Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt that warm, tingly sensation start low in her stomach again.
“You have small bumps on your back,” he said as he brushed along her skin once more.
So he did notice.
After he finished, she inhaled a deep breath. The sweet relief of not being constricted was like a breath of fresh air, and she moaned as her top loosened and the shoulder straps fell off. She heard his breath hitch behind her and turned around to look at him. He was bent over her, staring down at her neck, and his rich, green eyes met hers, their noses almost touching. Heat surged deep within her as she looked into his eyes and then lowered her gaze to his lips. She licked her own, and his eyes followed the movement.
“Seda, I—” he began, reaching toward her, but then someone knocked on the door. He swiftly pulled back.
Seda cleared her throat and quickly rushed to the closet, away from Cahir and whoever was waiting outside. She stepped into the room, easing the door shut behind her, and stood listening, her breath caught tightly in her chest.
“Come in,” she heard Cahir say.
She silently reprimanded herself for havinganyfeelings when he was near, reminding herself that he was a liar. But seeing hisreaction to her empowered her, giving her a newfound strength she hadn’t realized she possessed. What if she could use this for her own benefit?
“Oh, Sire… I wasn’t expecting you here. I just came to see if Seda was available for a walk.” She could hear Neoma’s voice from the door. Jealousy curled her stomach as she remembered Neoma’s breasts exposed for Cahir when she arrived at the castle.
Had Cahir made love to that woman? Did he touch Neoma gently, the same way he just touched her? Did he cause her goosebumps to rise on her arms?
“Seda had a long day today and is resting before dinner. She’ll see you then,” he said to Neoma.
She heard the door close and quickly changed out of the dress into something comfortable, putting on a shirt and soft shorts from the dresser. She stepped out of the closet and saw Cahir sitting in a chair near the window. He looked down at her legs and back up. A half smile appeared on his lips, with his dimple catching the light from the window.
“That’s the Seda I remember,” he said approvingly.
Feeling awkward and a little angry at herself for caring who Cahir touched, she changed the subject, “I met Tahti today.”
Cahir tensed and asked, “Luelle took you there? Be careful of Tahti, Seda. My mother passed away with her present.”
Curiosity piqued within Seda. She didn’t know anything about Cahir’s past or family. “What happened to her?”
Cahir stared out of the window, his eyes tracking a singular green orb outside. His voice came out in a whisper, “My mother was the light in my dark childhood. I have vague memories of her. I remember hearing her scream, and then I remember crying beside her casket.” He bit the inside of his cheek.
Seda stood, stunned and frozen, unsure how to react. Cahir had never once talked about his family before, and admitting that last bit must have weighed heavily on him, because he slumped and placed his hands over his face.
“I’m sorry, Cahir,” she replied.
He looked up at her and struggled to smile. “Tell me how the visit was with Tahti.”
She released a breath. “She was… interesting. She shared something that could be valuable, though.” She moved further into the room and sat on the bed’s edge, feeling her legs grow weak from the weight of the prior topic.
“What was it?” he asked.
“She told me about the four stones. She didn’t tell me where to find them, but she told me what they are.” She reiterated what Tahti had told her about the stones and that she had gone to the library to find more information, but had been unlucky in her search. She left out running into Meir there and his weird questions. Cahir sat there and watched her talk, not saying much in return, just listening intently.
“I know what the Stone of Peace is and where to find it,” Cahir said after she finished her story.
Seda perked up. “Where do I find it?”
“It’s the Umbrea Stone, gifted to my father shortly after the war with the monsters. It was once inlaid into the crown, but it was stolen when I was a child. Now they say that La Uma has it.”
“Who’s La Uma?” Seda frowned. How was she supposed to get not only a family heirloom, but one held by someone else?
Cahir hesitated before saying, “She’s, unfortunately, a monster that lives north of here. She mostly sticks to herself, thankfully.”
“What? How did she get it?” she asked as anxiety coiled around her. How wasshegoing to get it from this beast?
“I’m not sure. But, it’s believed that La Uma only hunts men.” He looked away from her. “We should talk to Tahti once more to ask her what she knows of her.”
