Chapter 8

CHAPTER8

Eletta followed behind me quickly as I made my way toward the Achlyses’ private hall the next morning. The sun was high in the sky and shining through the glass of the palace in a million dazzling spectrums.

“This isn’t a good idea, my lady,” Eletta whispered just as I passed by a guard and made my way into the room.

Gavril was sitting at the table with a half dozen parchments spread out in front of him. Several guards and men who looked to be of nobility stood around the table as he worked.

He glanced up just as I made my way toward him, and a gentle smile graced his lips. “Adara.” He stood from his chair. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m fine.” I nodded and adjusted the long skirt of my light blue dress. “I was hoping to speak with you for a moment.”

“Of course.” He moved from the table until he was standing directly in front of me, but he didn’t dismiss any of his men. They all stood there within earshot of where we spoke, and I hated the feeling of them all watching and listening.

“It’s a beautiful day, and I would love to get outside the palace.” I felt like a child having to ask his permission, but Eletta assured me that there was no way the guards would allow me outside the gate without his or the queen’s approval.

“Would you like to go out to the gardens?” He looked back toward the table. “I have a bit of work left, then I could join you.”

“No.” I quickly shook my head and winced at the trace of hurt that crossed his face. “I was actually hoping to go into the city. I would have Eletta with me, and I would like to see the kingdom at which I am to serve.”

He looked back to one of his men, and I watched as the one closest to us softly shook his head no. Gavril wasn’t even the one making the decision. He had a room full of men who were so willing to keep me trapped for him, and I did feel trapped.

After walking away from Evren last night, I went to the library and spent several hours reading about the vampyres of Sidra. I had every intention of looking into my own history, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk past the book that had interested me just a couple days ago. Especially not after I found out the truth about Evren.

A truth that not even the history books told. I saw no reference to any half-breed. No legends of the bastard son of King Riven. All I had was Evren’s word and Eletta’s warnings when I told her that I had found out the truth about him.

She told me that even the fae people of Citlali feared their prince for what he was. They feared and distrusted him, regardless of his noble lineage.

I should have shared in that distrust, but I found that all I could think about as I flipped the pages and flopped in my bed was the way he had spoken to me and touched me in that hall. Distrust did not equal distaste, and even though I knew it was bad for me, I found the allure of the dark prince to be too hard to not want.

And that want made me feel more trapped than anything else.

“Please, Your Highness.”

Gavril’s gaze slammed back into mine.

“I would just like to walk and see the city. No harm will come from me leaving the palace for a few hours. Your people would never harm something that belongs to you.”

“You’re right.” He nodded because my words had struck the exact chord of his ego I was aiming for. “But I will send a couple of my guards with you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“It is.” He looked beyond the men who stood around his table to one of the guards along the wall. “Jorah, gather my brother. The two of you will escort Adara into the city.”

“I’m sure that they have much more important things to do,” I quickly argued. I needed to get away from Evren, not be thrust into the city alone with the prince who haunted my every thought.

“Nonsense.” He looked back at me. “I trust my brother above all others with you. He will assure your safety.”

Jorah walked up to us and gave a deep bow before he addressed me. “The captain and I shall ready a carriage, Starblessed.” His skin was a deep brown that looked absolutely lovely against his uniform, but his deep brown eyes were what caused my breath to catch in my throat.

“Please don’t.” I shook my head. “I would prefer to walk.”

Jorah looked to his crowned prince who gave a quick nod of his head. “Of course. We shall meet you at the grand entrance when you are ready.”

“Thank you.” I looked to both of them before turning on my heel to head back to my room.

“Adara.”

I stopped as Gavril called my name. “Yes?”

“I hope you enjoy your time in town. Next time I will try to join you.” He smiled, and even though the gesture didn’t meet his eyes, part of me wondered if Gavril was genuine.

He was the one letting me out when everyone else seemed content with keeping me in.

“I would like that.” I nodded before he made his way back to the table where his men were waiting for him.

Eletta helped me back to my room and into a silk cape that would do little against the chill in the air and a pair of black gloves. She refused to allow me to slip on my own trousers and shirt, and I decided that getting to leave the palace was enough of a battle won for the day.

Even if Evren was to be my escort through the city.

