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)
“You could’ve broken your neck.”
“But I didn’t.”
“For fuck’s sake, Sera. There is such a thing as being too bold. Too brave.”
“Aren’t you tired? Let’s skip this conversation.” I crossed my arms. “Especially since I’m sure we’ve already had it like five hundred times.”
He let out another curse. “You’re right. I can yell at you more in the morning.”
“You sure about that? Or will you be conveniently gone all day?” I snapped.
“Did you miss me?”
“No,” I huffed. “You can go to bed.”
“That is what I’m trying to do, but as I said, if I’m sleeping, you’re sleeping. And you will be doing so within arm’s reach.”
My jaw had to be on the floor. “In your chamber?”
Nyktos drew in a breath, clearly searching for patience. “Where else?”
“No.”
His brows flew up. “No?”
“That’s what I said. It should be a simple enough word for you to understand. You can leave now.” I pointed at the door he’d come through. “Good night.”
Nyktos stared at me. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Well, neither do—” My eyes went wide as he started toward me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not going to stand here and argue with you.”
That look had come over his face again, the one he’d had when he said that he would pick me up and put me on Odin. I took several steps back. “Don’t.”
He prowled forward.
My eyes went wide, and I held up my hands. “I’m feeling really emotional right now. I might lose control and hurt you again.”
“I would love to see you use eather like that again. That too was impressive.” One side of his lips curled up. “But now that I know it can happen, I’ll be prepared.”
I bumped into the column of the bed and then turned—
Nyktos caught my arm and spun me around. One arm went around my waist as he bent, shoving his shoulder against my stomach. I shrieked as he lifted me off the floor. Suddenly, I was hanging from his shoulder—his actual shoulder—and staring at his back.
I was stunned speechless.
Then Nyktos turned.
“Let me down!” I screamed, my braid slipping forward and smacking the side of my face.
“Nope.”
“Put me down!” I went to kick my legs, but his other arm folded over the backs of my knees, trapping them. “Nyktos, I swear to the gods—”
“You shouldn’t swear to the gods. It’s blasphemous.”
I screeched, swinging a fist back as he opened the door that adjoined our chambers. I froze, staring into the dark corridor of the short hall. The door…had it been unlocked? Or had he used his power to unlock it?
“I have a feeling you’re about to punch me in a kidney,” Nyktos said as he carried me down the passageway and into his bedchamber.
My fist opened as the scent of citrus—of him—increased. “No, I wasn’t.”
“I don’t think I’ve met someone who lies as much as you do.” Nyktos turned sharply, dumping me onto the bed.
“Asshole!” I bounced roughly as the scant items in his chambers came into view, lit by the glow of the wall sconces. A wardrobe. A few chests, and the long settee beside a table and lone chair. I was a little startled by being in his chamber again.
Nyktos caught my legs before I could even move, tucking one between his arm and chest as he grabbed the boot of the other. He slipped the dagger out, thrusting it into the wooden footboard of the bed, then tugged the boot off.
“What the fuck?”
“Your boots are as filthy as your mouth.” He grabbed hold of the other boot, and that too hit the floor with a thump. “And while I enjoy that mouth in my bed, I won’t enjoy the boots.” He glanced down at my soiled, bloodied breeches. “They need to come off, too.”
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had a man ask me to remove my clothing so romantically before.”
His eyes flicked to mine. They were the shade of the sky outside the palace. My fingers pressed into the thick blanket beneath me as he stared down at me, and I knew I looked as much a mess as my mind was. More hair pulled free of the braid it was in. Skin nicked from branches. He was furious with me, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled with him and his manhandling, but…but something shifted between us. A different kind of tension thickened the air, quickening my pulse and sending a bolt of awareness through me. Suddenly, I wondered if he was thinking of the last time I had been in his bedchamber and on his bed. Or of us in the receiving chamber. I was. Heat hit my blood, followed by a pulsing ache.
Nyktos’s nostrils flared, and his chest rose sharply. “Take your pants off, Sera.”
Those words hit me like a hot stroke, lashing the particularly impulsive side of my nature. “You want them off?” I leaned back on my elbows and raised my brows. “You’re going to have to take them off.”