Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
I search for a shred of the hatred I used to feel for this Ybarisan so I can shun his words and protect my heart. I can’t find it. But I also can’t find it in me to forgive him. That feels like a betrayal to my family. Maybe one day I will be able to, as Zander has absolved Romeria of her crimes. But that day is not today, no matter how sincere his proclamations.
Still, I do not hate this Ybarisan prince anymore.
Far from it.
But I don’t know how to voice these thoughts, so I say nothing, tilting my hips until the tip of his cock slides through my slit.
Tyree groans, his hands grabbing hold of my thighs. He yanks my body down onto him until he’s seated inside me again, his eyes burning with something unreadable. “Okay, Annika,” he whispers, his hand clamping over my nape as he presses his mouth against mine in a passionate kiss.
My hands roam his muscles and curves as our bodies chase our pleasure. The slow pace from before is replaced by a desperate one, my muscles tightening in anticipation, my fingertips digging into Tyree’s shoulders as I search for purchase.
I may be struggling with my feelings but this, we do very well together.
My cries are the first to fill our tiny attic chamber as my body clenches around Tyree. He follows a split second later, emptying inside me, his length pulsing with the waves of my climax, his arms holding my body close.
We collapse onto the bed in a sweaty heap, our breaths ragged.
And then, perhaps because I am not ready to give Tyree answers I can’t yet find, I untangle myself from his limbs and shimmy down.
Tyree’s body stiffens with a strangled cry as I seal my lips over his sensitive flesh.
I stare up at the ceiling, my body sated like it has never been before. My worries about unsatisfying sex are groundless. Or perhaps it’s Tyree who makes them so. “What are we to do in this Espador?”
“What do you mean?” Tyree tosses an elderberry up at a mouse that sits in the rafters.
It scurries after the food. I guess it worked up an appetite, after watching us fuck for hours.
“I mean, based on what Destry has said about the sea wraiths, there is little chance of us ever returning home. We are members of royal families. What are we to do in a foreign land where we have nothing at all?” We may as well be paupers.
There is a long pause, and Tyree shifts onto his side to face me. “We have each other.”
I roll my eyes, even as my heart flutters.
If my reaction bothers him, he hides it behind a grin. I think he has caught on to my act, though. “Where is your ring?”
“Which ring? My one-of-a-kind ruby that you bartered away to that traitorous captain, or the one that burns me?”
He reaches over and collects my hand, his thumb stroking my bare index finger. “I will get you a new ring that does not burn you, and you will promise to never take it off.”
Another flutter stirs, this time in my stomach. “What are you suggesting?”
Pulling my hand to his lips, he kisses my knuckles. “Exactly what it sounds like I am suggesting. We can be anything we wish to be here, choose anyone we wish. Islor’s and Ybaris’s issues are no longer our concern.”
No, just this league of Azyr and their goal to chain me to a pool for eternity. I shove those dark thoughts out, not wanting to ruin this moment. Tyree is making plans to stay by my side, and I will let him. “Will you steal the money to pay for the ring?”
“Perhaps.” He chuckles, leaning in to brush his lips over mine once … twice … before granting me a tender kiss that transfixes me. “Nothing is too good for my Islorian princess.”
A tiny pebble hits the windowpane. Moments later, another one.
“I think someone is trying to get our attention.” Tyree slides on his breeches and heads over, unlatching the fixture and pushing it open. “What are you—” He cuts off abruptly.
A moment later, he’s rushing back into the room, collecting my clothes and tossing them at me. “Get dressed quickly,” he hisses, tugging his tunic over his head and reaching for his vest.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“The Azyr have found us.”
My stomach drops. “How?”
“It does not matter. Hurry, Annika. And do it quietly.”
I rush to dress and collect our meager belongings, stuffing them into the satchel Tyree purchased at the market. The vest he bought me hangs loose. I don’t have time to decipher the laces. My hair is another issue altogether. I was going to ask Tyree to braid it again, but there is no time now. I settle for drawing my hood up.