Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
I didn’t realize until this moment how much I needed this. How much my heart ached for it. This warmth. This tentative sweep of lips. Every kiss I’ve had before this moment has ended in death. Every time I’ve pressed my lips to another’s, I’ve felt the life drain from them. Every kiss before this has been for the darkest, most broken parts of me, every kiss a reminder of how much of myself I lost during those weeks in captivity. But when Kendrick’s mouth latches on mine, there’s nothing but life. His tongue flicks over my bottom lip, and I open instinctively. He tastes like mulled cider and warmth. Like safety.
Like home.
I suck his bottom lip between my teeth because I want more of him. More of his taste. More of his warmth. He grunts against my mouth, and I fist my hand in his hair.
When he parts his lips over mine, I follow his lead, angling my head and touching my tongue to his.
I tilt my head, desperate for more of his kiss. Deeper.
His hands roam up my sides and back down, sweeping the underside of my breasts with his thumbs before he tears his mouth from mine and slowly pulls away.
It’s all I can do to keep myself from yanking him back. I never dreamed of his kiss when I was locked in that cell, but I did in the years after. And since seeing him again? It’s been hard not to imagine it every time I look at him.
His chest is heaving. His lips are swollen.
I wonder if that’s how I look. Mussed and unaware of the world around me. I want him pressed against me again, and this time I don’t want him to stop.
He traces my bottom lip with his thumb. “You are so beautiful,” he murmurs. “It’s no wonder that ring of yours doesn’t work on me. I’m already bewitched every time I look at you.” His nostrils flare, and he glances to the woods. “The others will be back soon. You should get ready for bed.”
“Okay.” I wrap my arms around myself and nod, not wanting to seem too pathetic or desperate by asking for him to kiss me again.
Just beyond the tree line, I spot two figures deeper in the woods—males from the look of their silhouettes. From the flickering lantern at their feet, I can make out one lounging against a tree and the other leaning over him, one hand braced against the bark while the other caresses his partner’s face.
If they saw me, I could slip my ring on and get away, but I keep my steps soft because I don’t want to interrupt the moment. Then my breath catches as the light reflects off a pair of glasses and I realize who I’m looking at.
It’s Natan and Remme.
My chest squeezes at the sight of such tender affection, but any momentary warmth that brings is chased away by the realization that I don’t really know these people. I’ve begun to trust them, to think they’re my friends, but these two are obviously in love and have been hiding it from me.
What else have they been hiding?
As soon as I doze off, I wake up again. Over and over again—a tug-of-war between my body and my mind.
I hear the low murmur of voices just beyond the fire and roll over to see Kendrick and Natan are still up, sitting fireside and talking.
“But you’re sure you went deep enough?” Kendrick asks, poking at the fire with a long stick.
Natan tilts his head back and stares up at the stars. “I’m sure.” He plunges his hands in his hair, elbows pointed to the sky. “I don’t understand. I could feel her power. It’s smoldering there, but it’s like a blank slate.”
“How can it be both?”
“I can’t answer that,” he growls. “That’s why I kept looking. Otherwise, I would’ve thought maybe she was right—that maybe she didn’t get her ancestors’ magic.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t help wondering if the blood magic’s to blame.”
“I wondered that too.” Kendrick mutters a low curse. “But no sign of power when she’s a child of Mab? I’ve never heard of blood magic allowing anyone to take so much.”
“I’ve never seen it used so extensively on one person either,” Natan says.
“True,” Kendrick says. “And then there’s the ring.”
“Do you believe her when she says it doesn’t work on you? It must, to some degree. You don’t remember anything after she put it on. We’re just taking her word for it that you don’t follow her orders like everyone else when she’s wearing it.”
“Why would she lie about that?”
Natan shakes his head. “I don’t think she would. I’m just pointing out that we don’t know for sure.” He chuckles under his breath. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“Remember the old legends of sirens?”