The hand in my hair pulled sharply, tilting my head to the side as he moved to bite and suck at the exposed skin of my neck. I gasped, body arching toward him as we searched for friction. My fingernails dug into the smooth skin of his hips as I clutched him tighter—half moons imprinted on flesh.
Harkin’s breath was hot on my neck, fanning across my collarbones in a way that made me ache deliciously. He ground against me as his fingers slipped beneath my tunic, roving across my stomach and ribs, and finally, grazing my breasts.
“Harkin…” His name was a gasp from my mouth. A tumble of other words followed, sounding as if from someone else.Pleaseanddon’t stopandGoddesses.
“I want you so badly.” The words were gruff and rumbled.
We were surely about to undress each other, to finish this thing that we had started when whistles and jeers reached our ears. The patrons of the pub had taken note of our fevered kisses, and shouts of amusement filled the room. I had all but forgotten we were evenina pub, in front of dozens of witnesses, on the run from Acsillan soldiers.
I pulled back, my face ablaze with embarrassment and flushed with wanting.
Harkin’s pupils were blown wide as his eyes bored into mine—from the dim lighting and from the desire which he had hardly bridled. He seemed to realize his hands still held me and pulled back, looking away and murmuring what sounded like, “Goddesses, help me.”
His gaze swept the room once more. “They’re gone.”
The soldiers. He had kissed me to avoid detection by the soldiers. But was that all it had been?
It had certainly felt like more, and I no longer knew if I trusted myself around Harkin.
He looked at me again, an inscrutable expression on his face. His eyes caught on my mouth, swollen with the persistence of his kiss. His chest rose with a deep, heaving breath.
“Let's go.”
Chapterthirty-three
Seren
We spilled into the darkness. The quiet of the empty street was as much a balm to my ringing ears as the cold was to my flushed skin. I drew in deep, steadying breaths as I tried to shake the haze of my anticipation. The blinding quality of desire.
Embarrassment fluttered in my chest—a dying moth fighting to free itself from the chains I wrapped around it. I still tasted him on my tongue, and I wanted to do so again. Harkin kissed me to hide our presence from the guards, and I was the foolish one who hoped it meant more. I shoved it down, pressing it deep beneath my ribs.
Starlight lit our path as we moved carefully down the cobblestone street ahead and limned our attacker in pale light as he emerged from the shadows. In our haste to flee the scene, we had failed to properly survey what was right in front of us.
The palace guards had left one man behind, and he stalked toward us with his sword raised. His armor clinked against stone as he moved closer, underscored by another noise I could not quite place.
Harkin pushed me behind him, taking up a defensive stance as he considered our next move. “Let us pass.”
The man grunted, disinterested. “I have my orders, Aranti. So do you.”
“We don’t have to do this,” Harkin tried again, nudging me backwards with a tap against my thigh.
“If you do not turn over the girl,” the guard looked at me pointedly, “I will have no other choice.”
I knew Harkin would not give me up now. He had already sacrificed too much to change his mind. We were bound together for better or worse.
That unidentifiable sound grew louder, and I was knocked back with a cry as a length of chain wrapped around my legs. Metal links wound their way up my body as I struggled against the cold ground.
Earth and stone and steel bit into me, a pack of starving animals.
The guard twitched his fingers, and the chain tightened. I had never seen control over metal such as this, but I knew he must be an earth wielder of some sort.
“Seren!” Harkin reached for me only to catch a blow across his back with the pommel of the guard's dagger. He coughed as the air left his lungs, and he looked at me in panic.
“He cannot kill me,” I reminded him, breathless. “Protect yourself.”
He turned around, hesitant to put himself before me, but we both knew I was right. The prince needed me alive. These chains were meant to bind me, but I would not come to any real harm. For his choices, Harkin would not be so lucky.
Harkin’s dagger was drawn before I could blink, and he raised his other hand as mágik jumped to his call. He did not hesitate to lash out at the man before him, driving him away from me with every slash of his blade.
