Page 12 of Lake of Sorrow
A masculine roar of satisfaction came from behind the door, and the ranger skittered back.
Of course. Targon. Kaylina felt foolish for her assumption—and how distressed she’d been. By all the moon gods, was she falling for Vlerion? For a man she couldn’t ever be with, not unless she found a way to lift his curse?
“That sounds like a good idea.” Frayvar eyed the door like a viper might come out.
Kaylina pushed her meandering thoughts away and nodded to the ranger.
He continued down the hallway, surprisingly only to the next closed door, and knocked on it. A long moment passed, and Kaylina wondered if her relief had been premature, if Vlerion might also be inside with a lover.
She snorted. It was the middle of the night. He might be sleeping.
Before the ranger could knock again, the door opened. Vlerion stood inside, tall, broad, powerful, and… naked except for a sheet wrapped loosely around his waist.
Gaping, Kaylina couldn’t keep from glancing down and noticing he was aroused. The sheet did little to hide that.
She jerked her gaze up, embarrassed heat searing her cheeks, and looked at the room behind him, anywhere other than at his lower half. His perfectly proportioned upper half wasn’t safe to look at either.
Vlerion grunted a surprised greeting. He couldn’t have expected her to come to his door in the middle of the night. He tightened the sheet around his waist, tying a knot to keep it up, and tried to cover his groin area more effectively.
Meanwhile, Kaylina noticed a violin case leaning against the foot of his bed. There was also a bookcase filled with leather-bound tomes and a small table with a deck of cards and two chairs. A side door led to an office with a desk and two more chairs, as well as more bookcases and cabinets. Maps of the city, the North Dakmoor Sea, the surrounding lands, and the Evardor Mountains hung from the walls.
The rooms weren’t that fascinating, and Kaylina caught her gaze swinging back to Vlerion. She managed to look into his blue eyes instead of… elsewhere. But they were as compelling as the rest of him.
His initial surprise shifted to something else, something more intense. He didn’t seem to notice Frayvar or hear the ranger saying, “This girl, uhm, Trainee Korbian, said she needed to see you, my lord.”
Vlerion’s charged gaze remained on Kaylina, bringing more heat to her body, heat that had nothing to do with embarrassment.
She might have been delighted and pleased by his steamy focus, at the hint of lust in his eyes, but something more dangerous glinted there before he straightened and affixed his mask, the one that made him appear cold and aloof—the one that meant he was carefully controlling his emotions.
“Come in.” Vlerion clasped Kaylina’s wrist to draw her into his room and close to him, his callused palm warm, his thumb brushing her skin. The gentle gesture wasn’t erotic, but it raised her gooseflesh, nonetheless, and sent a tingle of pleasure through her. “I was thinking about you,” he added in a low murmur. A sultry murmur.
He looked like he wanted to pull her into an embrace, but, after hesitating, he locked his elbow instead, keeping her at arm’s length. That was safer, yes, and she couldn’t object, even if she longed for the hug.
Why she was so drawn to him, she didn’t know. Oh, she appreciated that he’d saved her life and that he’d been watching out for and helping her, even though his captain only wanted to use her. That meant a lot, especially since he had no reason to help her. But she’d never been around someone who occupied her thoughts so and made her crave to be close. Maybe it was as his mother had said, and she was drawn because of the curse instead of in spite of it. The allure of danger. The magnetism of the beast. Did it call to the anrokk in her, just as something in her called to Vlerion?
“Oh?” she asked, realizing she should respond.
Before she could stop herself, she glanced down again. She shouldn’t have looked or wanted to look, especially since the sheet didn’t conceal much.
Vlerion snorted, not appearing ashamed. “Yes. Often.” He quirked his eyebrows and brushed her wrist with his thumb again. Gods, maybe the gesture was erotic. It made her glance at his bed, the blankets rumpled, and imagine what he might have been doing before she knocked.
“I didn’t know nobles thought often of commoners.” Kaylina strove for a casual tone, aware of her brother and the ranger in the hallway.
“Certain commoners with unique attributes can be appealing.” His eyes closed to slits. “Even those who come to ranger headquarters after they’ve been specifically ordered not to until they’ve gathered sufficient evidence to clear their name. Since that letter was just delivered, I trust you haven’t done so yet.”
“I haven’t, but my aching need to see you meant I couldn’t obey your order.”
Vlerion blinked.
Kaylina smirked.
“Your irreverence remains intact,” he noted. “And your inability to say my lord.”
“Four days doesn’t change a woman much.”
“No? I thought they might have been fraught.” Vlerion looked down and plucked dried grass off her sleeve.
Could he tell that she’d been doused in the river? Kaylina was lucky she hadn’t carried more of that beaver dam to town on her clothes.