I didn’t truly understand what that meant, but I knew that it wasn’t good. Magic itself already felt so unthinkable to me, but dark magic? I couldn’t fathom the things Evren could have done to leave such a mark on his skin.
“One of the many costs of being a captain in my father’s army.” He clenched his hand into a fist before dropping it back to his side.
“And are there any advantages to it?”
His fingers tensed against me, and I almost lost my train of thought.
“Bastard son or not, you are the son of the king.”
A smile danced along his lips as he looked down at me and his voice felt so rough as he spoke the next words to me. “I was the first to find you just outside the cleave, was I not?”
“And that is an advantage?”
“That was an honor.” He stepped closer to me, and his knee pressed between mine. “I may not be the Achlys that gets to claim you, but I was the first to look upon you. The first to dream of your star-marked face and imagine what it would look like beneath me.”
“You cannot say things like that to me.” I looked away from him as my stomach hardened, but he lifted his hand and quickly brought my face back to meet his.
“Why not? Because you are betrothed to my brother or because your thighs just tightened around mine as you imagined it yourself.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he wasn’t finished.
“It doesn’t matter that you are destined to be his. Every part of you is begging to be mine.” His hand lowered, and I so easily allowed him to tug my hips forward until they met his. I was lost in the way he was looking at me, lost in the way his body felt against mine. “Tell me that isn’t true?” he whispered against my neck.
“It’s not.” I shook my head and my chest brushed against his. It was a lie, and we both knew it. Here he stood against me, the embodiment of my enemy, and he was right. I was ready to beg him for things I didn’t fully understand.
It suddenly didn’t matter to me what he was or how easily he could harm me. I was willing to beg him just the same.
“You’re really not a very good liar, princess.” He ran his nose along my neck, and I shivered as he took in a deep breath. “You smell fucking divine.”
I turned toward him, my lips so close to his, and I opened my mouth to say anything to make him do something that would stop the deep ache that began in my lower stomach.
“Evren.” His name was a plea, and he gently pressed his lips to the skin of my sensitive neck with a sigh.
I was shocked when I felt his teeth follow. Not hard enough to puncture my skin, but enough pressure to give me a mix of pleasure and pain that caused me to gasp at the sensation. I clamped my eyes closed and pressed my hips harder against his. His hand stiffened and his breath rushed out against me.
“Oh my!” I heard Eletta’s soft gasp just as Evren jerked away from me.
“Eletta.” Panic consumed me as I called out her name, and she stopped in her tracks in the direction in which she was trying to retreat.
“I’m sorry, Starblessed.” She shook her head gently, and I moved away from Evren as quickly as I could. “I didn’t mean…”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” I pushed my hair out of my face as I made my way toward her. Evren’s hand slid against mine as I passed, and I couldn’t force myself to keep walking. Instead, I stopped and looked at the prince who didn’t belong to me.
His face was hard and unreadable, the opposite of who he had been only moments before, but it didn’t lessen the way I wanted him.
He didn’t say anything. His eyes simply slid past me to where Eletta stood with her back now turned to us, and when he looked back to me, his gaze delved into me like a warning. Of Eletta?
I felt like I could trust her more than anyone else in the palace. She had been the most forthcoming out of everyone thus far, but something in my gut told me to trust Evren.
I let my hand slide away from his, and I continued in the direction of my lady-in-waiting. She glanced up at me with embarrassment marring her lovely face when I got to her side, but she didn’t say a word about what she had just seen.
“Would you like to head back to your room, my lady? I can draw you a bath.”
“Thank you, Eletta.” I looked back over my shoulder, but Evren was already gone. “But I think I would like to spend some time in the library tonight.”
“Of course.” She bowed her head gently before leading the way.