Total pages in book: 200
Estimated words: 189930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 950(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 189930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 950(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
“Isn’t that what you did to me, Princess?” His thumb made another slow sweep along the inside of my wrist.
“You’re ridiculous,” I sputtered.
“What I am is intrigued.”
Groaning, I pulled at my arms, and he chuckled in response, eyes reminding me of pools of warm honey. “Why do you insist on holding me like this?”
“Well, besides what we went over already, which is the whole being partial to my face and my neck thing, you’re also somewhere you’re not supposed to be. I’m doing my job by detaining and questioning you.”
“Do you typically question those on the Rise who you don’t recognize like this?” I challenged. “What an odd method of interrogation.”
“Only pretty ladies with shapely, bare legs.” He leaned in, and when I took my next breath, my chest met his. “What are you doing up here during a Craven attack?”
“Enjoying a relaxing evening stroll,” I snapped.
His lips curled up on one side, but there was no dimple. “What were you doing up here, Princess?” he repeated.
“What did it look like I was doing?”
“It looked like you were being incredibly foolish and reckless.”
“Excuse me?” Disbelief thundered through me. “How reckless was I being when I killed Craven and—”
“Am I unaware of a new recruitment policy were half-dressed ladies in cloaks are now needed on the Rise?” he asked. “Are we that desperately in need of protection?”
Anger hit my blood like wildfire. “Desperate? Why would my presence on the Rise signal desperation when, as you’ve seen, I know how to use a bow? Oh, wait. Is it because I happen to have breasts?”
“I’ve known women with far less beautiful breasts that could cut a man down without so much as blinking an eye,” he said. “But none of those women are here in Masadonia.”
I would’ve liked to know where this group of rather amazing-sounding women lived—wait. Far less beautiful breasts?
“And you are incredibly skilled,” he continued, snapping my attention back to him. “Not just with an arrow. Who taught you how to fight and use a dagger?”
Clamping my mouth shut, I refused to answer.
“I’m willing to bet it was the same person who gave you that blade.” He paused. “Too bad whoever they are didn’t teach you how to evade capture. Well, too bad for you, that is.”
Anger flooded my system once more, overwhelming me. I thrust my knee up, aiming for a very sensitive part of him—the one that somehow made him more qualified than I was to fight.
Hawke sensed my move and shifted, blocking my knee with his thigh. “You’re so incredibly violent.” He paused. “I think I like it.”
“Let me go!” I seethed.
“And be kicked or stabbed?” He shoved his leg between mine, preventing any future kicks. “We’ve already covered that, Princess. More than once.”
I lifted my hips off the wall, attempting to throw him off, but all I accomplished was pressing a very sensitive part of my body against the hard length of his thigh. The friction created a sudden, jarring rush of heat that was so powerful, it was like being struck by lightning. Sucking in a startled breath, I stilled.
Hawke had done the same against me, his large body filling with tension. His chest rose and fell against mine. What…what was happening? I felt hot despite how far up we were and that we stood in the cold night air. My skin seemed to buzz as if fine currents of energy were dancing along my flesh, and hard, pounding heat had replaced the aching coldness in my body.
Several too-long moments stretched out between us and then he said, “I came back for you that night.”
The noise from below was beginning to calm. At any moment, someone could come up here, but I was so incredibly reckless and foolish because I let my eyes drift shut as his words cycled through me.
He had come back.
“Just like I told you I would. I came back for you, and you weren’t there,” he continued. “You promised me, Princess.”
A smidgen of guilt formed within me, and I wasn’t sure if it was for lying to him, or the throwing the dagger at his face part. Probably both. “I…I couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t?” His voice had dropped again, becoming lower, thicker. “I have a feeling that if there’s something you want badly enough, nothing will stop you.”
A harsh, bitter-sounding laugh escaped me. “You know nothing.”
“Maybe.” He’d let go of my arm, and before I knew what he was up to, his hand had slipped inside my hood. His cold fingers touched the unmarred skin of my right cheek. I gasped at the contact and started to draw back, but there was nowhere to go. “Maybe I know more than you realize.”
A small measure of unease crawled across my skin.
Hawke bent his head, pressing his cheek to the left side of my hood. “Do you really think I have no idea who you are?”