by Grey, T. A.
He moved towards her and didn’t stop. Abby’s mouth dried up at the sight of all that skin. A slow, heavy thump started in heart. Each step he took her heart banged. An awareness came over her.
His chest was just as delicious as the backside, maybe more so. Smooth and hard. Would he be as soft to touch as he looked? His chest had two defined pectorals that trailed down to rows of ribbed, packed muscles that disappeared beneath his pants. For the second time, something wild, strange, and raw crackled between them. A dark colored tattoo covered his right side, but the paint was so dark against his skin she couldn’t tell what it was.
Her gaze flew back to his and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t have moved if she tried. A dark heat glinted in his eyes. She had to see what he was going to do, and even though she hoped he wouldn’t, a part of her wished like hell that he’d touch her. She had to know what he’d do because what she felt she saw mirrored in his dark eyes.
He stopped before her, his heat warming her from the chill. They were so close to touching and yet so far. He seemed completely unfazed by the chill in the air. His hands came up and cupped her cheeks. A stuttering breath escaped her. Warmth permeated off his body. He had such strong hands, the kind meant to cup and cradle a woman. Something about the mixture of heat and hands brought a shiver between her legs. The look in his eyes spoke of only one thing—hunger. Her body answered the hunger with a growing need of her own centered deep within her body. Her skin tightened, entire body poised waiting for him to kiss her.
Only, he turned her head left then right, his eyes not low-lidded as she expected hers were, but hard and searching now. Something had changed in a flash. After that, he picked up each of her arms and checked them too. When he reached for her shirt, she was so surprised by the action she didn’t get to protest before he jerked it up.
She jerked to pull away and that only made her sides flare sharply. Instant blazing pain seared up her side and along her back as her muscles pulled. She winced and caught his hands to halt them.
A finger traced along her side softly. Still, it wasn’t soft enough and she hissed before latching onto his wrist. His eyes flicked up to hers. She swore she spotted a hint of lingering heat there, or maybe it what she wished she saw.
“You’ve sustained some serious bruising.”
Abby looked down and gasped. Serious bruising was no joke. Her entire left side was black and a dark ugly blue. She twisted around and saw the bruising covered a decent portion of her back too.
“How did I get this?”
“From the storm. The waves swept you up into the rocks near the cove. It wasn’t gentle.”
“I don’t really remember that to be honest.”
Alrik nodded, the action sending locks of dark hair over his shoulder. “Not surprising, you hit it so hard you went out like a light. I brought us here.”
Abby swung her head around. This didn’t look like the little beach coast with forest directly behind it like she’d grown accustomed to. “Where are we?”
He looked out behind him, a hard look on his face. “South.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The way he said it put her on edge. “Is that all? I get the feeling there’s more to it than that.” Which probably didn’t bode well for her. Nothing seemed to lately.
“I haven’t traveled this way in many years. Used to be that a band of rogues formed a settlement south of here.”
“Rogue demons. Is that what you are?”
His body stiffened, muscles hardening as he turned back to level a lethal glare on her. She might have been nervous at the deadly look but it lost some of its power considering he’d never hurt her. He needed her too badly.
“I was banished, but I’m still a king. Not a rogue.”
“What makes the rogues so different?” She didn’t mention it but his hand still lingered on her bruised skin, the touch light. She liked him standing this close. He blocked out the cold wind, and, honestly, he made her warm all over.
“They didn’t enjoy life at court so they left. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Okay.” Something about the warmth of his body, his soft touch on her skin had her eyes drifting back down to his mouth.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that, Abbigail.” An ache traced in his voice.
“Like what?” she asked, her voice breathy. Her whole body started a slow burn deep and low inside her working its way out. How did he make her feel so much with the barest of touches? His head dipped in low. Her eyes darted to his firm, shapely lips and wondered what they’d feel like against hers, what he would kiss like. Wild, hard, and a bit crazy like him?
“Like you want something I can’t give you.”
“Why not?” She blushed at her knee-jerk response but held firm to it. She wanted to know, needed to know. This was more than curiosity. Something else had taken hold of her and guided her words and actions now from some need that he’d brought forth.
He leaned in closer. His hand flattened against her cool skin in a possessive caress that sent her gaze low and hooded. His lips closed in, then stopped a scant inch away. Heat bloomed in her chest and between her legs. She panted against his lips. It took every bit of strength inside her not to reach up and curl her fingers around his shoulders
When he spoke she felt his warm breath on her lips. “Because the last woman I kissed ended up dead.”
Abby jerked away from his touch. Her shirt fell back into place. “What?” Just like that the heat was doused into nothing.
He stepped away and shrugged, a strange glint shining in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’s none of your business.”
Her heart beat wildly. “Oh, I think this is all my business. I’m here with you all alone in this god-forsaken place and you’re so closed mouth about everything I just want to rip my hair out. You can’t leave me hanging with that. How did she die? What happened?”
Who was she? She didn’t voice that question. It seemed too personal and a spark of anger flashed inside her at the thought of this woman. Jealousy? No, no way.
