The Forsaken King

With one hand propped under her head, her fingers ran up and down my chest, her skin glowing beautifully in the firelight. “You only get to marry once, only get to bind your soul with another one time, and it seems like a waste to do it for an obligation…”

I turned to regard her. “Are you just realizing this now?”

“I’ve always known. I just…never really thought about it before.” She turned away, her eyes growing lost in thought. “My father wanted to marry me off to a prince so we could be closer to the throne, and I always assumed that was the right move. But now…I don’t know. It just seems like a big sacrifice.” She turned back to me. “Does that bother you?”

A monk performed the ceremony in the eyes of the gods, binding their souls permanently—or, at least, until one of them passed on. Divorce wasn’t a real thing because there was nothing that could be done to unbind the two souls—except death. That was how some marriages ended, in murder, because there was no other option. But even if it did, you couldn’t remarry at a later time because the soul had already been used. “I never thought I’d marry for love anyway, so it doesn’t matter to me.”

She turned her gaze on me and stared for a long time.

I held her gaze, expecting her to say something, but nothing was forthcoming.

She broke the trance and looked elsewhere.

Then we sat in silence.

After a while, she spoke again. “Are you close with your sister?”

“Yes.”

“What does she do in HeartHolme?”

“She’s a citizen.”

“She doesn’t serve your mother?”

“No.”

She looked at me, like she knew there was more to that story that I didn’t want to share.

“Elora and my mother aren’t close.”

“Why?”

I never answered.

She didn’t press me. “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“I’ll be gone all day.”

“And you expect me to stay?” Her eyes flashed with accusation.

“Yes. But I’ll give you a tour in the morning.”

“Good.” That momentary look of anger faded quickly once she got what she wanted. Her head returned to my shoulder, and she snuggled into my side, taking the exact position she usually did right before she fell asleep.

I listened to her breathing change and recognized the moment she slipped under. I stayed awake and stared at the fire a while longer, unsure what my next move would be.

SEVENTEEN

Ivory

“Up.” His deep voice punctured my dreams of sunshine and flowers.

I kept my eyes closed. “Nuh-uh.”

“Baby.”

I turned over and ignored him. This bed was too comfortable, and I wasn’t moving for anything.

He forced me onto my back, the sheets slipping away and exposing my naked chest to the cool air. Then the mattress dipped with his weight, his heat smothering my skin like a blanket, and my thighs started to separate.

I felt it—hard and hot.

He gave a firm thrust, burrowing inside me and waking me up that way.

My eyes opened, and I saw his blurry chin, his hard chest, and powerful shoulders.

He did all the work, kept my knee pinned back, rocked into me in a nice, slow pace.

My arms wrapped around his shoulders, and I held on as I buried my face in his neck, waking up in the most pleasurable way possible. My teeth sank into his collarbone, and my eyes closed, enjoying the way he felt buried deep inside me, lighting up my body like a new fire. My mind was still fuzzy, so it made everything more enhanced, and the orgasm came quickly, even quicker than usual.

I moaned against his chest as my nails clawed the back of his neck. “Huntley…” It was the first time I’d said his name in bed, but it was well deserved because he was the best lover I’d ever had.

He gave his final pumps and released, giving a sexy moan as he filled me with another load to go with all the others from the night before. He stayed on top of me as he breathed through the pleasure he’d just received.

“Okay…I’m awake.”

He placed a kiss on my neck before he got off me.

“And you can wake me up like that every morning…”

His back was turned to me as he gave a chuckle. “Good to know.”

We both got dressed, and I put on the clothes he retrieved for me. They were mostly in neutral shades with a jacket on top, nothing like the dark colors he wore to symbolize his status. He left his weapons behind, and it was the first time I’d seen him without them—other than when we were in bed together.

We walked through the cold streets in the morning, people everywhere as they got their days started. He took me through the farmers market where everyone converged to get their food for the day, and he led me past a couple pubs and restaurants that he liked. A lot of people stared at us. And I mean, a lot.