We made our way to the grand entrance of the palace, and I tried to avoid looking at Evren as much as I could when he and Jorah came into view standing by the door. Evren was dressed in his usual black attire, and I noticed he had minimal weapons strapped to his body unlike most of the other guards.

“Are you all ready?” Evren asked, and I finally looked up at him.

“We are.” I reached for the door, but he quickly knocked my hand away and pushed the door open for all of us. It would have almost been chivalrous if I didn’t already know him to be otherwise.

The sun beamed down against my skin, and for a long moment, I simply closed my eyes and allowed my face to bask in the warmth it provided. My skin tingled under its touch, and I took a deep breath.

“This way, my lady.” Jorah motioned me forward, and I followed him dutifully.

Evren and Eletta both walked behind me, but I didn’t pay either of them any attention as I passed through the gate with Jorah and out onto the busy street of Citlali. I slid my cape over my head before anyone was to look upon my face, and Jorah watched wordlessly.

“You are to stay at my side.” Evren’s rough voice growled from beside me. “If you stray, we will return immediately.”

“You’re grouchy today.” I adjusted my glove just as Jorah laughed.

“I am not joking, princess.” Evren moved closer to me. “You stay at my side or you will be brought back to the castle.”

“I heard you the first time, prince.” I enunciated his title, and his lips slipped into a smirk.

“And where exactly would you like to go?”

“I don’t yet know.” I shrugged my shoulders, and he grinned harder. “Surely, one of you knows of something in this city that is worth showing me.”

“Right this way.” He bowed playfully and motioned for me to walk ahead of him. I did so quickly and began walking down the cobblestone street with him at my back.

There were a multitude of vendors out on the street selling everything from spices to wool to pastries. The smell of it was divine and made my stomach growl in hunger.

“Which one do you want?” Evren pulled a coin from his pocket and nodded toward the pastry cart.

“Oh.” I shook my head. “I’m fine.” I took a step back from the cart, but Evren quickly caught my arm in his hand.

“I can buy you a pastry, Adara.” He handed the coin to the older woman who ran the cart, and she looked back and forth between us. “Now tell her which one you want before I decide for you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, but he wasn’t budging. “The lemon, please.”

She nodded before wiping her hands on her flour-covered apron. She wrapped my pastry in a small cloth before handing it to me.

The smell of lemon and sugar hit me the moment it was in my hand, and I wasted no time biting into it. A small moan slipped from my lips as the flavor hit my tongue. The palace was full of food, but nothing had tasted like this.

“That good?”

I looked up at Evren and he was watching me so intently as I licked the lemon glaze from my lips. “It is. Would you like to try?”

“I would love to.” How did he manage to make such a simple phrase feel so erotic?

I held the pastry out to him, but instead of taking it from me, he gripped my wrist in his hand before bringing the treat to his mouth. He didn’t take his eyes off me as he bit into it, and I couldn’t force myself to look away.

I knew that others could see us, I was absolutely certain that Eletta was probably watching us after the way she had walked in on us last night, but nothing mattered when he was looking at me like that. Everything beyond him seemed to fall away, and he was all I could see.

It didn’t matter that the prince I wasn’t betrothed to eating from my hand was inappropriate at that moment. I would think of it later when I couldn’t sleep. But right now, all I could think about was the trace of sugar that clung to his lips and how desperately I wanted to lean forward and see if it tasted differently on his skin.

“Let me show you my favorite place in the city.” He wiped his mouth with his thumb, and I pulled my pastry back to me before bringing it to my lips. “I think you’ll like it.”

“Evren,” Jorah said his name in warning, and it caused Evren to grin unabashedly.

“Calm down, Jorah.” Evren laughed. “I think you’ll find your future queen is much more daring than you’d think.”

“And the future king will have our heads if either of us let anything happen to her.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to her.” Evren held his hand out in my direction. “Do you trust me, princess?”

The answer was no. Irrevocably and absolutely no, but I still slid my hand into his. He smiled before pulling me toward him and through the crowds of people that seemed to barely notice me. Instead, they were all looking at him.

I watched as they watched him. If they feared him as Eletta said, I couldn’t tell. Instead, they looked upon him with an air of respect. Many nodding their heads in his direction, but none bowed.

