The air left me almost painfully, and I found myself gripping the edge of the door, the only thing keeping me standing at the moment.
“You shouldn’t be here.” The grating, deep voice behind me had my entire body tensing and caused me to spin around sharply, nearly losing my footing, the door shutting behind me.
I first saw his huge dark boots, then lifted my eyes up his leather-clad legs. I tipped my head back to see he was also shirtless, sweat and scars littering his defined, massive chest, marks that crisscrossed his flesh that told of the violence he’d endured in his life. I continued to lift my head up and up… and up even more to look at the behemoth of a man standing before me.
But it was his face that had the air leaving me harshly. I recognized him, the massive scar going down across his face telling me he was the same guard who’d been at my home to take me to the castle.
He wore a harsh scowl as he looked down at me, then crossed his bulging arms across his chest, his muscles flexing underneath. This man was just as strong and powerful as Fen, but unlike my husband, this man seemed cold. Compared to this man, Fen’s harshness didn’t seem as severe. This man, clearly one of his ruthless guards, looked like he didn’t even have a heart.
Darkness surrounded him as if a shield, an extra layer of protection. Or a warning.
“I was just exploring the castle.” I took a step back instinctively, and his scowl deepened, his mouth thinning into a straight line.
“You fear me?” He scoffed like I annoyed him. “As if I would ever harm a female, especially one as tiny as yourself, and my queen.”
I saw the way his jaw clenched again, and then he shook his head once before looking into the room with the training men.
“One such as yourself shouldn’t be in this corridor watching the king’s guard training.”
I nodded because I didn’t know what else to do.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, but it was barely a breath from my mouth.
The door opened behind me with a gentle whoosh of cold air behind me. “Marric!” I heard Fen bark out the guard’s name.
For a second Marric just stared at me, and then he made a harsh sound deep in his throat and glanced at Fen. “The queen should not be in this part of the castle,” he said matter-of-factly.
Fen stepped out of the room, his body glistening with sweat, his chest bare just like all the other males’ in the room. It seemed grossly out of place that my body decided to heat with arousal as I remembered watching him spar.
But I found myself moving a step closer to Fen, feeling unsure about Marric, knowing Fen would protect me at all costs.
“Let me worry about my queen and wife, what she does, and where she goes,” he growled and took a step forward, placing his massive body in front of mine in a protective manner. Marric didn’t respond, just scowled harder. “Finish training with the others.” There was no room for question in Fen’s order.
Marric didn’t hesitate as he headed back into the room, the door swinging, slamming shut behind him.
And then it was just Fen and me in the corridor alone.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to go where I wasn’t allowed.”
Fen shook his head slowly and turned around, facing me, and taking a step toward me. I could smell the clean, spicy scent of his sweat. I didn’t know why that turned me on even more, but it did. “You never apologize, not to me, and certainly not for where you go in your own home.”
Home.
It still sounded so weird to me to realize that the castle in Kaldir was my home.
He reached out, and I felt the warmth of his finger slide along my cheek as he brushed away a strand of hair that tickled the side of my face.
My breath caught at the electricity, and I felt a spear of something powerful light up my entire body at that simple touch. I could see his jaw clenched tightly, his muscles flexing.
Did it affect him as much as it did me? It sure seemed like it.
“I will be training until we enjoy our meal together. You’re welcome to watch, although it does get bloody and is quite violent.”
I was shaking my head before he even finished. At this point I just wanted to go find the garden that I’d heard about. Watching men beat each other until they were bloodied didn’t sound very appealing.
“I think I’m going to find the garden until then.” I gave him a small smile, and when he gave me one in return, I once again marveled at how it transformed the harshness of his face.