A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows

His gaze darkened as he stepped closer, and I could see the barely tamed fury that hid there. “You will never be his, princess. I don’t give a damn if your hand holds his ring or if your head holds his crown. You still won’t belong to him.”

I swallowed hard as I stared up at him and watched him approach. I wished with everything inside of me that his words were true, but I knew they were nothing more than a fantasy. I couldn’t be married to one man but belong to another.

My heart wouldn’t allow it.

And Gavril would kill me for it. He didn’t need me to love him to be his betrothed, but I knew the future king would never allow the woman that was meant to be his to fall into the arms of another. Especially not another that shared his blood.

“This book.” I held it up just as he stood directly in front of me. “It says that Starblessed can be mated. Is that true?”

His brow scrunched in confusion, and I had my answer before he even spoke. “I’ve never witnessed it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. What else does it say?”

I was hesitant to show him, but I still flipped to the back pages of the book before handing it over.

“Extraordinary yet wicked.” He chuckled softly as he read the words aloud. “That sounds just like you.”

A blush crept up my cheeks as I thought about the ways in which he had made me wicked.

Him and no one else.

“I’m not wicked.”

“Aren’t you?” He cocked his head to the side as he watched me. His fingers tightened around the book as he pressed it closed. “You’re the most wicked little thing I’ve ever met.”

I shook my head even as my chest tightened.

“Only someone wicked could make me want to fall to my knees before her and pledge my loyalty to her with my tongue. My family be damned.”

“I haven’t asked for your loyalty, Evren.”

“No?” He stepped even closer to me and ran his knuckles along my hand. “You’ve simply demanded it of me with every breath you take. You may not have asked, princess, but gods, you have it regardless.”

“And what if I don’t want it?” I raised my chin and my stomach flipped. Gods, I wanted it. I wanted anything he was willing to give me.

“We both know that’s a lie.” He lifted the book in his hand and ran the supple spine against my wrist before slowly moving it up my arm. Everywhere it touched, chill bumps followed behind, and it felt impossible that he was capable of making me squirm while not even touching me with his skin. “We both know you are dying for things you shouldn’t want.”

He pressed the book edge against my collarbone before slowly dragging it along that sensitive skin to meet my neck. He didn’t stop there. His gaze led the trail before the book slowly followed down my chest, between my breasts and over my belly button. My stomach tensed beneath his touch, and he slowed.

He was barely moving as his gaze dipped between my thighs. “I think that you want it right now. I think that you would give almost anything for it.”

He moved the book at a painful pace as it dropped lower and lower, and even though I knew I shouldn’t have, I spread my legs almost unnoticeably.

But of course, he noticed.

A smile graced his lips, but he didn’t pull his gaze away from my thighs. “That’s a good girl, princess.” He pressed the spine against my lower stomach, and I gasped for breath. “Open for me.”

“Evren,” I whispered his name, and his gaze flew up to meet mine.

“Yes, princess?”

“We can’t do this.” I shook my head, but my legs still inched wider. My mind and my body disagreeing with one another.

“Why not?” The book dropped lower and lower until I felt nothing but the pressure of him and that spine pressed against the spot where I needed him most.

“You heard what your brother said before.”

“What was it that he said?” He cocked his head to the side as he watched my lips open in a sigh. “That no one else can touch you.” He pressed the book harder against me, and my back straightened against the chair. “Technically, I’m not laying a single finger on you, princess.”

He moved the corner of the spine in small circles against my sex as if he was trying to prove his point. A moan slipped past my lips, desperate for more of what he was giving me.