“Do they know you’re a prince?” I whispered as we passed, and Evren’s hand tightened against mine.

“Who?”

“Your people.” I waved ahead of me before pulling my silk cape tighter against myself.

“Of course, they do.” He chuckled and turned suddenly as we passed an old tavern. He pulled me up to the door where loud music was pouring out, and I quickly looked behind me to see Jorah and Eletta following us, both with a frown on their faces.

“Then why don’t they bow to you?” I searched the dark tavern as we entered before one of the men stood and clapped Evren on his back.

Evren didn’t answer me at first. He found us a small round table and pulled out a seat for me before doing the same for Eletta at my side. He then waved to the bartender before sitting beside me.

“As you said, princess, these are my people. I don’t treat them as if they are beneath me, so they don’t feel as such. I am not my brother.”

“So, your brother does treat them as if they are beneath him?”

He studied my face for a long moment before answering. He leaned closer to me so only I could hear. “Gavril is my brother, and as such, I won’t speak badly about him. But open your eyes, princess. The truth is right there in front of you.”

“Stop calling me princess.”

“Why?” He slowly ran his fingers over my cape. “You’ll be one soon enough. You should get used to it. Now take off this ridiculous cape.”

I slowly lowered the hood just as the bartender sat four large ales on our table, some of the liquid splashing over the sides. “Evren. Jorah.” He nodded to both. “It’s been a minute.”

“It has.” Evren laughed before sliding an ale in front of me and Eletta. I almost joined him in laughter at the look on her face. “Duty calls and I typically need a few days’ recovery when I walk out of these doors.”

“Ah. It’s not so bad.” The man chuckled before looking down at me. “Who’s this?”

“Jean, this is Adara Cahira, my brother’s betrothed. Adara, this is Jean.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I held out my hand to the man, and he smiled before slipping it into his much larger one.

“You too, girl. Although I’m a little shocked that you’re in my tavern. You trying to get the queen to take your head, Evren?”

“That’s what I said.” Jorah sighed before taking a long pull from his ale.

“She’s fine.” Evren chuckled before tugging my seat closer to him. “She’s got the best guards this kingdom has to offer.”

“When they aren’t full of ale.” Jean laughed before looking back toward his bar. “I have to go serve someone else, Your Highness. Don’t break anything.”

Evren saluted him with a laugh just as Eletta reached for my hand under the table.

“I think we should head back to the palace,” she whispered as her gaze jumped around the room, attempting to keep an eye on everyone.

“Just try a drink.” I lifted my ale and brought it to my lips. It was cold and bitter, but I much preferred the taste to the wine they served in the palace. “We’ll be back at the palace shortly.”

I looked around the tavern as I took another long sip of the cold liquid, and everyone seemed to be lost in their own worlds. No one was paying a bit of attention to us, and when someone’s gaze did collide with mine, they simply nodded their head in my direction before going back to their conversations.

“How many other Starblessed are in Citlali?” I looked over at Evren, and he was already watching me.

“At least a dozen, I’d say.” He still hadn’t touched his drink. “Most of them live within the city. Some are married, others are not.”

“Where are the Starblessed that Gavril has fed from?”

Evren’s eyes darkened at my question, and his voice was much lower when he answered me. “Gavril has fed from them all. Along with the king and queen.”

“What?” I shook my head as I tried to wrap my head around what he had just said. I had always been told that as a Starblessed I would belong to the future king and him alone. It had never crossed my mind that another could feed from me. I had never even considered that the lives of other Starblessed would be any different.

“They crave power, Adara, and the Starblessed are the way to gain that power within.”

“And what about you?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You say that you have never fed from a Starblessed, so what is it that you crave?”

He stared at me for a long moment before his gaze dropped to my lips. “I think we both know what it is that I hunger for.”

I glanced over at Eletta, but she was too busy watching those around her with a careful eye.

“Enlighten me, prince.” I lifted my glass and took another drink. “I couldn’t be more uncertain about anything.”

“You should slow down on the ale.” He looked at the glass in my hand, but I didn’t want to change the subject.

The ale was making me feel brave, and I knew that he was probably right. “Answer my question.”

