He made a gravelly sound in his throat. “Then perhaps you have never seen aVorakkarbefore.”
I licked my dry lips. Could he hear the thundering of my heartbeat? Could he see the way I shivered under the fur cloak?
“N-no,” I whispered. “I have not.”
Though aVorakkarhad ordered the attack on my village when I’d been young, though aVorakkarhad ordered my father—and many men in our village—to be killed for hunting, I’d never seen him. He’d waited outside the walls while his riders carried out his orders.
I wondered ifthiswas theVorakkarwho’d been responsible for my father’s death. And if it wasn’t, I wondered if thatVorakkarhad been in the throne room earlier this evening. My father’s murderer.
His clawed finger tucked up underneath my chin, the motion quick and frightening because his hand had been nothing but a blur. When he tilted my face up, forcing me to meet his eyes, he said, “We are going to discuss many things this night. But first, you will eat.”
My eyes widened. It was not what I’d expected him to say. A part of me had expected him to undress me, rip the furs away, and…and…
“Stop looking at me like that,kalles,” he growled, embers of his familiar rage firing in his gaze. “I already warned you once.”
Last night, I’d asked him if he would rape me. And he’d grown so enraged I’d used my gift on him as a precaution. He’d warned me with,“Never ask me that or I will give you something to fear.”
I dropped my gaze away when he walked to the wardrobe, pulling out a well-crafted brown tunic made from animal hide, buttery soft and smooth. He threw it over my lap before his hands began to pull at my furs.
Warm air brushed my skin and my nipples tightened almost painfully when I was exposed once more. I sat, still, with my head down, naked on a plush bed in the presence and possession of an insaneVorakkar.
My power was tapped out. I didn’t know when it would build again. I could escape, but only when I had it back…and I might need to use it on theDothikkarinstead.
His hand came to the shackles on my wrists and with a disturbing amount of ease, he crushed the lock and plucked them away from my skin.
Then he went still. I heard his soft exhales somewhere above me but I kept my gaze down in my lap, shifting my scraped, raw wrists until they covered my exposed sex from his view.
I don’t know what possessed me to do it but my gaze rose to meet his. Hesitantly. Slowly. Those red eyes were locked onto me and his nostrils flared when I peeked up at him. I could feel my heartbeat throbbing in my throat and I swallowed when the tips of his claws brushed the sensitive flesh there, down the column of my neck.
I felt it then. My power shifted inside me. It wasn’t strong enough tochangehis emotions but I sensed just a whisper of his anger. That same dark anger I’d felt before. Beyond that, though, I felt his desire, thick and potent, choking the air around me. The room seemed to change. The warmth turned to heat and another shiver raced down my spine. I wasn’t entirely certain it was from fear.
Lingering on the outskirts of that desire, I felt his confusion. His puzzled bewilderment.ThatI didn’t understand.
His touch lifted from my neck. The connection was lost, severed. Desperately, I sucked in a breath, as if I’d been held underwater for too long.
I was shaking, suddenly fearful, looking up at him with rounded, wet eyes. I’d never felt my gift respond that way before. But when I felt my belly tingle, when my body felt warm, I realized with panic that his emotions had become my own. Had hecastedthem into me?
The air felt thick and foggy between us. I felt a prick at the back of my neck, the tendrils of his throbbing anger. Then the reddened heat of arousal, of wicked desire, made me dizzy as it lingered, as ittouchedandcaressedme.
And his eyes…those eyes were making medrownas desperation crawled its way up my throat. I was about to beg him to stop whatever he was doing, whatever he haddone.
With a rough growl and a curse, he shoved the tunic over my head, pulling my arms through. I noticed he was careful not to touch my flesh and only when I was covered did he bite out, “Go eat.”
I rose on shaking legs, eager to retreat, limping over to the table in a hushed daze. I’d never met another being that could do what I did. I’d never given my gift much thought because it was something that I’d always had. Were there others with similar power? Washeone of them?
It certainly felt that way as I lowered myself onto the cushion, blinking down at the food, confused by how I’d gotten there.
The food looked decadent. I’d never seen so much in my life, all laid out in one place. Even the wealthiersibiunder the Dead Mountain did not eat this much.
Across the room, in the corner, within arm’s reach of his sword, I saw theVorakkartake a seat in a wide chair. It creaked under his weight and bulk as he rested his forearms on his knees, regarding me. The fire was warm on my back as I reached forward, selecting a cube of something unidentifiable. It was beige, however, and I’d eaten a lot of beige food in my lifetime.
When I popped it into my mouth and chewed, my eyes widened as flavors burst on my tongue. It was smoky and soft. Delicious. I had never had anything like it before.
I reached for another, just as theVorakkarrasped, “Leikavi, we need to talk.”
The food turned to ash in my mouth.
Chapter Six
