Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Nyktos’s eyes brightened. “And who determines how you’re needed?”
“I do,” I said, starting to pant while Nyktos showed absolutely no signs of tiring. “As do you.”
Nyktos halted.
I struck. My blade cut through the air, nicking Nyktos’s arm. I spun, kicking out and aiming for his chest.
He caught my ankle and held on. The halves of the skirt parted. My skin, from my mid-thigh to where his hand circled my ankle, was exposed to the heated caress of his gaze. His callused palm was rough against my bare flesh, sending my blood pulsing through me in a dizzying rush.
“You’re staring at my unmentionables again,” I said breathlessly, and it had nothing to do with the fighting.
His stare flicked to mine. “I know.”
“Pervert.”
Nyktos smiled, then dropped my ankle and slammed his sword, tip down, into the ground. I turned, but he caught my arm, spinning me. I moved to twist out of his hold, but he was faster, hauling my back to his chest. His head dipped as he ran his hand down my arm. The heat of his body against my back, and his breath against the slope of my neck sent a sharp bolt of awareness through me. “You do realize I now need to tear my guards’ eyes out?”
“Why?”
“Because they too have glimpsed your unmentionables.”
“Worth it,” someone called out.
Nyktos growled, and I felt the rumble of warning all along my rear and back, where I…I felt the hard length of him. An aching heaviness settled in my breasts and lower as my chest rose and fell rapidly.
“That’s unnecessary,” I said, each too-quick breath full of his fresh scent.
“Is it?” His fingers pressed into the tendons with just enough pressure that my hand opened. There was no fighting it. The short sword slipped from my grip and hit the ground.
“It also makes you seem quite…possessive.” I turned my head to the side, my stomach clenching as his lips grazed my cheek. I dropped my voice to a whisper as I lowered my right hand to my thigh. “Of what you refuse to claim.”
Nyktos stiffened behind me.
Jerking to the side, I shoved my elbow into his stomach hard enough to catch him off guard. He let go, reaching for the sword he’d put in the ground as I whirled, but I didn’t go for it.
I didn’t need to.
Nyktos froze as silence fell over the courtyard. His gaze dropped to the shadowstone dagger I held at his throat and then flicked to mine.
I smiled at him.
“Bravo,” he murmured.
A round of applause and hoots broke out across the courtyard, and my smile grew wide. “Who will train with me?”
“I’m sure there is now an exceedingly long list of volunteers,” Ector commented, his words met by several raucous affirmatives.
“I will,” Nyktos said, his voice stirring thoughts of tangled limbs and balmy nights. “You going to lower that blade now?”
Laughing under my breath, I withdrew the dagger and sheathed it. “Better?”
“Not sure.” He straightened, his eyes never leaving mine.
Warmth crept up my neck as I clasped my hands once more, fully aware of the avid stares. Clearing my throat, I pulled my gaze from his and looked at Saion. “I think I will return to my chamber now.”
Saion stared and then tipped his head back, laughing deeply. “Fates,” he murmured, sliding off the boulder.
“Until later,” I said to Nyktos.
Nyktos watched me with intense silence as I picked up Saion’s discarded sword and handed it, hilt first, to the god. I took a couple of steps toward the doors and then stopped, turning back to Nyktos and his guards and giving them the most elaborate curtsy I was capable of.
There were chuckles, even from the reluctantly amused Rhain, but it was Nyktos’s deep, rough laughter that stayed with me.
Chapter 18
A knock came about an hour after I returned to my chambers. Unsure who it could be, I cracked open the door first and then swung it wider when I saw the young mortal.
I stepped aside, allowing him entry. “Hello, Paxton.”
He made his way into the chamber, favoring his right leg over his left. A curtain of blond hair fell forward as he bowed. “His Highness asked that I see if you were in need of fresh water for a bath.”
“I have the water that was brought in this morning,” I told him.
He investigated the bathing chamber, immediately spotting the full, unused tub. “The water has to be freezing by now.”
Probably, but it wasn’t like I planned to soak in it. “It’ll be fine.”
“It’s no trouble.” He’d already turned, making his way into the hall.
He was faster than I expected him to be. I hurried after him. “It really isn’t—”
“I’ll get His Highness.” Paxton headed straight for the door next to mine. “He’ll fix it right up for you.”
“You really don’t have to do that—”
“It’s no problem.”
“I understand, but—”