“I don’t think you really want to know my answer.”

“And why is that?” I stared up at him, and it hit me how easy this was. Sitting here talking to Evren, fighting with him. It was far easier than it should have been.

“Because if I tell you the truth, then you’ll know what you’re imagining between us isn’t simply in your head, and you’ll feel guilty for betraying a man to whom you’re betrothed.”

“I’m not betraying anyone.”

He searched my face before finally reaching for his own ale and bringing it to his lips. “Not yet, you aren’t.”

He stood suddenly, his chair scraping across the floor, and I turned away from where he was retreating. Jorah was watching me. His eyes were narrowed and his brow wrinkled. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t like what he was seeing with me and his captain or if he simply didn’t care for me. But either way, he didn’t approve.

I lifted my mug and drained the remainder of the ale before looking back over my shoulder. Evren was at the bar with a few other men, and they were all laughing as if they had no cares in the world.

I turned back and avoided looking at Jorah’s disapproving gaze as I nudged Eletta. “Have you ever been here before?”

“No,” she answered quickly. “And this place isn’t suitable for you, my lady.”

“Eletta, please call me Adara,” I grumbled, and her cheeks blushed pink. “I see nothing wrong with this place. It’s fun. Try your ale.”

“Absolutely not.” Her voice wavered as her hand pressed against her chest.

“Fine.” I lifted her cup in my hand. “Mind if I drink it then?”

“I don’t, but you should be careful. Fae ale is not for the weak of heart.” She scrunched her nose and looked around the tavern with trepidation pouring off her.

“It’s a good thing that I’m not weak of heart then.” I smiled and took another sip. My head did feel light, but so did my chest. It was a feeling I craved at that moment, a pleasure I hadn’t known for a long time. “What about you, Eletta? Are you betrothed to anyone? Anyone in here that’s catching your eye?”

If I thought she was blushing before, I was wrong. Eletta looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course not. I will get married when the queen deems it so.”

“Bummer,” I muttered around my drink before setting it on the table and clasping her hand in mine. “We should dance.”

“That is a bad idea,” she argued, but she still stood as I pulled her along behind me.

“Everything seems like a bad idea, Eletta. We should at least enjoy a few bad ideas while we’re able to.”

She laughed softly and the sound caught me off guard.

“One dance.” She held up a finger.

“To start.” I winked at her before reaching out for her other hand and spinning us in a small circle.

The music blared from the musician’s instruments and coursed through my body with each beat. Eletta was stiff in my arms for a long moment before she finally gave in and spun around the old wooden floor with me in a fit of laughter.

I pulled her toward me, wrapping my arms around her shoulders, and we laughed as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. For a second, I imagined there was no one else in this place but the two of us. I imagined what it would be like for her to not be my lady-in-waiting, but my friend.

I felt euphoric from the fantasy.

But then as the beat of the music slowed and our dancing slowed with it, all I could think of was Evren and what it would be like to be here with him and him alone. Would he have danced with me if I wasn’t the Starblessed? If I didn’t belong to another?

If I ran, Evren would more than likely be the one to find me. He may have hungered for me now, but I would force him to feel otherwise. My head spun as I considered running or the alternative. If I took the life of his brother, everything he felt for me now would turn to hate.

And I should have been happy about that.

I hated the people that surrounded me, and it was all the better if they hated me too. Even if my chest ached at the thought.

“May I cut in here?” I blinked my eyes open, half expecting Evren to be standing in front of me, but it was Jorah who held his hand out in my direction.

I slid my hand from Eletta’s neck and let him pull me away from her and against his body. He danced slowly and efficiently to the beat, and when I glanced over his shoulder to where I knew Evren stood, his eyes were on his guard and me.

“You shouldn’t be looking to him,” Jorah muttered above me, and I pulled my gaze away from Evren to look back at him.

“I wasn’t.” I shook my head softly.

“You were, and it’s a dangerous game you’re playing, Starblessed.”

I tried to pull away from him, but he held on to me tightly, so I had no choice but to follow him in the dance. “I’m not playing any game.”

“Then you’re a fool,” he growled and his hands stiffened against me. “The queen is watching your every move whether you realize it or not, and she will not be happy to know that the savior of our kingdom prefers the company of a half-breed to that of her son.”

