Because it soothes this ache inside me. Because despite everything, I realize with sickening horror, Iwantthe Prince of Thorns to touch me. Maybe a dark part of me has wanted this since I first saw him in the garden of Castletree.
His teeth nip the space right above Kel’s mark, and I squirm with the sensation. His breath is warm as he brings his face right in front of mine.
If he kisses me right now, I’m not sure I’ll stop him. I’m not sure I want to.
The thought ignites me with anger, and I growl, “I have a mate.”
His eyelids flutter, and a devastatingly handsome smile spreads on his face. “I know you do.”
36
Caspian
Her lips are parted, brown eyes wide, cheeks red as roses. If I kissed her right now, she wouldn’t stop me.
Thorns wrap around my ankles, curling up the rest of my body. Her chest heaves in deep breaths of air, and maybe it’s my cruel imagination, but when the thorns and shadows drag me back to the Below, I almost see a flicker of disappointment on her gorgeous features.
My magic isn’t as precise as it used to be, and I arrive in a Cryptgarden corridor close to my room. A heat courses through my body, every muscle as achy as when I woke up an hour ago in sweat-soaked sheets.
Coarse laughter sounds from down the hall, and a fae sentry flanked by two goblins rounds the corner. Aldridge Menzies, one of my mother’s favorites. Though she doesn’tactuallyhave favorites … Moreso, he’s one of her more tolerated sentries.
“Quite an unbecoming sight, milord.” Aldridge laughs. “Perhaps retire to your room before the liquor takes over.”
The goblins beside him chitter with laughter. Normally they wouldn’t dare, but they’re emboldened by his insolence.
Drunk, is that how I look? Stars, I’d rather be drunk than feelthis.
“I do not recall giving you permission to speak,” I snarl. Using the wall as leverage to stand, I push past them.
Behind me, thorns break through the stone, and I hear Aldridge’s gasp of shock. Most days I can stand his impertinent comments.
Today isn’t most days.
By the time I round the corner, his cry of pain as the thorns rip off his hand is muted. Mother won’t be pleased, but depending on her mood she may overlook it, figuring I let him live.
I pass an open veranda to where another party rages in the courtyard. The smell of sex mingles with liquor.
There are always any number of willing participants lurking around Cryptgarden ready to lie with the Prince of the Below. And though Kel may have cast me as his villain, even I won’t send any of these hapless souls to the icy wasteland that bastard has sequestered himself in.
And besides…
Stop or I’ll die.
The agony in her voice, the pain that coursed through her body, though she didn’t realize why. No, I can’t do that to her.
But I have to dosomething. Do something now before I go back and—
A growl rises within me, and I strike the stone wall with my fist. It leaves a solid crack, along with blood on my knuckles.I shouldn’t have gone there.
He would kill me if I lost control. He would rip me apart and tear me limb from limb. The death of his parents, the downfall of his realm, the betrayal … Keldarion let me live through all of it. But I do not suspect he would let me live through that.
Though how sweet it would be. Perhaps even worth my life.
I won’t make it to my room. I push open the next stone door I can find. Nothing but an abandoned corridor full of dusty artifacts from the Vale. A single window lets in a strip of murky gray light.
My clothes feel itchy, too heavy on my heated skin. I pull off my tunic and unbutton my breeches, stepping out of them until I’m completely naked. Running my hands down my body, a pained sound leaves my throat as my fingers grasp my aching cock.
But it’s not the touch I want.
