“Are you sure about that?” he mutters. “Last chance to escape unscathed.”
Oh, I am here for the scathing. All of it. A cautious Daphne doesn’t prevent the danger from seeking her out. I may as well enjoy my every diurnal like the gift it is.
I smirk at him. “Are you going to make good on your promise? Or should I go find Malachi and see what I need to do to retrieve my scarf?”
He pulls the sash taut in front of my face and I swallow, wondering where the Blazes he’s expecting to use that. I arch a brow, daring him to follow through on the wicked desire shining in his eyes.
He raises the material and pushes it against my eyes, forcing my head back and binding me to the post, the material holding me captive. He trails his fingertips from my temple, across my jaw, down my throat, and over my collarbone. Blood pulses to my core, and my breasts grow heavier as they rise with each breath. His rough hands rip my shirt, and I shiver as the cold air touches my chest and stomach. I move my hands to cover myself.
“Don’t hide yourself from me,” he demands as he grabs my hands and twists them behind the post. The ends of the sash wrap around my wrists and he yanks a knot in the material securing me.
“Damn,” Nash breathes. “You are exquisite, Daphne. Your flushed skin hums with your racing pulse. I’m not sure if they have sent you to be our downfall or our savior, but you were made for us.”
He keeps sayingus. We might live in the land of fairy tales, but maidens don’t hook up with multiple males or have deep and meaningful encounters with them.Usimplies him and his brothers, as if they are a package deal.
My mind echoes with Theo’s laughter tangled with chaos, making me feel more capable. Malachi’s affection and acceptance are something I have been missing most of my life, apart from the sisterhood I have with Gwyneth. Even Hart’s gruffness and stubborn attitude contrasts perfectly with my view of the world. He is perhaps the caution I need to make it to the next diurnal. While Nash is the quiet wise tutor that holds a darkness that pulls me in.
Alternatively, I’m misreading this entire situation, and the guys just used me to steal their dagger. But then why bother saving me afterwards, and why would Nash be here right now, about to teach me a lesson? One I suspect I’m going to want him to repeat again and again?
He traces his lips along my jaw, up to my ear. “Ready to understand what threefold feels like?” he whispers in my ear.
I suck my bottom lip between my teeth as his breath ghosts over my face, making my pulse skitter. He’s close, so close. My hands twist in their binds as my fingers tingle with the need to touch him.
“I asked you a question, Daphne.”
He did? I think it got lost in the rapid beating of my heart. He chuckles, the low sound making my spine arch. What is happening? Someone? Anyone? Idols? Yeah right, they didn’t help me when my annuses flashed before my eyes. There would be no rescue coming now.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
“No,” I whisper. A shadow moves, and coolness greets my bare chest as he moves away from me. A panic flares in my gut. Am I losing something meant to be mine, meant to be experienced to the full? I am Daphne Stone. I collect chaos and destruction, best sea witches, and steal blades from kings.Put on your big girl panties, Daphne.“Don’t stop though.”
“Do you trust me?” A wave of butterflies flutter in my stomach at the dominance in his voice. I swallow the nervous lump of excitement lodged in my throat.
“I trust you mean me no harm.” That was the truth. “So do your worst.”
“I think you are confused about who holds the power.”
I’m always confused. This isn’t news. His lips hover above mine, his breath mingling with my own. I arch my back and push my body against his as a silent invitation. He brings his mouth down onto mine. But it’s not a kiss that he offers, it’s a devouring that he demands. A soul consuming, flame inducing, melding of mouths and tongues that makes every thought butmore, more, more,evaporate. He grazes his teeth along my bottom lip in a warning. He’s forgetting I dance with death every diurnal. His little display of power doesn’t scare me.
“It should,” he mutters as he bites harder. The sting sends little zips of pleasure straight to my belly, and I wiggle as much as I can in my bindings. I need to stop the words leaking from my mind into the realm.
“How many men have you been with, Daphne?” he asks as he releases my swelling lips.
“One, and only once,” I reply between pants.
“Did he bring you pleasure?”
I laugh. The elusive orgasm that the maidens mutter about at the well? The one that no man in Strongfair seems able to find? It’s like a mythical event offered to the divine and blessed. Perhaps it is a Hallowed thing, and that’s why they are always shiny.
“No.”
“What about by yourself?”
“What, in a mud hut I share with my sister, surrounded by the townsfolk of Strongfair?”
“Never?”
“No, never.”
