“Good,” she said, her hands sliding up to my shoulders. “Because I have a lot more ideas.”
I was about to ask about those ideas when she shifted, and the sheet slipped lower, revealing the elegant curve of her breast and the tantalizing hint of what lay beneath. Suddenly, all thoughts of academy politics and future career paths evaporated.
“We have a lot to discuss,” I said, my voice rough as I crawled onto the bed, covering her body with mine while being careful not to crush her with my weight.
“We do,” she agreed, her arms winding around my neck as she pulled me closer. “So many plans to make, strategies to develop...”
I kissed her then, slowly and deeply. When we broke apart, both of us breathing hard, I traced the line of her jaw with my fingertips.
“Plans can wait,” I murmured against her ear, enjoying the way she shivered at the contact. “Right now, I have more important things to focus on.”
“More important than ruling the academy together?” she teased, but her voice was breathless.
“More important than anything,” I confirmed, capturing her lips again.
Chapter
Five
Sasha
The cold stone beneath my body was unforgiving, each ridge and imperfection digging into my back and hip as I tried to find a position that didn’t hurt. The bench was too narrow and mercilessly hard, but it was all I had.
Water dripped somewhere in the darkness beyond my cell, each drop echoing off unseen walls with the rhythm of a broken clock.Drip. Drip. Drip.The sound had driven me half-mad in the early days, but now it was just another part of the soundtrack of my captivity. That and the skittering of things I preferred not to think about, creatures that scurried through the shadows just beyond the weak light that crept toward me from a distant doorway.
My stomach cramped with a hunger that had become so constant I barely noticed it anymore. When had I last eaten? Yesterday? The day before? Time moved differently in this place, marked not by sun and moon but by the irregular visits of my captors.
The metal door at the end of the corridor creaked open, its hinges protesting. My body went rigid, every muscle tensing as footsteps echoed against the stone floor followed by the dragging of a tail. Slow. Deliberate. Coming closer.
The footsteps stopped outside my cell, and I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for whatever fresh torment they had planned.
“Hey there, sweetheart.”
The voice was all wrong. Too warm, too gentle, completely lacking the sharp clicks and reptilian hiss of my captors. My heart lurched in my chest, recognition flooding through me even as my mind struggled to make sense of it.
“Everything’s going to be all right.”
Strong hands touched my face, fingers trailing along my cheek with impossible tenderness. I should have flinched away, should have fought, but I leaned into the touch. The fear that had become my constant companion evaporated, replaced by something else entirely.
Heat. Want. A flutter of desire I hadn’t felt in so long I’d almost forgotten what it was like.
A hand slipped into my hair, fingers tangling in the strands as they tilted my head up. Golden eyes looked down at me, full of promise and protection and something darker that made my pulse race.
“Dek,” I whispered, and then his mouth was on mine, warm and demanding and?—
I jolted awake with a gasp, my heart hammering against my ribs as reality crashed over me. Pale morning light streamed throughthe narrow window in the stone wall, illuminating the unfamiliar but comfortable surroundings of Ariana’s room in the female tower.
Not a cell. Not a prison. Safety.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I groaned, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyes. The dream had been so vivid I could still feel the phantom touch of his hands on my skin, still taste the promise of that kiss that had never quite happened.
The worst part? I felt disappointed because it wasn’t real.
Rolling over with a disgusted grunt, I buried my face in the pillow that smelled like my sister’s vanilla lotion instead of fetid alien guards and despair. This was exactly what I didn’t need—romantic fantasies about the one man I had to work with to get my revenge. Deklyn was cocky and infuriating and entirely too attractive for his own good, and the last thing I could afford was to be distracted by whatever weird prison bonding had happened between us.
I forced myself to sit up, my gaze falling on the small silver frame on the nightstand. The photo inside showed Ariana and me from years earlier, our arms around each other’s shoulders, both of us grinning at the camera. We’d been at some military function for me, but for once, we looked genuinely happy together instead of locked in our usual competition.
My heart squeezed as I remembered what my sister had risked to save me. How she’d forced the admiral to approve a rescue and how all her friends had joined her without question. And I loved her for it. I wanted nothing more than to stay here, to build the relationship we should have had all along, to be the sister she deserved.
