He looked up, it seemed, straight at me.Despite me not really being there, despite the fact that I was lost in a dream, the man saw me, knew me.
“His fire won’t save you, affai,” he whispered, his lips curled in an inviting grin, his eyes flat and cold.“The prince’s affection will only bring you pain, the likes of which you’ve never experienced.”
A slashing burn whipped my throat, making it impossible to speak or swallow.Coldness consumed me, and I thought death preferable to the absence of warmth in my body.
“Join him and you bring death to your entire world,” he warned.
I opened my mouth to scream for help.But he moved closer and reached out, his lips puckering for a kiss I knew would somehow be worse than deadly.
“For luck, perhaps?”He winked and smiled, exposingfangs.
Terrified yet fighting the urge to draw closer to him for all I was worth, I gradually became aware of a forceful pounding.The noise grew, drowning out the man’s features and the evil place where he dwelled…
Iwas staring at the ceiling in the hotel room while someone banged violently on the door.I clearly heard, “Damn it, Samantha, let me in,” but had no idea how to process the words.Not with my heart still racing from the worst nightmare I’d ever experienced.
I tried to catch my breath and managed to sit up in bed.
“Hold on,” I croaked, my voice a pained whisper.I clutched my sore neck, doing my best to put the frightening dream behind me.
I cleared my throat and said in a louder voice, “I’m coming.Hold on a minute.”
As the fog gradually cleared from my mind, I recognized Darius’s bellow.Clutching the collar of my flannel nightshirt to still my trembling hands, I dragged herself unsteadily to the door.Taking a deep breath, I strove for calm.After last night, I’d need all my wits dealing with the king of all temptation.
He growled my name again, and my nervousness vanished under a wave of irritation.At the rate Darius was shouting, he’d have my entire floor complaining to the management.And it was only—I squinted at the clock, my eyes widening in dismay—eight in the morning.Whipping the door open, I grabbed him by the arm, yanked him inside, then slammed the door behind him.
“Why didn’t you answer me sooner?”he asked impatiently, his eyes traveling over my mussed hair and thin flannel nightshirt with interest as I took a healthy step away.
“It’s eight o’clock in the morning.I was still sleeping.”My dry tone didn’t have the effect I’d been striving for, uttered in a hoarse whisper.“I have a sore throat.I must be coming down with something.”Yeah, a neurotic night terror about an alternate world filled with monsters and demons.
He frowned, his eyes narrowed in what looked like concern.Darius closed the distance between us and brushed my hair from my neck.
“What is this?”He pressed gently against the pain spearing my throat, stirring a gasp.
It felt as if an icicle had rammed into my neck, cold blasting me from the point where his thumb touched my skin deep into my throat.
“Cut it out,” I croaked.“That hurts!”
“By the Light of Tanselm.”His voice was thick with anger.“You’ve been marked.”
Before I could ask what the heck he meant, he grabbed me by the shoulders and yanked me close, pulling me to my tiptoes so that our gazes aligned, our faces nearly touching.
His eyes blazed, a weird red burning through the black of his irises.
Red?I must be more out of it than I thought.
“You’re playing with danger, Samantha.Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive?”As if realizing how tightly he held me, he swore under his breath and eased his grip.
“Back off, gargantuan,” I rasped, wishing I had a better comeback.But staring at him, I had a tough time coming up with anything but synonyms for sexy, hot, and beyond attractive.Focus, Sam!“Okay, enough with all the touchy-feelie.I’ve had it with being manhandled.Blondie was bad enough,” I grumbled and rubbed my throat.
His gaze grew curiously shuttered.“I didn’t mean to hurt you.My roughness was…unintended.”His apology sounded strangled.I could tell he didn’t give them often.“How did this happen?A marking should not have been possible.”
He finally let me go, and I made a beeline for the bed and sank down.
“You’re not the only one confused.”I felt the spot that had alerted Darius.The size of a quarter, an icy patch of skin throbbed where I touched it.I turned to look in the dresser mirror across from the bed.
Nothing marred my skin, no sign of bruising or scratching.Yet the area was ice-cold to the touch.
“This is getting weirder by the second.”I glanced at Darius, noting the stiffness of his posture.“One minute I’m having a nightmare, the next you’re pounding on my door, and suddenly I’ve got an ice block around my vocal chords.What do you mean I’ve been marked?”
