I must be watching some kind of meeting because there are a group of people standing in front of the throne, and Arix’s face is serious as he listens to them.
He glances up, and his eyes instantly find mine, the look in them predatory. The hair on the back of my neck rises, my instincts telling me I’m being hunted. Heads begin to turn, his subjects likely wondering what he’s looking at, and I back away, almost ramming into a guard who introduced himself earlier as Zion.
“How do I get back to my rooms?” I ask him, and he turns to lead me toward them.
“Wait.”
I freeze as Arix’s low voice caresses my ears. It feels as if he has a hand wrapped around my throat and he’s squeezing—not hard enough to kill, but enough to let me know in no uncertain terms that he’s in charge.
It pisses me off.
I school my face into boredom and turn, lifting one eyebrow.
He’s so beautiful that a bolt of resentment hits me in the chest. He seems to know it, because he gives me a savage smile.
“Leave,” he orders, and the guards file out of the room.
“That was rude. Why are you having me escorted from place to place like a prisoner anyway?”
“Partly for your own protection. Partly because my commander believes you and your cousin are a threat.”
I snort at that. What kind of threat could we possibly be to these huge men with their swords and their scowls?
“What did you do today?”
I shift on my feet. “You want to chat? Here?”
“No. I want to eat your cunt for my midday meal, but since that doesn’t seem to be on the table, I decided I would get to know you until you throw away whatever ridiculous excuses are preventing you from tumbling me.”
Heat spreads up my body, traveling from my toes to the top of my head. I have an instant vision of me sitting on his desk in front of him, my legs spread as he grins up at me, that exact hungry look in his eyes.
He smiles as if reading my mind. “What exactly are you thinking about now, lovely?” he asks as he prowls closer.
I clear my throat. “Nothing.” Truthfully, the more time I spend around this guy, and the more the air crackles between us, the more I wonder if I shouldn’t just live in the moment and take what he’s offering.
From the triumphant look on Arix’s face, he’s reading that thought too. Am I that transparent? I force my face to go blank, and this seems to amuse him even more.
“Why the hesitation, Vivian? Are you untried?”
I frown at that. Un— “No!” While I may not be all that experienced, my cherry has indeed been popped. There’s no inconvenient skin tag waiting to get in the way of Arix’s—
No, girl, don’t go there.
His smile widens. “Then what is the problem?”
What is the problem?
“I don’t want to get pregnant.”
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, and he frowns. This isn’t my only objection, of course, but now that I’ve said it, flying through space with a bun in my oven would definitely be a bummer.
“There are ways around that,” Arix murmurs, stepping even closer. I glance around us, but we’re still alone, and I’m suddenly pressed up against the cool black stone of the wall, the king leaning into my personal space like he owns it.
I clear my throat, hoping he can’t see exactly how much his nearness affects me. “What do you mean?”
“The petals of a specific flower will prevent any inconvenient problems.”
Inconvenient problems? Maybe for him. For me, it would be a life-changing catastrophe.
“I will keep you safe, lovely. You have only to trust me.”
I nibble on my lip, and his eyes drop. And then his mouth is on mine, his hand buried in my hair as he thrusts his tongue between my lips. I groan as he hardens against my stomach, and I suddenly need the thick length of him to be much, much lower.
The kiss is over in moments, and I stare at him, panting. He looks unaffected, his face blank, but his eyes are burning and the thick bulge in his pants shows just how affected he is.
I feel…powerful to be able to make this arrogant king want me so desperately.
“Just a preview,” he smiles, but his eyes are still hungry. “You’ll have to agree to my terms for what you really need.”
He swipes his tongue along his teeth and then turns, stalking away, and I watch him go. What exactly are his terms?
Chapter Four
Arix
I’m sneaking back from the dock, the hood of my cloak hiding my face when I smell it.
Smoke.
It gets thicker in the air the closer I am to the castle, and I break into a run.
There’s no logical reason for the heavy ball of dread in my stomach, but I know with absolute certainty that something is very wrong.
I jolt awake, cursing. The dreams have plagued me since I lost my parents, but the more attacks there are on my guards, the more frequent the dreams.
I’m running out of time.
I need something to distract me just enough that I can get through the nights but not enough to risk my goals.
Someone to distract me.
Enough is enough. I want the lovely human female, and she wants me. The only barrier is her stubbornness.
I get up, thanking the servant who arrives with the first meal of the day. He offers to help me dress, and I wave him away—the same dance we do each morning.
I’m sitting on my balcony, eating and contemplating my schedule for the day, when Korzyn arrives.
“I noticed you were nowhere to be found yesterday morning,” I remark, and he growls and mutters something under his breath as he takes the chair next to me.
