Page 25 of A Kingdom of Shadows

He keeps me close to his side, still holding my elbow. "Save them for when you've sobered up."

"I'd rather say them now."

He stops, and I almost bump into him. Sighing, he turns to me. His eyes are so beautiful, so gold they make me think of golden arrows firing at me—far too dangerous to look at.

"You know, Goldie," he says low, with no trace of humor. "I always enjoy a challenge with you. But this time, I need you to listen to me before I do something that you will absolutely hate."

An amused scoff comes from deep in my throat; I'm positive I'm spitting. "That's hardly a difference when I hate every—" I yelp as he puts his arm under my legs and scoops me up against his chest. My hands, on instinct, come around his neck before I scowl down at him as he saunters his way out of the crowd. Embarrassment floods me like a harsh wave as some stare at us, and I pray Renward doesn't.

"Will you stop picking me up!" I say, and he ignores me. "Darius!" I shake my legs, kicking them in the air as he walks without even a smidge of strain while holding me. "Darius—"

"Keep saying my name. We'll see where that gets you." His eyes never stray from the front as a smirk gleams off his lips.

I make a vexed face. "You are intolerable."

"I thought you said I was handsome a few minutes ago, Goldie?" His eyes jump to mine. "If you were lying, I'd have to disagree with you there."

Arrogant ass. "I was doing just fine until you interrupted me."

"You had three men staring at you the entire time like you were their next conquest." His words baffle me, mainly for the tightening of his jaw as he says it. "You're lucky I didn't make them swallow their testicles." The rage and disgust in his voice pierce through my chest. I can only swallow my surprise as he passes the bridge and pushes open the straw-latticed door to my hut.

He settles me onto the floor, and in some way, I hope to regain the strength in my voice as I say, "Either way, you have no right to—"

"No right for what, Goldie?" he says quietly. The brush of his hand against my waist makes me look up at him. Any anger is gone, replaced with genuine concern, and when he sees I'm unsure of what to say, he tips his chin toward the bed. "Get some rest."

I can't rest.

He turns from me, strolling to a wooden chair in the corner of the room. He sits down, and my eyes slowly pinch together at the action.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

He leans back, taking out a coin from his pocket and flipping it. "Waiting until you fall asleep."

I am momentarily shocked. He's waiting until I fall asleep?

Is it to protect me? To save me from those Elves he'd mentioned?

I expel a breath, having nothing to say because falling asleep is just as hard for me as it is for him. Climbing into bed, I turn my back to him. It doesn't help to know he's watching me with guarding eyes, so I toss and turn, my mind buzzing with thrill and too much energy.

Minutes pass by without so much as a word from either of us. I blow out an aggravated breath and sit up. My gaze snaps to him, and his brows jerk up almost amusingly before I say, "You sitting there and watching me isn't helping."

He rises. "Then, as your slave, I will stand guard outside."

He starts for the door, and I don't know what takes over me when disappointment catches me by the throat, and I jump from the bed. "Wait!" As he turns, I am already in front of him. My eyes are glued to his chest. Whatever I want to say leaves me as I stay silent, allowing my hand to do what it wants instead.

I slowly drag my palm up his abdomen, fingertips touching the grooves and curves of his muscle. Through the midnight blue light of the forest and the darkness inside this hut, our eyes fixate on one another. He's not saying anything, but I know he wants to. He wants to say a lot and does not know where to begin. His eyes are practically begging for a sense of reality to kick him.

Or perhaps that's part of my mind saying it for me.

"Nara,' he says my name almost in a warning. "Go and rest—"

"What does it feel like?"

He wears a frown on his features. "What does what feel like?"

My gaze again falls to his chest, and heat races between my legs. I want it to stop, but I cannot. I'm hypnotized. "To experience something that is not tame with someone else?"

I can feel the deep heaves of his breathing as his chest moves beneath my fingers. As I look up, he swallows hard.

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