Well.Hewas researching. I was thinking impure thoughts.
The two ravens slept on the top of the chair behind him. I stoked the fire every so often to keep it going. Kaden kept turning pages…and I kept wanting, until I could hardly stand the heat coiling in my belly.
I rubbed my thighs together, trying to find a comfortable position that didn’t make me want to implode, and found him staring down at the Codex with a wicked smile on his face.
“What?” I demanded.
“Can’t get comfortable?” he asked casually, flipping another page, those fine muscles in his forearms making me lose my godsdamned mind. “I wasn’t planning on spending this time poring over an old book, you know.”
Another flip.
More heat gathering between my legs.
“In fact, I hadn’t planned on spending any time at all in this room,” his cool, detached tone had me going still. And when he lifted his head and pinned me down with his hungry stare, I felt rather like a baby bunny caught out in the open.
“But unfortunately, this task has to be done, Lyrae.” Twoof his fingers dragged slowly down the very center of the pages and a ripple of fiery lust shot through me, my prurient imagination taking me places I really shouldn’t go. “Give me another hour,” he said, voice a low purr, “then I’m taking you upstairs and I am going to show you all the things I’ve been fantasizing about ever since you arrived. Now be a good girl and let me concentrate, and stop distracting me with your delicious scent.”
He licked his bottom lip. “Because all I can think about right now is my face between your legs, and how good you are going to taste when I finally do, Commander.”
Holy. Fucking. Gods.
Kind of hard to stay quiet after that, but years of discipline and my iron-clad will—who was I kidding? I was a swollen bundle of need, my heart racing, my pussy dripping, practically eye-fucking him from over here, and it was all I could do not to wiggle around on the leather couch like a cat in heat.
But I managed.
Barely.
And I thanked all the gods when Rooke finally leaned back, rubbing his temples. “I think I figured it out. This won’t be like when I claimed the power. No blood circles, no containment spells, and the relics won’t do anything except direct the magic.”
“That sounds…good, right?”
Please let it be good, because I was on the verge of begging.
He dragged his eyes slowly over me, pausing on the pulse pounding in the hollow of my throat, that wicked smile making a reappearance.
“There’s an unbinding spell that’s a bit tricky, but I can manage—with a little practice. The tricky part will be where to cast the spell. I’m thinking up on the ramparts. Goodheight, and the castle wards will keep everyone protected.” He shoved to his feet, a powerful line of muscle that had my entire body clenching.
He paced toward me, one big wall of male intent, and my mouth dried out. “Your sister was excited to be staying in the city?”
“Excited might be an understatement.” I closed my eyes, breathing in nothing but petrichor and thunder, a scent that I now associated—would always associate—with him. “She asked Tavion if he’s any good at cards,” I murmured. “Asked him to teach her a few games.”
Rooke tipped his head, confused. “That…doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
I laughed, the sound echoing around the vast room. “Rooke.” I leaned back as he leaned in, caging me with hands braced on either side of my head. “Ariel’s been cheating at cards since she was three. Tavion won’t know what hit him.”
Lust was replaced by surprise—turning into a small, real smile.
“Three,” he echoed, shaking his head at the absurdity, heat pouring off his body, washing over mine in delicious waves.
“One of the Shadow King’s meanest soldiers taught her,” I said. “Thought it was cute, until she took all his wages. She told him he sucked at cards and deserved to lose all his money and should take up knitting. He chased her through Southwell and she dumped a pot of hot coals over his head.”
Rooke shook his head with a huff of disbelief. “Your childhood was…”
“Terrifying?” I supplied, eyeing the way his shirt offered me a view of him all the way down to those sculpted abs. Unfair, really, to keep them hidden.
He looked down at me, eyes shining. “Remarkable,” he corrected quietly. “Remarkable you survived. You are absolutely the most extraordinary person I have ever met in my life.”
“Well, thank you.” I tipped my head back so I could see his face. “Though, to be fair, you’ve been a prisoner in this castle your whole life, but I’ll take your compliment in the spirit in which it was intended.”