She saw him transform between her very eyes. He stood tall once again, unbreakable and strong. His gaze sheltered his thoughts; his face had shifted into a blank, unreadable mask. “I left some food in your shelter. Eat it then we’ll get to work.”
Abby paced an agitated circle. “You seriously can’t think to keep me out of the loop on this. What’s with you and talking about death and murder like it’s second nature to you?”
“Because it is.”
Abby stopped dead. Something in his voice, in the harsh look of his eyes made her feel something she never would have thought she would for Alrik. She pitied him. He looked tortured, if only for a second before the look faded away to resolute anger. A strange realization came over her. He didn’t like who he was. He didn’t like this person the curse had created. This was a person who’d relish a bloody fight or seek out anger instead of compromise. He hated himself.
“Alrik...”
“Eat, witch.” He strode away and slipped his shirt back on. He didn’t stop walking.
“So we’re back to that now are we,” Abby muttered.
One step forward, three steps back. Whatever, she could use some time to collect her thoughts. One second she’s devouring him with her eyes, the next she’s practically begging him to kiss her, and then he’s giving her ominous warnings.
Abby found some cooked meat sitting on a big plant leaf in the stone house. She ate it with relish and by the time she came back out Alrik had returned looking tightly in control of himself. She sighed and scrubbed her hands down her jeans.
“What’s on the agenda for today?”
“We’ll work the same spell again and this time practice on just me. After you get me to move, we’re heading south.”
Her eyebrow rose. “South where the dangerous rogues are? Why are we going there?”
“I need supplies. I might be able to get some there.” He walked some twenty paces
away from her then stopped and faced her. “My mother will also be south.”
Abby wracked her mind for times and dates. Her mother must have heard about what had happened to her by now and would be worried sick. She’d been gone, what, three days now? God, she wasn’t even sure.
“Just how long will it take to reach your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
Abby rolled her eyes, her patience waning. “Well, try to guess, please.”
He was silent for several moments, his gaze calculating. “It may take three weeks, maybe longer.”
She choked. “Three weeks or more. I can’t be gone that long!”
His dark eyes narrowed. “If your magic was at the level it needs to be at then we could head there now. As it stands, you are not nearly strong enough to fight my mother. She’ll kill you in an instant.”
“Isn’t that nice...”
“Do not take this lightly, Abbigail. The queen has strong magical blood in her veins. She’s spent years using it, harnessing it behind closed doors. I can only guess at how powerful she’s really become.”
“I wasn’t being...oh, whatever. Let’s just do this.”
Alrik nodded and crossed his strong arms across his chest. What a shame he’d put his shirt back on, but it was for the best. She couldn’t do with getting distracted by a pretty body.
Abby called upon her magic. It filled her body making her skin warm and her eyes burn with glowing light. She focused with her mind on Alrik. She envisioned throwing him far back. But she didn’t let her magic couple with the vision. She worked up to that. This was practice to get her focused.
“Do it already!” he bit out.
Abby clenched her jaw then raised her hands to him letting the magic fly from her fingertips. Burning energy soared from her like not needed lightning escaping from her fingertips, blasting against Alrik knocking him clear off his feet and sending him flying back through the air.
An ecstatic squeal escaped her as he landed hard on the ground. He was slow to stand, so she took that time jumping up and down and doing a fist pump.
“I did it! Ha! Take that, Alrik. I wiped you clean off your butt.”
He wiped dirt off his pants then came back to the spot he’d marked before. “Do it again.”
Her jaw dropped. “No way. There’s no way I’ll be able to do that again.” She could already feel her body tiring just from that one exertion.
“Do. It. Again.”
She started to yell or say something biting but clamped her mouth shut. Bitterness filled her. “Can’t I even get a ‘congratulations’ or a ‘good job’?”
He crossed his arms across his chest in response.
Of course not. God she hated him.
Abby went through the whole process again. This time she was determined to send the jerk even farther.
Yet, she couldn’t do it.
She kept trying as hours passed. Sweat formed and fell down her cheeks, the warm beads reminding her how cold her skin was. Light faded from the sky turning it dark and hazy. Alrik still stood there without saying more than “do it again.”
After God-knows-how-long, she dropped her arms and sank to the ground. Her entire body hurt including her head which sported a massive, pulsating headache at her temples.
“That’s it I can’t take it anymore.” Hours of work led to nothing. She’d moved him right off the bat and that was it. No more progress, and if that was progress she couldn’t tell.
She saw the disappointment and anger on his face that she was quitting but it didn’t faze her one bit. She was done for the night, totally. If she continued with how she felt now she might accidently curse him.
“Fine, I hope you’re ready for a cold night of sleep.”
She groaned at the thought. Her breaths didn’t form clouds but it was close. She shivered and walked gingerly with her aches back into the stone house. The floor was too cold to sleep on so she huddled back against the wall—not much better. Before she realized it, exhaustion took her and she fell into a fitful sleep.
