“You haven’t,” he rasped, nudging her nose with his.
An urgent hunger filled her from her stomach up and into her extremities, She curled her hands in his hair, gently tugging on the roots of it. A deep groan vibrated his throat, their lips grazing, but not touching. His nose traced her jaw, and she felt his tongue on her skin.
“I have a request,” she breathed.
He pulled back slightly, head tilting at her. “Demanding, but go on,” he replied with a raised brow.
She grasped his hair between her fingers, standing up taller to move her head beside his ear. “Put on the skull,” she requested.
She felt the goosebumps rise on his flesh, the shudder wash over his body. She pulled back just as a low growl emitted from his throat. His fingers dug into her hips as he looked down at her with dilated eyes that made her thighs squeeze.
“You don’t know what you ask for with that,” he told her.
“I know I want you to fuck me without this restraint you’ve been putting on the last two weeks.”
His brows narrowed just slightly. “I told you restraint lives poorly in my core.”
“And you’re a liar,” she accused.
The smirk that rose in his eyes made her weight shift. They danced with sadistic delight that she melted for.
“You think I’ve been treating you as fragile?” he asked.
“I think you didn’t want to scare me.”
The smirk met his lips then, and the darkening of his gaze caused a chill run down her spine. “Careful what you wish for, my Queen,” he growled against her cheek.
She leaned in, her lips barely a breath from his. “Put on the skull…my King.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
“NADIR WILL BE here in an hour,” Draven told her the following morning.
Aydra paused in sharpening her sword, and she frowned up at him. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“He says you agreed to help him with the water serpent,” he replied. “And… another ship came in, further west this time, not by the reef. He wants a second opinion on what we should do.”
She could see the nervousness in his eyes, and she sat her sword on the ground, standing up level with him. Her hand reached up to his cheek, and he covered it with his own, kissing her palm.
“They’re ready,” she told him.
“We’re not fighting this time, remember?” he said with a raised brow.
“Oh, right,” she mumbled, almost rolling her eyes. “Diplomacy.”
He huffed amusedly under his breath, and his arm wrapped around her. “You’ll get your chance to behead them when they inevitably piss you off. I’ll have my men sharpen an axe.”
“We should bring it with us,” she insisted. “You know, just as a precaution.”
He grinned, head leaning down towards her. “Wouldn’t leave here without it.”
A shadow passed over the sun then, quickly diverting her attention.
Aydra pulled back and squinted up, just in time to see the Orel drop something from its talons. A letter.
Draven frowned as Aydra began to unfurl the parchment. “Magnice?”
“Lex—”
