Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
She shook her head and pushed off the bed, then situated the robes around her shoulders. Kael hummed at the sight and the sound connected with every nerve in her body. “I guess—” she inhaled a bolstering breath “—well, I’m…not asking anything.”
“I do not understand.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Please, dearheart, do not torment me.”
Shayla smiled and held up her hand. “Is this just…chemistry? Biology?”
Kael frowned down at the pattern on his palm, then looked back to her eyes. He studied her for a long moment, then sank down to one knee and grasped her marked hand in his.
“Our mating is chemistry and biology. My body, my blood, needs you on a fundamental level. You. Your body brings me peace, comfort. Your blood restores my immortality and humanity. But I wanted you before this, Shayla. I brought you back because I knew, even then.” He held their joined hands to his heart. “You are more beautiful than my eyes can take in. Your eyes enchant me and hold me to you. You are brave and fierce and strong and bright and these are just the things I’ve learned in the few hours we’ve been able to share. I want to know more.”
Shayla bit down on her lip, trying to restrain the tears and joyous sob that threatened. Kael reached up and pulled her lip from her teeth with his thumb. He arched an eyebrow and she couldn’t hold in the laugh-cry that escaped.
“Be mine, love. Please.”
Love. Her heart exploded in her chest. “Yours? Forever?”
His smile was beatific. “If we’re lucky.”
She closed her eyes against his magnificent image and breathed deeply. Life flowed through her, and she knew at once it had led her to this moment, this man, this love.
“Yes, Kael. My answer is yes.”
Chapter 9
Kael paced his sleeping chamber, his bare feet sinking into the plush emerald carpet…
He smiled.
That was where the differences with the previous night ended. He could hardly believe only twenty-four hours had passed since he’d walked the length of this room cursing the Night of the Proffering.
Tonight, it was nerves that had him wearing a path into the thick pile. He and Shayla would be mated this night, in a little less than an hour. Anticipation threatened to explode him apart.
“Just an observation, my lord, but you have a big night ahead of you. Keep pacing like that and you’re likely to wear yourself out.”
Kael halted and whirled on Liam, arms crossed and leaning against the wall by the door. The warrior’s smirk was good-natured, and Kael chuckled and shook his head. He’d nearly forgotten Liam’s presence in wondering what Shayla would look like. But as his second in command, he’d helped the king ready his clothing and adorn his body for the ritual. His garments all shared the deep crimson and gold of his clan crest, though the red was more significant for its reference to the blood that would bind him and Shayla together. The leather hugged his thighs, tormenting his already sensitive body. He couldn’t don the cloak, though, until the blood marking his skin fully dried.
In front of a mirror, Kael carefully fingered the red smears coloring the knot over his heart. He twisted his torso to see the marks on his arm and back, too.
Liam appeared in the mirror behind him. “Dry?”
Kael nodded, simply mesmerized by a sight he thought he’d never see again—the ancient symbols for fidelity, fertility, protection and eternity painted over his skin in his own royal blood.
They would serve as Shayla’s first tastes of him and fuel the blood hunger her mating mark would already have unleashed within her. A growl rumbled low in his chest at the thought.
Liam laid a hand on his shoulder, careful to avoid any of the marks, and squeezed. “I believe it is time, my brother. You don’t want to be late to your own mating.”
Kael nodded, emotion tightening his throat. He turned and faced Liam, whose eyes were alive with happiness and pride. “Thank you, old friend.”
“You deserve this, Kael. It has been far too long since I’ve last felt joy flowing through your blood. I am honored to stand up for you this night.”
Unable to respond, Kael clasped his grip around Liam’s forearm, who returned the ancient warrior handshake. “You are a good man, Liam.”
“Come. Let me help you with the cloak.” He released Kael’s arm and gestured to the bed.
Kael turned away and awaited the heavy fabric to fall upon his shoulders. Warmth surrounded him. He slipped his arms into the long, loose sleeves. The fine velvet was soft and thick, of the same deep crimson as his pants. Using the mirror again, Kael fastened the three ornate gold clips that held the cloak together over his chest.
Liam crossed the room to Kael’s dressing table, and eased open the lid on an antique carved wooden box sitting there. Liam lifted the crown, encrusted with the same jewels Kael wore in his hair, and returned to stand before him.