Page 114 of City of Snakes
He took a deep breath before he carefully said, “I am…”
The prick trailed off.
“Why do I feel there is a ‘but’ following that?” My eyes narrowed at him sprawled there on the chaise, looking far too comfortable, while my cheeks grew hotter and hotter.
He lifted further up onto his elbows and drew nearer. I hadn’t realized I’d leaned down toward him. “Butthat would require you being ready for such a tryst,” he said, his eyes going dark but his face remaining all hard lines and tension.
My temper spiked. “You drop the news on me that I’m destined to have your child and then avoid me—avoid fighting me about it. Now you’re questioning my readiness as I proposition you? You really are a—”
“Sybilla,” he snapped.
Instead of pulling away, I leaned further down, bracing one hand on the shelf behind his head. The book slid from his lap and fell with a thud. Warm spice tickled my nose, and the mingling of our breath made my arm tremble. Before I could think of another insult, his Shadows wrapped around my torso.
I gasped out, “What are you—”
“Sybilla. Shut up.”
How endearing.
Then cool Shadows tugged, and I was drawn up to straddle his waist. All my anger melted into a molten feeling in my core.
“I’ve thought about taking you just like this since you climbed onto my lap here over that game board.”
His lips were inches from mine, our bodies touching in the most torturous places. I’d allowed myself to wonder what he’d be like as a lover more times than I was proud of.
A good husband and a good lover were two separate things. I only needed the latter. I desperately tried to convince myself of that. I knew what he needed from me, and while it scared me senseless, the act of taking Krait to bed? That part didn’t seem at all horrid.
“I never imagined sharing anything more than a child with the Last Daughter of Isleen. I’d married another—she was my destiny, even she would have allowed me that. I never considered anything else. I never considered thatyouwould be at the end of this prophecy. I don’t fear mortality. I don’t fear giving up everything.” Krait breathed out between us.
Another inch closer.
“I fear that you’ll regret it.”The words he didn’t say out loud snuck into my head as he added, “I fear the way that I can’t sleep without hearing your snoring.”
“I don’t sno—”
He cut me off. “I said shut up.You question the wrong things. I see the way you look at Fen and Asterie—and that isn’t a life that I can ever give you. I had that life. Sex is easy. I’m plenty willing for that. But would that be enough for you?”
Another inch closer, and now our noses touched.
I opened my mouth to speak again, but I didn’t trust myself. I’d tell him anything he wanted to hear to keep him exactly like this—hungry, wanting, between my thighs.
“If you say one more word, then I will have my Shadows set you aside,” he warned. “I’ll walk right out of here. No questions asked. We can go back to pretending like we don’t want to rip each other’s clothes off. The choice is yours—you’re the one who ‘propositioned me’ after all.”
I sat there, silent.
Staring at the hard lines of Krait’s face, I internally scolded myself for the slick anticipation between my legs and the desire to close the distance to kiss him.
My mouth fell open but no sound came out. Krait’s gaze seared me as he waited for me to break the silence.
I didn’t say a fucking word.
Because if I did, he would stop, and I very much did not want him to stop whatever we were doing.
I closed the last inch between us. His Shadows pulled me flush against him, and his lips met mine in a hard kiss that felt like the heady buzz after the burn of amber liquor slid down one’s throat.
Fury. Bliss. Rage. Pleasure.
I honestly didn’t know where one emotion began and the next gave way.