I stopped completely and jerked out of his hold. His shocked gaze flew to meet mine, but I had too much ale to care.

“Do not call him that.”

“Why not? That’s what he is.”

My hand shook with the urge to slap him, but I knew that assaulting one of the king’s guards would do me no favors.

Jorah stepped closer to me as if he could sense my thoughts. “Evren is my dearest friend, Adara. I know who he is just as he knows me, and I also know that what you two are doing will mess up…”

He shook his head to stop what he was saying, but I was desperate for him to finish his sentence.

“Mess up what?” Please answer.

“The plans the kingdom has for you. You can’t save the people when you are too focused on only one of its patrons.”

“And what if I have no interest in saving these people?”

Jorah gripped my arm, pulling me closer to him, and when he spoke again, he did so directly next to my ear. “Then you should learn to pretend. Show your love for these people and your future king before the queen drains every bit of your precious blood from your body and Evren’s.”

A chill ran down my spine as his words hit me. As I looked up at Jorah, every part of me believed he was speaking the truth. Whatever it was that he knew, he was telling me this to protect me. Or possibly to protect his friend.

Either way, my head spun with the truth of his words, a truth that I had known all along. I was to do exactly as the queen wished, or she would make me beg for a life I dreaded.

“Are you all ready to go?” Evren stood next to Jorah, and I blinked up at him as panic hit me. Here I was dancing in a tavern and dreaming about this man who I couldn’t have when I should have been back at the palace figuring out my next move.

I was a fool.

“I need to return to the palace.”

“Okay.” Evren laughed, but I was already turning on my heel and running for the door.

My shoulder knocked into someone else’s, and I tried to apologize as my cape was stepped on and pulled from around my shoulders. A few gasps filled the space around me, but I didn’t stick around to listen. I sprinted for the door and out onto the cobblestone street as I gasped for breath.

The alcohol coursed through me as I spun in place and searched for the direction at which we came. The palace. I spotted the towering building ahead and took off in that direction before any of my escorts could catch up to me.

The sun was setting behind the palace, the gleam of its rays reflecting off the dark surface, and I raced in its direction.

“Adara!” I heard Evren shout from behind me, but I didn’t stop. Fear coursed through me at how foolish I had been.

I tripped on the long skirt of my dress, almost falling forward, but I caught myself against the old brick of someone’s home. I could feel people watching me, but it didn’t matter. Jorah said the queen was watching me, the queen that I feared above all others, and I knew that she was the one who held the power to make my life everything I had ever feared.

She wanted her son to grow powerful at my expense, and she would do whatever it took to assure that happened. Even if that meant locking me away. Away from Evren, away from everyone.

“Adara, wait!” Evren grasped my forearm in his hand and stopped me from pushing forward. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I need to get back to the palace.” I tried to pull away from him, but he stopped me with his firm grip.

“What happened? Did someone say something?”

“The queen is probably watching us,” I whispered my fear, and I watched as his face morphed into anger.

“Jorah warned you of the queen.” He said it so simply, as if it was something everyone had been thinking but no one thought to share with me. “Adara.” He shook his head before pushing forward, my arm still in his hand, as he made his way to the castle.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Your name?” He laughed as if I was joking. “What would you prefer I call you if I can’t call you by your given name or princess?”

“Starblessed,” I answered him quickly just as we arrived at the gate.

His jaw clenched and his hand hardened against my arm. He didn’t stop as the gate opened. He simply pulled me through and marched forward up the steps of the palace. I saw no one as we entered the palace and Evren pulled me toward my room.

We made it to my door quickly, and he jerked the door open before pushing me inside and following behind me.

“You can’t be in here.” I pulled away from his touch and put as much space between he and I as possible.

“I am a prince of Citlali, Starblessed.” He spat my name. “I will do as I please.”

I wrapped my arms around my chest and looked to the window. The setting sun was leaving room for nothing but darkness, and it was falling over the sky like a curse.

“Please leave.”

“I am not leaving you alone while you are panicking over whatever Jorah said to you. He is my best friend in this world, but he’s also an idiot. He scared you when he shouldn’t have.”