She never saw or felt Alrik come into the room and pull her close, wrapping her in his heat. And she never saw him put her back where she’d been come morning.
Chapter Nine
Alrik woke at first break of light.
Something soft, warm, and feminine was curled in his arms. He stiffened; he’d almost forgotten. He’d been so angry with her for giving up on him last night after making so much progress that he’d wanted her to suffer the cold.
Yeah, well, he hadn’t managed to keep that goal. When he came in to sleep she’d been tossing and turning, her brow pinched, and arms wrapped tightly around her. Something had softened in him. He told himself he was just protecting her for his own purposes, that if she stayed cold remove she may not stay in peak health like he needed her to be, but even he wasn’t sure if he believed that.
She was steadily breaking down something inside of him. First, by flashing her bare skin at him at the lake. Then taunting him yesterday with her heated eyes and pouty lips. It had nearly undone him not to kiss her, and she’d wanted him to do it. To have a woman look at him with desire…no one had done so since Arianna. He’d brought forth passion in Arianna with his touches but Abbigail had looked at him with passion without his touch. She did it of her own free will and that had thrown him. He’d wanted to give in to her so he could show her what she was asking for, and mostly so he could taste her and feel that passion for himself.
He didn’t know how much more he could take before he caved. Already he felt his resistance waning. Every moment around her, he had to remind himself that he needed her for a purpose that could lead to her death. It wouldn’t do giving in to the carnal heat she awakened inside him. This task was proving harder to deny than he could ever have imagined.
She rested in his arms so perfectly. Her backside pressed into the curve of his body with his arm tucked around her slender waist. She’d snuggled against him in the night. Her delicately scented hair taunted him and he couldn’t escape it. He’d had no choice but to bury his head there and breathe in her unique scent all night long. She smelled feminine and gentle, as a woman should. The scent stirred his cock.
After he took her in his arms, she’d stilled for a moment before falling into a deep sleep while he’d slept on and off all night. She fit him well. Small and delicate, curvy and soft where he wasn’t. It didn’t help that the image of her naked body haunted him. Hardly a moment passed that he didn’t remember her heart-shaped bottom, firm thighs, and rounded hips.
Morning light spilled over her now casting her hair into something much prettier than he’d originally thought. Shafts of gold and copper colored her hair. He shouldn’t have slept with her. What if she had woken during the night to see that he’d taken her into his arms?
Her bottom moved against him again making his body stir and his blood heat. His cock filled with blood, turning hard and demanding against her. He stifled a groan at the erotic sensation. He’d lingered too long already.
Moving slowly, he placed her back against the wall where she’d fallen asleep. He cast one last look at her, then shook his head and left her to find more food.
He hunted for nearly an hour and slew two futhorcs. Good, they’d need the meat to give them enough energy for the traveling they’d be doing today. He couldn’t be sure how far south they needed to go, but he recognized the rolling hills in the distance. They were on the right path.
By the time he came back, she was up and moving about. Her eyes were bright and the circles under her eyes gone. She hadn’t slept well since he’d taken her. After just one night of good sleep, she looked refreshed and, his chest tightened painfully, more beautiful. She looked over at him as he approached and a small smile teased her lips.
“About time you woke up,” he scowled.
The light in her eyes dimmed instantly. He wished he could take back his words, but this was for the best. He didn’t need to make his job of sacrificing her any harder.
Distance would be good.
“If it’s a problem then you could always wake me up early.”
He ignored her valid point, lit the fire, and started skinning the small animals. From the corner of his eye, he watched her mouth flatten and anger flash in her eyes. She didn’t argue, for which he thanked the lucky stars. Her anger only fueled him in a way he craved entirely too much.
She took a seat across from him. “Well is there anything I can do?”
He eyed her pensively. Warily he grabbed a small knife from his ankle holster and tossed it into the dirt next to her. Her legs jumped to the side and she gave him a wide-eyed look.
“Make some skewers.” She picked up the knife and handled it in a tight, awkward grip and not like a warrior would. Still he had to make his point clear. “Make any move at me with that and you’ll regret it.”
Her jaw clenched, but then she gave a mock bow. “Yes, my Lord.”
His mouth quirked with a smile and he saw surprise light her features. Quickly, he killed it. He had to remember his purpose. He couldn’t let her get under his skin. He needed her for one purpose only.
After she finished making skewers from thin sticks, they ate and he packed up the rest of their belongings. They didn’t have much and he needed some blankets for them and maybe some soap for her. He stilled in mid-motion of putting his swords back on the holster on his back. Was he making plans for her to be more comfortable? He jerked his mind off the thought. He wasn’t going there because that’s not what this was about. They’d both enjoy the added comforts.
They headed south by mid-morning and it didn’t take long for her to grow restless. He saw it first in the way she sighed, then when she started to open her mouth to speak but stopped herself. He didn’t encourage her even though a part of him was curious. Just what had her fumbling so?
They stopped around mid-day to eat more and rest. He found himself wishing she would speak. It was while he surveyed the hill that sloped down gently before them that she finally let it out.