Evil.Evil.Evil.
“I was sent to Earsleh to claim a princess who could read your royal language,” Taio said.“Because that is the only way we could read the cure.I chose you, Mara, because you could read the language.You will save the world.”
***
ISAT DOWN HARD, ANDTaio knelt before me.“Hearing this is difficult.”
“It’s impossible,” I whispered.How could there be a cure?How could my father know of the cure and not have employed it?Icouldn’tbelieve it.
But I could, oh, I could believe it.I’d already seen the illusion for what it was, hadn’t I?This was just one more step, one more puzzle piece to fit into the rest.
And as much as Taio’s words were a revelation, they were also a confirmation.Signs had been right in front of me all my life.My father sought to hide knowledge from us—we learned little in school and focused on training, we were kept away from maps and those we saw were altered, anyone who returned from the Barrier and told stories that countered what the king said were sent back or called paranoid.My father was using the Hollows to increase his power.With all of us focused on the threat of attack and survival, my father had unlimited power.He was safe in his castle, sitting on a secret cure to our problems all along.
And unbeknownst to any of us, he gave his children the key to that cure.I’d never understood why my siblings and I had to learn the royal language.Now it made sense.Someone needed to know how to read the secret language.The language was the key to the cure and who knew what other secrets.I could read the language.Taio had been testing me that night of the banquet, and I’d passed his test.
“I am sorry,” Taio said.“I wish I did not have to tell you these things.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said, my throat feeling raw and tight.He offered his hand, and I dropped the parchment and took it.Climbing back on the bed, I sat in dazed silence for a long, long time.
There was a cure.The Zulenii had the cure.
I should be thrilled at this news, and yet I was torn.I could almost understand why my father hadn’t employed the cure.What would our world be like without the Hollows?Such a world was difficult to imagine, but it didn’t scare me.It filled me with hope.I rose to my knees.“I understand why you chose me now,” I said.
“I had to be certain whichever princess I chose could read the royal language.The others would not speak to me, but when I showed them the parchment, some showed they knew what it was.Only you read it.”
My heart tightened.“You chose me out of necessity.”Taio had made a cold, calculated decision, based purely on my ability to understand the royal language.
“I was glad it was you, Mara.I did not lie when I said I wanted you because you were beautiful and fierce.”
“But you would have chosen another if I hadn’t read the parchment.”I felt cold all over, as though I’d been doused in freezing water repeatedly.
He sighed.“I hope I would have chosen another if you had not been able to read the parchment.To do otherwise would risk not only the lives of all in my kingdom, but the entire world.You have no idea how relieved I was when you read the parchment.There is no one else who has ever made me feel as though I would die if I didn’t do this.”Taio rose to his knees now, making the bed squeak and cupped my chin.Then his lips brushed mine so lightly I shivered.Heat began to infuse me once again.“Only you, Mara, make me feel this way.”
My head was spinning, my thoughts completely scattered.My world was inside out, and I understood now that my whole life and everything in it had been a lie.
But I knew one true thing—I wanted him.Taio was not a lie.
He looked into my eyes, and then we came together again, this time all mouths and tongues, and passion.I wrapped my arms about him and pulled him closer, loving the way his mouth claimed mine even as he allowed me to take what I wanted as well.The world seemed to shrink—the deceits of my father, the Hollows outside, the cabin surrounding us, and the flickering lamplight all disappeared.Nothing but Taio’s mouth and Taio’s touch mattered.
His hands seemed to be everywhere, gliding over my back to grip my buttocks over the blanket.I wanted to be closer to him, feel his skin on mine.I reached up and pushed my blanket off my shoulders and let it slide down.Taio caught it and pulled back, looking into my eyes.“You should keep this on.”
“No.”I shook my head.“I want to feel your skin on mine.”
He made a low, quiet groan then released the blanket.His hand touched the small of my back, his warm skin sending spirals of pleasure through me as he slid down to curve over my hip and bottom.“So soft,” he murmured.
I lifted my hands to his shoulders and swept away his own blanket to reveal the lion.I kissed the beast on his shoulder, then traced the magnificent creature’s outline with my tongue.I felt the way Taio held himself in check, his muscles tense and his hands on my skin clenched.His heart hammered in my ear, and when I kissed his neck, his pulse battered my lips.
I scraped my hands down his chest to his waist and pulled our bodies closer together.His erect male member felt hard and solid against my belly.
“We must stop,” he whispered, though he didn’t move away.
“I can be quiet.They won’t hear us outside.”
“That is not what I meant.This is your first time?”His gaze met mine, and I nodded.“It should not be here, like this.In Zulen, we have a ceremony—”
“No.”I shook my head.“I don’t want a ceremony with speeches and special foods and-and—”
“Silken sheets, soft music, scented oil, and candlelight?”He raised his brows.