“No.” I shook my head. “He was right. I have spent my entire life preparing for my betrothal to the crowned prince, and I am a fool to allow the queen to think I am loyal to anything but that.”

A dark smile graced his lips as he shook his head. “You are loyal to my brother?”

“I am.” I lifted my trembling chin as I answered him.

“He is what you want?” He moved closer to me as his dark eyes pierced through me.

“He is my destiny,” I corrected him and took a step back as he moved forward.

“A destiny that makes you wish you were anywhere else.” He chuckled softly just as he moved in front of me. “Tell me, Starblessed. Is it your want for me that makes your breath catch in your throat when I am near or your boredom? If you simply need a man to cure your temptation, then please allow me the pleasure.”

“You can’t say things like that to me.”

His smile deepened as he watched me, and I knew that he wasn’t going to leave unless I made him.

“Your brother can satisfy my temptation just fine.”

His smile dropped as he stepped closer to me still. “I think we both know that is a lie. Unless you close your eyes and imagine that his fingers are mine, I think the only thing my brother will leave you is wanting.”

“The queen is watching me,” I whispered, and Evren simply lifted his stained fingers and ran one over the other before my room was clouded in darkness. Every lamp and the glow of the fire had completely disappeared, and I grasped the post of my bed as I tried to see in front of me.

“What did you do?” My voice trembled with fear and anticipation.

“The queen can only see what I allow her, princess. I may be the bastard prince, but I still have power.”

I could hear him talking, but I couldn’t see him. I lifted my hand in front of me, and I couldn’t make out the simple shape of my fingers.

“What happens in my darkness only comes to light if I choose.”

His fingers grazed my elbow, and I jumped at his touch. “Evren,” I whispered his name and reached out for him, but my hands couldn’t find him.

“I’m right here.” He spoke softly at my side. His breath rushing out against my neck.

“I can’t see you.”

“You don’t need to see me to feel me.” His lips pressed against my bare shoulder, and my heart shuddered as I still tried to look around me.

His fingers grazed over my neck gently before he ever so slowly ran his fingertips along the curve of my back. Everything inside me awoke at his touch. The mark along my spine felt like it was aflame.

“Fuck.” His one simple word made my stomach flip, and I wondered if his touch had felt as strongly to him as it did to me. “You’re so damn gorgeous.”

“You can’t even see me.” I reached behind me, and my hand met his hard thigh.

“Gods, but I can.” He pressed his torso against my back, closing the space between us completely, and I closed my eyes as I felt how harshly his breath fell from his lips. “Tell me what you want, princess.”

“I… I don’t…” I shook my head because I couldn’t make sense of what I wanted in my own head. There was no way for me to proclaim something I didn’t understand.

His hand moved around my body and pressed against my lower stomach. The move forced my body harder against him, and I could feel how much he desired me. He didn’t require words to make me feel his need.

“I could simply show you what you want.” His fingers lowered minutely, and even through the layers of my dress, I felt completely exposed to him. “I can smell how badly you need me. I bet you’re soaked between your perfect thighs.”

I swallowed hard as I tried to catch my breath. No one had ever spoken to me this way before. I should have been embarrassed by his words, but they simply made me want him more. Because he was right.

His hand moved down the front of me and down my thigh until he gathered my dress into his hand. His fingertips met the bare skin of my leg, and a whimper I couldn’t control passed through my lips.

“Gods, you’re perfect.” His other hand snaked around my chest, and he pressed his hand against my neck before his thumb forced my chin to turn in his direction. His breath passed over my lips, and I felt desperate for him to close the distance between us. “Take it,” he growled, and his hands tightened against my throat and my thigh. “If you want me, take it, princess.”

This was my chance. He was giving me this moment to walk away. If I didn’t want this to go any further, I simply needed to stop. But I knew I wasn’t capable of doing so. Not when he was so close and the smell of him surrounded me.

I pushed forward, closing the space between us, and he moaned at the first meeting of my lips to his. I was hesitant and unsure, but once Evren got the first taste of me, he left no room for my uncertainty. His hand pressed hard against my throat as his mouth opened and begged entrance into my own.

I didn’t have the power to stop him even if I wanted to. I opened for him, and he kissed me like he hungered for nothing else in the world. He kissed me as if every bit of the power that was prophesied to flow through my body fueled him with every swipe of his tongue.

