Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
“Ahhh— Uh!” I bounced off silk and cotton, shocked to find myself in our bedroom.
On our bed.
Alisdair bore down on me, planting his hands on either side of my head and grinding his middle between my legs. A moan fell unbidden from my lips.
“—I’ll tell you where the boy is if you ask nicely.” His cock found its home, pressing against my entrance. “Very nice.”
Grinding my teeth, I fought my body’s reaction to him. I inhaled a deep breath and let it out slow. When done, my smile returned.
“All right. I’ll be nice.” My hand snaked between our bodies. “Downright sweet and pleasant.” I reached between our middles, and squeezed.
Shadowsoul stilled.
“Easy now, husband.” I pressed the knife tip to the back of his neck. “I’ve got you by both ends.”
“A dagger?” His voice was calm. “Here I was believing we hadn’t yet come to the point of needing props in the bedroom.”
My lips curled in a semblance of a grin. “We need this one. I helped myself to Eadaoin’s while she was busy feeling my backside. You see, I realized my mistake was stabbing you through the empty, rotted cavity where your heart used to be. I should’ve stabbed you where it hurts, and now that I know you do hurt...”
My grip tightened on his testicles, ripping a groan from his chest. “I will stab this through your neck, and rip out any chance of you spreading your demon seed, unless you tell me where the boy is”—the words pulled out of me—“and what’s in that room at the top of the tower?”
“Little bird—”
I dug the knife in, feeling it pierce the skin. “Now.”
“No.”
My grin melted away. “Excuse me?”
“I said no.” He sighed. “Oh, my queen. When will you learn to stop bargaining when you have nothing to offer?”
“Nothing to— I will do it!”
“Go ahead.”
“This isn’t a bluff,” I cried, shaking. “I’ve stabbed you once before. A second time won’t weigh heavily on my conscience.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Tell me where the boy is,” I burst out. “Tell me or you won’t be having any sons of your own!”
He blinked lazily. “A lesson, Princess, once you start shouting your threats instead of delivering them, you lose all sense of authority.”
Snarling, I crunched his soft, fleshy bits to burst—
Or at least, I tried to.
My hand wouldn’t move. Neither hand would move. I lay stiff and frozen, mentally shouting commands at my nonresponsive body.
“Oh, little bird.” Alisdair slid free and unharmed. “You are a unique and marvelous specimen. You make it so hard to resist you, but tonight, I must. You caused me no end of aggravation today, and I’m hardly going to reward that with multiple orgasms.”
Reward?! Did this man think he was punishing me by denying me sex? As if I was the wanton minx chasing after him every night!
“You’re done exploring for the night.” He turned his back and walked off. “Take the time to think about what you’ve learned.”
A blanket whipped out of the wardrobe and fell over me. Alisdair slammed the door on my internal shouts.
Chapter Eight
The next morning, Aeris led me out to the courtyard. Court wasn’t being held that day while they did repairs.
Alisdair stood in the middle of the courtyard, basking under the shadow of a statue. I only saw its silhouette the night before. Morning didn’t bring the sun, but it did bring the lighting of a dozen orblights scattered along the twisting paths—all casting their glow upon a beautiful stone woman with long hair, bare feet, and an expression of everlasting mourning.
I fell in beside him. “The true reward was a night free of you.”
Alisdair flicked down to me, amusement tugging the corner of his mouth. “How many hours last night did you spend crafting that rejoinder?”
I warmed under my collar. “Shut up.”
Naturally, he laughed at me. Alisdair was particularly handsome that morning, and that was saying something. It wasn’t that his horns were diminished, because they weren’t. Or that his claws retracted, because they hadn’t. He was very much the beast bursting out of a summer fae’s skin. No, he looked handsomer that morning, because he looked free.
Gone was the heavy black cloak. In its place were simple breeches, boots, and a tunic opened at the chest in defiance of the cold. His hair hung loose and free—a rushing raven waterfall drawing my gaze to him again and again. Every time I saw him, his face was a mask of boredom, rage, or irritation. But not this time. Alisdair looked like he had decided the day was going to be a great one, and it had barely started.
“What has you in a good mood?” I snapped.
“Likely whatever has you in a bad one.”
I flashed him an obscene gesture, which only made him chuckle.
“The disappearing island that we spoke about. We found it,” Alisdair said, again surprising me with a straightforward answer. “Our men were able to retrieve something that’s going to make all the difference in the coming war. It’s on its way now. Our victory is absolute.”