Page 28 of Vindicated

“I don’t know. I didn’t have a plan beyond that. I’ve always been too curious for my own good.”

I hummed as I studied the dark outline of her that was incrementally lighter. “You are not curious why my people sleep naked on furs? You don’t wish to know how it feels?”

She drew in a quick breath and replied too quickly. “No.”

I laughed and the deep sound echoed off the hard surfaces around us. “I do not believe you, Athena.”

“Now Idowish I had a weapon,” she whispered darkly.

“You think you could strike me?” I teased.

Her eyes flashed through the haze of darkness, defiant once more. “You think I couldn’t?”

I moved so quickly, she didn’t have time to react. I looped one arm around her waist and pulled her down, so she was flat on her back and then I pulled her hands over her hand and pinned them flat to the furs above her. “I think you could try.”

Her chest heaved, and even in the dark that was slowly fading to light, I could tell that the fabric wrapped around her had loosened to expose even more of her. She glared at me, her eyes sparking heat that was all fury.

Chapter 20

Athena

Ibit my lip to keep from calling Lorken every curse I could summon. Sure, I’d touched him, but that wasn’t close to him flipping me onto my back and pinning my arms down.

“Fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “You win.”

Suddenly, I realized that I could make out his face as he hovered above me. It wasn’t pitch black anymore, which meant that he could see precisely what my slipping towel revealed. As he held my gaze, his expression arch, I could feel the fabric that had been wrapped around my body lose its grasp entirely and fall open.

If my arms hadn’t been pinned behind my head, I would have quickly jerked the towel back in place, but since that wasn’t an option, I glared at Lorken. I didn’t struggle, because that would only make everything jiggle, and I didn’t protest, because I wasn’t going to give the prick the satisfaction of my embarrassment. Instead, I stared daggers at him, as if daring him to look away.

My heart pounded while the faint amber lighting in the ceiling warmed the room and made it possible for me to see every chiseled line in his face and even the flecks of gold in his eyes. Then it hit me that if I merely flicked my gaze down,I’d be able to see every bit of him. I gritted my teeth harder, determined not to look.

It was as if Lorken could read my mind, or maybe he’d tracked a nearly imperceptible movement of my eyes. His own pupils flared and the corners of his mouth quivered. Even without looking away, I spotted his tail slashing the air behind him.

Was he enjoying this? Of course he was, the cocky bastard. But if he knew how much I wanted to murder him, he’d probably like it, so I vowed not to give him that pleasure. Instead, I slowed my breath and matched his languid smile.

“So, do you plan to stay like this all day?”

His hint of a grin broadened, and he leaned down so his lips skimmed the shell of my ear. “Not all day, no.”

An uncontrollable shiver slid down my spine, and my entire body shuddered in response. Lorken shifted his head back, his expression almost hungry as he gazed at me, his face so close to mine that our breath mingled. I refused to give him the satisfaction of looking away, and I lifted my chin slightly in challenge.

Without glancing down, he lifted one hand from where he’d pinned my hands and pulled the sides of the towel back up so that I was covered. He removed his other hand so that my arms were free and rolled off me.

I hurriedly grasped the top of the towel and readjusted it so that it was snug around my chest and tucked tightly in the front, but it wasn’t lost on me that Lorken had made a point not to look at me when I’d been completely exposed. He easily could have, but he hadn’t. This flustered me as much as anything.

“What’s with the lights?” I asked, to diffuse the crackling energy and distract myself from the fact that his whisper had sent heat roiling across my skin.

He stretched his arms overhead in a stretch that seemed shockingly relaxed considering he’d just had me pinned to his furs. “They increase in illumination automatically to mimic the rising suns.”

“I guess that means it’s time to wake up,” I said, attempting to make my tone as conversational as possible.

He made a noise in the back of his throat as he stood. “First watch is soon, which means that breakfast will arrive shortly.”

I didn’t bother to look away as he took long steps toward the wall of windows covered in drapes. He touched the wall on one side and the fabric parted in the middle and swept back to reveal the inky sky we were flying through.

As stunning as the view was, it was Lorken who stole my attention. Even though he was huge and muscular, he moved with sinewy grace and didn’t seem to care that he was naked or that I was watching.

Why should he be self-conscious? My mouth went dry as he turned and walked back toward me, his gait easy and his thick cock swinging between his legs. He was possibly the most striking guy I’d ever seen, and I almost dropped my grasp on the towel as he drew closer.