And it felt that way to me too. My marks buzzed along my skin, craving his touch with as much ache as the spot between my thighs, and that ache was unbearable.

“Please, Evren,” I begged against his lips, but I had no idea what I was asking him for. I just simply needed him to do something, anything, that would satisfy the need that was eating at me.

His fingers spasmed against my thigh, and he rose them higher and higher as my breath rushed out of me and into him.

“Tell me that you’re mine, princess. Even if it isn’t true, I need to hear you say it.”

My stomach fluttered, and I knew this was dangerous. The way I craved Evren wasn’t simply going to go away after he touched me. I feared that it would only make everything worse. But still I did as he asked. “I’m yours.”

His fingers slid over my undergarment, a whisper of a touch, but it was enough to make my knees feel like they may buckle beneath me. He ran his fingers up and down, barely grazing over the fabric, and I lifted my hand behind me and buried it in his hair to keep him against me.

His mouth pressed against my shoulder, just at the base of my neck, and his fingers toyed with the top of my undergarment. “Gods, I’m dying to taste you.” His teeth grazed over my skin just as his fingers sank beneath the fabric.

His teeth felt sharp and lethal, like the vampyre I knew him to be, but I was far too lost in my lust to have any room for fear. I held my breath as his fingers slid against my wetness, and a shock wave of pleasure shot through me as he pressed harder against my flesh.

“Oh gods.” I tightened my hand in his hair, and Evren only took the sound for encouragement.

His fingers moved faster against me as his mouth continued to lick, suck, and graze over my skin. He pushed two fingers inside me, and I whimpered as his palm continued to work against the spot that was begging for him.

My legs trembled beneath me, but Evren’s hold on my neck refused to let me fall. There was a deep ache building and building in my lower stomach, and I felt like I was about to lose myself in him. My hand tightened against him, and I clamped my thighs down around his hand.

“Let go, princess,” he growled against me before his fingers curled inside me and his teeth scraped over my spine.

I had no choice after that, no control left in my body. I was thrown over the edge, pleasure unlike anything I had ever known surging through me, and Evren held me against him as I fell apart.

It took me long moments to catch my breath and for the reality of what we had just done to truly hit me. Evren slid his hand away from my body before he pressed a gentle kiss against my spine, and I tensed beneath his touch.

He felt it, of course he had, and as if it were possible, the room seemed to darken even more.

“Adara,” he called my name, but I stepped out of his touch before I could let myself get lost in him again.

He chuckled soft yet deafening, and I blinked when the shroud of darkness lifted and my room appeared as if the light had been there all along.

I looked to the door, and I knew that my next words were the wrong thing to say the moment they passed through my lips. “You should leave.”

“Of course, Starblessed.” Evren bowed deeply before standing back to his full height and sinking two of his dark fingers into his mouth. Two fingers that had just been buried inside of me. I watched as his tongue lapped at the evidence of me on his skin, and I couldn’t look away from his canine teeth that gleamed on either side of his fingers.

“Your dark magic has a cost.” I nodded toward his hands that were far darker than they had been earlier just as he let his fingers slip from his mouth.

“That it does.” He nodded before slipping his hands into his pockets. “As it appears, so does your loyalty.”

“Evren, please.” I shook my head, but I didn’t truly know what to say. I felt so confused, so lost in between what I wanted and what was demanded of me.

“No need to beg now, princess.” He grinned, and I could see the darkness hiding behind his smile. “You’ve already got what you needed from me.”

“You know that this is dangerous,” I whispered, but he was already passing me by and heading toward the door.

“Don’t worry, Starblessed. My magic-stained fingers didn’t leave a single trace between your thighs. My brother will never know that you just came so hard for me while not even thinking once about him.”

“Is this a game to you?”

My question caused him to stop with his hand already resting on my door handle. He didn’t turn back to face me, and I hated that he didn’t. He spoke as if what had just happened didn’t matter at all. “Of course it’s a fucking game. Now maybe you should think twice before you tell the queen how pure you are for my brother.”

He opened the door and disappeared before I had a chance to answer. Before I even had a chance to catch my breath from the impact of his words.