That wanton curl of pleasure coiled even deeper, tighter. If he was here, watching…
My breath caught. Eyes drifting halfway closed, I dragged my teeth over my lower lip as I moved my fingers at my breast and inside me. The answering swirl of pleasure was echoed in those shadows at the foot of the bed. My hips lifted, following the slow rhythm. Those shadows seemed to solidify. Thicken. Pulse. My blood did the same. The feeling of awareness increased. Tiny bumps spread across my exposed flesh.
I could feelhisstare.
Like all the times before, when I knew he was looking at me. His stare was always a caress, and it was then, too, heavy against my breasts, my belly, and the fingers between my legs. And I knew…Iknewhe was there. Either that or I’d really drunk far too much wine. Both were equally possible, but I chose to believe the former.
That Nyktos had snuck into my chamber, cloaked in the shadows, and was even now watching me.
The shadows throbbed, appearing to expand and darken at the foot of the bed. My back arched as tension spun.
Air grazed the bottom of my foot, icy and yet burning, and it wasreal.
It…it wasn’t my imagination.
Oh, gods, I jerked my hand away, my fingers glossy and damp against my belly. I went completely still as I watched a misty tendril of night slip over the bed. I didn’t close my legs. I did nothing but wait…andwant. And I knew I shouldn’t want such a thing, but oh, gods, I did.
I gasped as that wisp of dark air kissed my calf, and another licked my inner thigh. I held my breath, my pulse pounding as my hands fell to the bed. I grasped the sheet beneath me, my chest rising and falling sharply. Seconds stretched out for an eternity, then I dragged my feet over the bed, responding to some unknown instinct and opening myself farther forhim. The icy yet hot shadow brushed against my core.
I gasped, crying out. The heels of my feet dug into the bed as I began to shake. The sensation—the pressure, the fullness—was intense. Primitive. Otherworldly. I could barely see the tendrils of night, but Ifeltthem. The cool burn was all I could feel. I moaned, twisting and grinding. My hips lifted off the bed, and the icy-hot air flowed over the curve of my rear. The tension unfurled with shocking force. I cried out, climaxing as my wide eyes fixed on thethick mass of throbbing shadows. Trembling, I collapsed into the soft mattress as the wisps of night slowly slipped away from the bed.
Small aftershocks rocked me as I rolled onto my side and then my belly, and…waited. A charge of energy went through the chamber. The breath I took caught at that touch again, an icy-hot kiss against the back of my thighs, the curve of my ass. My heart kicked against my ribs. The sensation faded, but the presence was still there. Closer than before.
“Nyktos?” I whispered.
There was no answer in the charged silence, but I waited until my eyes grew too tired to keep open, and as I drifted off, I felt the bed shift beside me.
I felt Nyktos.
“Did you sleep well?” Nektas asked.
I nearly choked on the juice I sipped, my gaze immediately darting to my bed. What had happened last night now felt like a sinful, fever dream, but no part of me doubted that Nyktos had been in my chamber. That he’d watched me.Touchedme. Lay in bed beside me. Heat crept into my face as I dragged my gaze from the bed.
Nektas watched me curiously.
I cleared my throat, fiddling with the loose sleeve of my gown. It was a rose gold one. The gown was without much flourish, but the sleeves, which loosened at the elbow and fluttered to just above the wrist, gave it a delicate feel. The bodice would’ve been considered modest if that area actually fit. I feared that the seams would burst at any second, but I’d liked that the gown had been cut with two slits on each side of the skirt, ending just below the mid-thigh. It made for easy access to the dagger I sheathed there.
And I sort of felt…pretty in it. It wasn’t all that often that I wore one that was so soft and not completely see-through like the godsforsaken wedding gown. If I didn’t come up with a better plan, stopping the coronation was highly unlikely, so I really hoped the gown for that was somewhat…decent.
“I slept well,” I managed.
“Good.” Nektas sat on the couch. He’d brought my breakfast this morning, and unlike everyone else, he stayed. Though he hadn’t said much until now, it was nice to have company. “I remember when Ash went through the Culling. He slept terribly—worse than he normally does.”
“Is that common?”
“For some. But I think for those who already don’t sleep all that well, the Culling worsens it.”
So had he been awake, lying in his bed? Nibbling on the last of the bread, I eyed the door to his chambers, and my stomach gave another tumble. What would Nyktos say when he saw me?
Better yet, what would I say?
Because I knew what last night had meant. What hadn’t changed. Nyktos stillwantedme. It wasn’t just a bodily need he couldn’t control. I already knew that.
But I didn’t know what I would do with that information. I knew what Ishoulddo. Forget about it. Ignore it. Nyktos wanted me in a carnal sense. Sex wasn’t affection or acceptance. It meant nothing but a complication to an already messy situation. But I wanted him—his touch, the feel of him against my skin and inside me, coming undone.Iwanted that. Not because I had to. Not for any other reason than it was whatIwanted.
But everything that only sex offered was temporary, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted more. I wasn’t even sure whatmorewas. Companionship? Trust? Comfort? That all sounded likemore, but I didn’t know. And I didn’t even know why I wanted more when my life could be whittled down to months instead of years if Nyktos’s plans didn’t work. It would make sense if I wantedright now. And why couldn’t I want that? Have that?
“You finished eating?” Nektas asked.