrong.”

“And yet you seem so pleased to see me.” Leona let her gaze drift over Shade’s body. “Or should I say, her.”

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