The Shadow Princess (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 6)

“Still within the protection of the cloak, but not outside of prying eyes for those who might be walking by. I believe your magic is needed now.”

He’s referencing the day he took my virginity. Or rather, the day I pushed it on him. The old-fashioned soul that he was wanted to wait until we were married, and I was an eighteen-year-old full of brash adventure, so I seduced it out of him.

On that day, I cast magic to make us invisible to the outside world, and it was so beautiful and romantic, I’m not sure I could recreate it.

But I’ll try.

I give Bastien a push, and he easily rolls to the side. I stand and hold my arms aloft, glancing down at Bastien who is so damn sexy as he casually rests on his side, propped on his elbow to watch me with an intensely hungry expression.

He looks like the old Bastien, who always took our lovemaking so seriously.

Tilting my head, I focus on the purple leaves of the pressian tree and ask it to give me not only protection but privacy. I pull on my magic, gather it inward, and separate the light from the dark that now resides within me.

My magic casts outward and into the tree itself, causing it to shudder gently. I feel tendrils of darkness attempting to creep out, but I push them back. There is nothing about what we’re getting ready to do that I want to be tainted by the shadow magic.

“Protect us. Hide us. Make the outside world ignore us,” I murmur as I spin slowly around.

The pressian tree glows with light coalescing inside the trunk and outward into the leaves. Sparkles fall from the branch tips, creating a shimmering curtain. The outside world vanishes, and we’re invisible to others.

The magic set in place, I know that anyone who may be traveling by will see nothing but the pressian.

Bastien glances around, a faint smile on his face. “Your magic has evolved since you were eighteen.”

I frown slightly. “A lot easier than when I was eighteen. And I felt some of the shadow magic wanting to get out.”

“But you kept it in. Was it easy?”

“It was,” I reply. As long as it was inside me and not being asked to perform, it was fairly obedient.

But I’m not done just yet. I take the dagger that I wear at my hip and prick the pad of my thumb. A black bead wells, and I smear it on the tree trunk. “Repel all who may get too close,” I whisper, setting my blood in place to protect us.

Confident that we’re secure, I drop to my knees beside Bastien. He takes my hand, examines my thumb, and frowns at the reddened skin at the tips of my fingers. I’ve donated many drops of blood over the last six days, and it’s evident.

Bastien examines my palms. “How much blood are you giving?”

“Enough my fingers hurt but not enough that you should be worried.”

“I am worried,” he replies. “I know you, Thalia. You’ll run yourself into the ground to help your people.”

“I’m fine,” I assure him, although I’m exhausted to the bone. I don’t tell him that, though, because I’m afraid he might whisk me back to the cottage and insist I rest.

I have no intention of resting right now.

Bastien is here with me, and I want to keep his undivided attention.

“Wanna see some really cool magic?” I ask as I push on his shoulders until he settles on his back. I swing a leg over him, straddling his hips.

Bastien’s hands move to my outer thighs as I stare down at him. He glances at the sparkling curtain around us. “Better than the magic you’ve already created?”

“I think so.” I put my hands to his chest and then lower myself to kiss him deeply.

Bastien groans into me, and his arms wrap me up tight, rolling me once again so he’s on top.

He’s always been that way. In control. Making decisions. Working to pleasure me before he’d ever think of taking an ounce for himself.

Even though we’re safely cocooned with nothing pressing us, our actions are frenzied. Mouths mating, hands pulling hard at clothing so that seams rip, and dirty words are growled.

Our ferocity is born of the knowledge we have of each other and that frantic need to make up for lost time, wanting to experience the things that bound us so tightly before.

At some point, we become naked, and Bastien, for a glorious few moments, gives up a tiny bit of control and lets me put my mouth on him. I cherish the sounds I wring from him, the way he tastes, and my own peaking excitement.

That doesn’t last long as Bastien takes command, has me on my back again, my legs draped over his shoulders. He pleasures me with his mouth and fingers so expertly, I scream from the violent release that tears me apart in the best of ways.