Page 11 of Born for Silk
Time slows.
The gap between me and the buzzing is empty, ready to be filled. The gun is suddenly louder. The man’s patience wanes as he stares at me. The girls’ shuffling is riotous in my ears, though I am quite certain they are not moving at all.
I am the one moving.
Carelessly, my heels slide backward, recoiling from the tattoo gun when a monstrous form eclipses me, and two huge hands grip my shoulders.
Someone holds me in line.
Someone enormous.
A gasp, a pin drops. Now there is no noise at all, and I wonder where all the breathing has gone… It’s too still.
The man with the tattoo gun is staring above my head at the towering figure behind me. His startled expression snaps to submission, and he bows his chin.
It can’t be…
As a statue held captive in big hands, I twist my chin and peer up. Up. Up.
To his face.
His face.
Even with his cloak pulled up and shadows dancing the outline of his strong brow, I recognise him. I’d know his face through the dense Redwind.
He is stunning.
His face is a masterpiece. Chiselled yet smooth. Square jawline. Scars that only enhance his virile features. Blue eyes that glow as he stares intensely down on me, penetrating my soul. The colour blue should be peaceful, calm, but his eyes are anything but.
They whisper of cruelty.
They demand obedience.
My king.
I turn in his grip.
Everyone in the parlour drops to their knees, but I remain standing, unable to bow with his massive hands wrapped so powerfully around my upper arms.
“My king,” I offer, lowering my gaze.
“Why do you hesitate?” he asks, his voice a deep timbre that presses on my chest, making my lungs and heart strain to work.
“I—” I stammer and force my eyes to hold the ground respectfully. Hesitate? To get the tattoo? To bow? To speak? What?
I cannot answer.
“Don’t you want my mark?”
I blink my confusion, blood draining from my cheeks. Of course, I want his mark.
And finally, I look up at him.
This cannot be real.
I’ve seen him on the big screen in the Silk Aviary—the one for Trade Updates. At least once a month, they show moving pictures of him on campaigns in The Cradle, visiting Trade men at the windmill farms, or shaking hands with lords from Trade towers.
This is so much better.