“Will you come inside with me, Golem?” I plead.
He holds my gaze in silent understanding but shakes his head.
“No?” I ask in astonishment.
Golem nods and reaches for the entrance flap, beckoning me to walk through.
“Traitor,” I mumble under my breath and watch as Golem’s lips move just a tad upward.
Keane is shrugging off his cloak when I walk in. He pulls his arms through the fabric and places it on one of the chairs at the small wooden desk before taking a seat. I watch as he starts to work on his boots, pulling each of them off before quietly placing them under table. My body remains still as I watch him get comfortable, truly not knowing what to do with myself.
Keane glances up to me standing at the entrance, his gaze telling me that he knows I’ve been watching him this whole time. He stands up slowly from the chair and pulls the hem of his shirt out of his pants, then walks right past me and stands behind the divider. He tugs the shirt over his head without any hesitation, baring the full of his upper body to my gaze.
I bite my lip and quietly stare at his back, watching as his shoulders and muscles flex with each of his movements. He’s larger and more built than I thought, his body more broad than his clothes let on. His arms andbiceps are huge, and the tones of his back are perfectly cut so that each muscle moves with a purpose. I really should turn away, but I can’t seem to take my eyes off him.
“Do you enjoy watching me as much as I enjoy watching you, Alexis?” he asks quietly, amusement dripping from his voice.
I flush at being caught and quickly walk to the table, hearing Keane’s chuckle from behind the divider.
He knows.
He’s always known.
He knows the effect his words have on me and yet he still says them.
Stupid. Bastard.Prince.
I don’t know if it’s the toddy in me or the fact that I’m so over being nervous about the Plains and staying in this tent with him, but my blood begins to warm and fuels me to match his smug confidence with my own. I lay my cloak across the back of the second chair and take a seat just as he did, pulling off my own boots as I stash my blades inside before setting them under the table next to his.
Keane takes a strong step around the divider when he’s done changing and looks directly at me, his playful brown eyes meeting mine as the curve of his lips fall into a small smirk. He’s wearing nothing but a pair of loose black riding pants that hang just barely off the sides of hips, his whole presence perfecting a comfortable confidence.
I stand up slowly from my chair and let my eyes roam over his body without shame. Keane’s bare chest is sculpted to perfection, the thin black chain hanging from his neck dipping low to the hard muscles under it. The few fluorite stones embedded in the links look good against his tanned skin, and I find that I can’t hide my own small smile at the sight of it as I glance down towards his lean and toned stomach. The hard plains have a few old scars dashing across his skin in sharp white lines, the cuts matching the scars I’ve seen before that litter his forearms. His hips and abdomen are a dangerous combination as well, the muscles carved to perfection as they dip down beneath his pants.
I slowly look back up to his face, to his brown hair flowing across the top of his head in that wind-blown look he’s perfected. His brown eyes are watching me with a hint of approval in them, the Princewantingme to look at him and be as unapologetic in my glances as he always is. I nod in response, doing just that, and hold his gaze in a way that lets him know I see his body and appreciate the work he’s put into it.
Keane watches me quietly when I walk past him and move behind the divider. I hear a chair being pulled out from across the tent and exhale quietly, my body thrumming as I search for my nightslip among my travel packs.
I stare at the slip in my hands and debate if wearing it is a good decision… not only are the straps dainty and the fabric tight across my breasts, but the whole of the silk stops just short of the middle of my thighs. It’s nothing as short as the Warrior women wear but it’s pretty damn close, and while the best option for me would be to cover my whole body in baggy clothes, that call to match Keane’s confidence continues to tug at me.
I settle on the green silk and let my shaking hands gently discard the rest of my clothes, the full of my body bare for a moment before I shrug on the silk.
I shiver when a night breeze flows through the tent. The warmth from the fire doesn’t reach us in here, so when I look down at my body, my nipples are hardened and there’s a hint of cool bumps raising along my forearms. I hurriedly tug at the braid at my back and run my fingers through my hair until it all comes apart, feeling the soft waves fall down my shoulders as I quickly pack my clothes and then give myself one last once-over.
I look as I normally do after a full day of traveling, windblown and happy to settle down. But I definitely don’t feel like my normal self. My heart won’t stop its wild beat, and the flush in my cheeks from looking at Keane earlier is only spreading down my neck and chest and causing a rosy tint on my skin I know can be seen. My nerves are still frantic, even more so now that I’m barely dressed and shivering from the cold, but the fire inside me to match his call is still burning, so I step out from behind the divider without any hesitation.
My eyes immediately land on Keane. He’s still sitting in his chair, his head tilted down to the table as he holds a thick and elegant oak pen in his right hand. There’s a thin slab of oak in front of him with dark lines of text etched across it, his eyes reading the message that’s been written to him before it all starts to disappear.
I watch the interaction in silent awe and take a step closer, moving into the middle of the tent. Keane hears my quiet steps and glances up, his brown eyes going wide as he takes me in.
I immediately notice his gaze going to my tasseled hair, to where it drops to the front of my chest and touches my breasts that are peaked from the cold. His eyes linger there for a moment, making me hold my breath, then roam over the green of the slip to the tan of my legs.
I slowly take another step forward, this time towards my bedroll. Keane stands from his chair the moment I do, his broad body instantly moving to mine and blocking my path. I inhale sharply, always so thrown off at how fast the Discerni can move, and slowly look up to meet his gaze.
There’s a look of desire dancing behind his eyes that I can’t ignore, the depths calling to me with that single glance before he takes a small step back to look over me once again. His eyes drop down to my lips and then to my neck, following my hair again to where it waves to just above my breasts. They trail down even further, to my waist and my curving hips, stopping just between my thighs in another purposeful linger. The way he looks at that area sends a tug so violent between my legs that I have to press my thighs together to stop the ache. Keane catches the movement and smirks in response, the desire in his eyes only burning even brighter.
Ancients,he wants me.
He wants me just as much as I knew I’d want him. Of this I am certain.
