Page 88 of Given to the Black King

“Say the word.”

“Ash.”

Again.

“Ash.”

He steps behind me.

I hear the soft scrape of one claw against the table.

“Three hundred heartbeats,” he says. “You take the west stair. The old passage opens behind the ivy screen. The gates are barred. Guards are outside the boundary only.”

“No one inside?”

“No one.”

“Vess?”

“Vess agreed to stay off the walls.”

That does not answer the question, but it is probably the best promise anyone gets from Vess.

Torgan picks up a length of green ribbon from the table.

“Put your scent on it.”

The command reaches lower than it should.

I take the ribbon.

He watches as I slide it beneath the front of my gown and draw it slowly under one breast. Then the other. My nipples are already hard. The silk catches on them.

His upper lip draws back from his fangs.

I trail the ribbon over my stomach, beneath the waistband of my drawers, and press it between my thighs.

His claws score the table.

The sound is small.

My body answers it anyway.

I draw the ribbon free. It is warm from my skin.

“Enough?”

“No.”

The word is almost a growl.

I tie the ribbon around my wrist.

He comes close behind me. No touch. His mouth hovers beside my ear.

“Once I start, I will not sound like this.”

“I know.”