Page 93 of Feathers so Vicious

The young boy ran over from the stable, gleaming up at Malyr with a wide grin. “My prince?”

“Have a blanket ready by the sea in an hour, along with refreshments.” Malyr grabbed the reins with one hand, shifted his balance behind me, and, when I nearly slipped off at Liual’s turn, slung his other arm around my belly, pulling me back into the center and tightly against him. “Make that two hours.”

“Yes, my prince!” the boy said and hurried off.

Malyr pressed his cheek against my temple. “Remember the night you rolled your hips like a bitch in heat with my cock nudged at your cunt, begging me so nicely to breed you, little dove?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m afraid I can’t recall.”

“A shame, considering I cannot get it out of my head how you tempted me.” One click of Malyr’s tongue, and the horse moved forward at a walk, following the pathway toward a smaller gate. “Move like you did that night, and we might reach the cliffs before noon.”

I wasn’t sure what was worse—that he made me remember my poor attempt at seducing him, or that his suggestion actually held merit. The more I allowed my pelvis to rock in-tune with his, the less I swayed and shifted. Soon, I found my way into the familiar motion, gaining balance.

“How can you be certain which way to go?” I asked after a while. “Have you traveled along this road on horseback before?”

He steered Liual around the carcass of a deer that the wolves must have gotten. “No. Navigating the lands and winds comes natural to us. I feel it in my core, where the sea lies, the castles, the mountains.”

And I knew nothing of the lands beyond what I’d seen on maps. “A Raven on a horse. Why bother learning how to ride if flying is faster?”

“Why bother flying if riding costs me close to no energy? It appears you taught yourself a solid seat in those pastures. Take these.” Malyr split the reins and weaved them through my fingers before he grabbed my wrists and positioned my hands to float to each side of the pommel. “Don’t let go of them.”

My knuckles stiffened. “Why didyoulet go of them?”

“Your first formal lesson. I cannot expect my human wife to move at the speed of my ravens, but I certainly won’t tolerate the slowness of a carriage each time we have to travel in the future.” A tap on my knuckle. “All it takes is the faintest tug on the rein to steer him in any direction you wish him to go. If you shorten them both, he will go slower. If you give them to him, he will go faster.” He pointed to the left. “Cross over that meadow there.”

My pulse spiked at the challenge, the opportunity to finally do something I’d always wanted. As instructed, I gave the tiniest tug on the left rein, chest lifting at the way the grinding of rock and sand beneath us turned into the dulledthudsof hooves sinking into flattened bushels of yellow grass.

Malyr pointed toward an evergreen forest that lay ahead. “How about you race him all the way to the edge of those pines?”

“Race him?” My heart gave a clank against my throat. “I… I don’t think I should.”

His arm slung around my middle once more. “I will not let you fall. All you have to do is brace for those first couple of thrusts as he gains speed; the rest is easy to sit, so as long as you follow his movements. Trust me.”

He might as well ask me to make the clouds break open. “I… I don’t know…”

“Where has the woman gone who marched into my chambers demanding a wedding, hmm? My shadows get you slick, but the premise of a brief canter has you stammer? Is this not what you pretended to do?” Malyr asked. “When you ran along the bailey?”

“Yes, but—”

“Stop pretending, Galantia,” he said. “Do it. Lean slightly forward, press your legs against him, and say,alesh.”

My pulse fluttered in my throat. “It’s dangerous.”

“Mmm, did your mother not tell you?” he whispered with a shove of his nose at my temple. “My little white dove, so is playing with knives.”

A flutter infused my veins, sending such a thrill through my body, my fingers tightened around the reins. Yes, she’d told me.Don’t touch the knife, Galantia. Don’t run, Galantia. Don’t walk in the rain, Galantia.But most definitely, don’t canter a horse across a wet meadow through flurries of snow while in the arms of the deadly Raven prince, Galantia.

Nonsensical rules. Well, I’d wanted rid of them, had I not? And who was there to stop me?

Nobody.

Heart pounding in my chest, I leaned slightly forward and, at the bump of my calves, said, “Alesh!”

A single jolt lifted me out of the saddle as Liual’s back seemed to arch. His powerful hind legs thrust us away from the ground, sending us forward and into a gust of wind just as my ass hit the seat once more. Beneath me, the outline of his forelegs blurred as they extended further, moved faster, changing thuds to thunder.

“Good,” Malyr praised me loudly, his words slightly distorted by the whistling of the wind. “Keep following his movements.”

I cantered across the glistening meadow with Malyr at my back, our bodies rolling in-tune with the rhythm of Liual’s motion. Cold snowflakes dotted my face as the biting chill whipped my cheeks numb. The wind tugged on my hair in the same way Risa had when she’d wanted to keep me from running when I was a child, but I was too fast. Faster than ever before!

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