Lilyanna should be okay. She was wrong about Clement. He was a good man. He took his job seriously and would guard her until I returned. Even if he was involved in the other grisly deaths, I’d now discovered the secret lair above his room, so he couldn’t use it. That was logical thinking, right?
I hovered under the fangs of a large demon. Its eyes sparkled like shattered glass, drops of rain oozing from its bared teeth. One alighted upon my hand. It sizzled, dim red smoke smelling faintly of roses wafted from my flesh.
Lilyanna would be asleep in bed.
I leaned upon the stone wall, and it shifted beneath my hand. A crack barely wide enough to creep through emerged before me. The scent of roses became overpowering, gusting through the crevice as if luring me back. My feet swayed, hands clutching at the rough stone for balance. I forced myself through the hole, ignoring the tugs and scratches as if the creatures living in the walls were trying to trap me midway.
I broke through into a passageway and heaved a breath. I was in the servant's corridor, barely feet from my own private door. Was the castle warning me? Or maybe helping me get to Lilyanna as fast as possible?
My heart thumped. A spurt of adrenaline chased the wooziness from my legs.
Moving quickly, I passed through my lower room and staggered up the winding staircase. I thrust open the door to the sitting room and almost impaled myself upon Clement’s saber. I lurched backward, arms pinwheeling at the top of the open staircase, and Clement dropped his sword to grab my cloak, tugging me toward him.
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
“Is she alive?” I pushed away, beelining for her door.
He grabbed my shoulder and swung me back to him. “Of course, but she’s going to wake up screaming if you barrel in there like that.”
He reached for my face, his hands skimming my cheek as he lifted the mask. He turned it over in his hands, the porcelain surface completely white except for delicate red letters embossed upon the forehead. ‘Three weeks to go. If you want out, as you surely know, the name you must say and the debt you will pay.’
I snatched it back and threw it into the hearth. The fire roared, green-tipped flames incinerating the mask within seconds. Clement’s mouth hung open, the question obvious on his lips.
“In a minute.” I stumbled toward Lilyanna’s door and fell. Somehow, he moved much faster than I did, his body dulling my impact which otherwise would have left me crashing right through her door.
He steadied me, hovering his hands inches from my arms in case I wobbled over again and quietly turned the doorknob for me. I peered past, clawing at the doorframe for balance. Lilyanna slept soundly, the silk covers flat, her golden hair unbound and unruffled.
I let out a burst of laughter, and he quickly shut the door. I clapped my hand over my mouth and sank to the floor.
“Did you not trust me?” Clement slid to the floor beside me, his arms hooked over his knees.
“Of course I did.” I shuffled closer, leaning my head on his shoulder. I took a deep cleansing breath, inhaling the scent of pine that lingered on his skin. “It’s the castle I don’t trust.”
He nodded.
“Thank you for doing this.” I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. His stubble tickled my skin, sending shivers of pleasure down my body. He turned to me, his breath heavy, his eyes hooded. I leaned into him, meeting his warm mouth with my own, threading my fingers into his hair to pull him closer.
His tongue parted my lips, roving around my mouth to taste every inch. His kiss was different to every one that had come before. For a moment I lost myself, forgetting to be distant, forgetting to keep that one piece of my soul apart. He tugged me onto his lap, my thighs spread wide around his hips. He ground against me in slow, sultry pulses, hardening fast, and oh, the sound that he coaxed from my throat. I wanted to tell him everything, to have him tease every confession from my lips with his clever mouth, but I couldn’t. We were still working against each other, our goals opposite.
“Clement,” I whispered. He murmured an acknowledgement, his kisses moving down my chin, my neck, his teeth nipping at my collarbone. “I want you, but you can’t stay afterward.”
He pulled away with a short bark of a laugh. “You’re forward today. First, you don’t trust me to look after Lady Lilyanna, and now, you’re thinking of excuses to kick me straight out after you're done.”
The buzzing resumed in my brain, heat redistributing to my cheeks. “It’s just the sleeping part. Not the sex. Afterward.”
He took my hands in his and cocked his head slightly. Then he pinned me with his dark gaze. “Why?”
“Because that’s when things happen.”
His thumbs stroked the delicate skin of my wrist while a small smile curved the edges of his mouth. That same mouth that still glistened, smelling faintly of cherries and vodka. “Okay, Tamara. So, number one”—I wrinkled my nose at the edge of laughter in his voice—“we are not going to sleep together because you are very drunk.”
I opened my mouth to protest but ended up nodding in agreement.
He laughed, kissing me softly on the cheek. “And two.” He kept his face close, his eyes heating, breath caressing my lips. “When it does happen, it’ll be somewhere private. Somewhere where I can take my time. I’m going to touch every inch of your body. Kiss and lick and nibble my way, explore you…fucking devour you.” I realized I wasn’t breathing and gasped in air. “I’ll find the spots you love the most, the sensitive areas that make you writhe and moan and beg me for more, and I’ll push and tease and play until you come so hard you forget where you are, who you are. You forget everything.”
My heart thrummed, my body milliseconds away from claiming him right there on the floor. I shifted against his rigid length, causing his breath to catch. “I want that now.”
He leaned closer, brushing past my lips to bestow a chaste kiss upon my other cheek instead. “Tell me why you’re here. Let me help you.”
