Page 93 of The Rat King
Samara’s body seized violently, like she was having some sort of attack before it went limp. Her hands slid off his chest as her eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped to the floor, her head cracking as it hit the hard stones. The power she was using to hold me back dissolved, and I rushed forward as Nighval lifted off the table, drawing in a massive inhale. He gasped for several seconds as if he were drowning. When he finally caught his breath, his head snapped in my direction.
Then he was on me, running his hands over my hair, across my cheeks, down my shoulders, around my waist and pulling me into him. Then his hands retraced the movements like he couldn’t believe I was real. “Avery,” He moaned, his voice hoarse and desperate.
“I’m here,” I said. “I’m okay.”
I stood up on the tips of my toes, trying to kiss him, but he went to his knees, pulling me with him. Cupping my face, he finally gave me the kiss that I had been searching for. At first, it was tentative like I was something breakable, but as I returned his kiss with more urgency it became heated, all-consuming. Savage. His fingers raked up the sides of my skirt and plunged beneath, as if touching my skin was some type of cure he desperately needed.
I pulled away. “Nigh, your mother,” I said, pointing to the far side of the bed.
“She’s gone,” he said, then shot an agitated look toward the two guards getting to their feet at the door. One had a small trickle of blood running down his temple and some bruises already blooming from where his head smacked the floor when Samara incapacitated them. The other appeared unscathed and was only now realizing their king was an animate being once again and on his knees in front of their queen with his hands inside her clothes.
When his eyes tracked back to mine, we shared a grin, and I knew my face had tinted pink.
Nighval stood, pulling me to my feet, and he walked me over to the guards with his arm around my waist, tugging me into his side as if he couldn’t bear to remove the contact.
He assessed the bleeding man. “Go take care of your injury. And you,” he said, to the other. “Get a message to the council that the king has returned, and I will meet them at first light in the council room. On the other side of the bed, you will find the witch Samara Wrede. Her body should be prepared for funeral rites, so please see to it that she is brought to the morgue. Instruction will follow within the next day. Now I have a queen to attend to.”
His commanding presence sent a wave of relief crashing over me. I was no longer alone.
Nighval didn’t wait for their response as he directed me out of the room, brushing past them and through the hallway in the direction of our suite.
“She told me she talked to you earlier today,” I said, deciding on that line of thought from the dozens that were popping up in my mind.
“She did. She came not long after you had left,” he said.
“And?” I asked, nudging his side. “What did she say?”
He grinned as he looked down at me. “First, she took credit for finding you. She told me what she was going to do today and some nonsense about the type of man I was, almost like she was proud she created me. She also told me I am much more powerful than one might expect, but we both know that, don’t we?” he teased, giving me a wink, which caused flutters to erupt low in my belly.
As if he sensed my sensations, he said, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’re about to take good care of that.”
His words and the feeling of finally coming home after having been without him for two months made my knees weak and, as they nearly buckled, he swooped me up into his arms and carried me the rest of the way.
Light from the full moon danced in through the open window and a breeze blew in, lifting the sheer curtains. Nighval placed me gently on the bed and flipped off the lamp on the nightstand. His pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight as he tugged his shirt over his head. There wasn’t so much as a scar where the arrows had pierced through the flesh of his chest, striking his heart.
He took my feet, slipping off my shoes gently and tossed them to the floor. He crawled across the bed and lifted my shirt over my head, unclasping my bra, pulling it away. He didn’t touch, however. He only grabbed the waistband of my skirt and my panties with his fingers and pulled them over my hips and down my legs until I was laying bare before him. I reclined back on the pillows, letting him take in his fill. Letting him see that every inch of me was his.
Chapter 64
Nighval
Averyreachedupwithone of her legs and nudged the waistband of my pants with a toe. “This is hardly fair,” she said.
I moved off the bed and slowly unbuttoned them, giving her what she asked for like I always would. I wasn't nearly the masterpiece that she was, but if she wanted to see, who was I to deny her?
I rolled my pants down my legs and stepped out, then crawled back across the bed to kneel before her. I hadn't even touched her yet or kissed her since we'd been back in the bedroom, but I was rock hard just from seeing her.
“Did you miss me?” I asked, having witnessed the answer, but I wanted to hear her say it.
“Desperately, but you already know that, don't you?” she said. A glint of melancholy flashed across her perfect face.
“I will never be able to express how sorry I am that you got caught in the crossfire of my family drama. I should have killed her as soon as she arrived. Seeing the way she hurt you, how you suffered every day, I will never forget—”
“Nigh, she was your mother,” she said, and her voice held a world of pain for me. “You don’t need to—”
“I do, Avery. I need to tell you I will do everything in my power to make this world a better place for you. I’ll make up for every tear you cried and replace the ugly memories with something beautiful.”
Her face glowed with what could only be love as her eyes glimmered up at me. She sat quietly, waiting for me to finish and when I said no more, she asked, “And how exactly are you going to do that?”
