Page 12 of Shadow Kissed
I stride off behind the curtain and angrily undo my trousers and slip them off. I unlace my bodice and take off my shirt. I pull his shirt on over my head and grimace when I look down. The material is thin and light and doesn’t hide much, including my stiff nipples that are standing to attention because of the change in temperature. I stand there for five minutes debating whether to walk back out there or just stay behind here all night and tell him I’ll take my chance with the mutts.
Creeping out from behind the curtain, I catch Raegal removing his shirt. His broad, muscled back bears the intricate patterns of his shadows, which move and twist like they are alive. He turns and seems surprised to see me standing there. His eyes briefly skim over my bare legs before he clears his throat and gestures to the blankets. I scarper over to the makeshift bed on the floor and dive under the thick blankets, watching silently as he removes his boots. When he’s done, he uses his shadows to blow out the candles in the tent, and then his dark silhouette stalks to the bed and he climbs in behind me.
He clears his throat. “This only works if I’m touching you.”
“Wonderful,” I reply dryly, my voice barely a whisper. He lies down behind me, and his arm moves around my waist. Raegal pulls me flush against his body causing me to inwardly curse.
“For Crystal’s sake, relax, woman,” he barks into my ear. “Anyone would think you’d never lain with a man. My shadows won’t hurt you.” I wait in silence for whatever happens next, and I gasp when I feel a tickle of a touch on my arm. It dances up my arm at the same time another touch runs across my other arm. Something warm touches my foot and I feel it wrap itself up and around my leg until it settles mid-thigh. It climbs up my other leg, but this one doesn’t stop. It continues climbing up over my hip, causing me to gasp as its gentle caress climbs my body, circling my stomach and weaving around my back. It cloaks me in warmth and bliss. I think I moan out loud at how good it feels. I thank the heavens it is dark as my cheeks burn with redness. “Almost done,” he assures me quietly as I feel his shadows caress over my chest between the valley of my breasts and up to my neck. My skin tingles in every single place his shadows touch me. One strokes my thigh in small circles. “It is done,” he says, clearing his throat. I feel his breath warm against my ear. “Sleep now. Nothing will hurt you.”
6
REYA
Acocoon of warmth surrounds me when I wake up. I feel like I’ve slept for a week. I nuzzle into the warmth, not ready to fully wake yet, wanting to enjoy it a little longer. Soft touches skirt along my arms and across my belly and I sigh in contentment. My breath hitches when my cheek touches stubble and a strong jawline. My heart stills in my chest as I remember where I am. I hesitantly open my eyes and, inches from my face, Raegal sleeps soundly. I look down between us where his shadows flow out from him and cover my body. Curiously, I reach out to touch a strand and it wraps itself around my wrist and along my arm. When I look down at my body, I am swathed in black shadows.
“My shadows seem to like you,” he says with a deep frown. An icy chill surrounds me as he withdraws his shadows back into himself and leaps out of the bed like he is afraid he will catch something off me.
“Unlike you,” I comment. I watch him pause as he pulls his shirt over his head. “I don’t like you either in case you didn’t pick up on it. I hate all of the Shadow Borne.”
“Is that so?” he says, his deadly gaze fixed upon me with a half-smirk. “And what is it about us that has you hating our entire race?”
“This,” I say with a hiss, gesturing to my amethyst-coloured eyes. “It’s because of your people that I was born as this cursed thing.”
He tilts his head and studies me with an intrigued expression on his face. “How can it be a curse when it means you get to help keep your family and your town safe?”
I snicker, shaking my head. This guy is clueless. “The only reason we have to give ourselves up is because your people came to our realm and brought those creatures with you.”
He arches a brow as he pulls on a pair of leather trousers. My eyes linger on his muscled thighs for longer than they should.
“The night mutts, as your people call them, arrived first. In fact, if we hadn’t of come through after them, it is likely that your entire population would be extinct by now. Perhaps you should be grateful for our presence and the protection our shadow dust provides for your kind.”
My eyes narrow at the inflection of his voice when he says, ‘your people’.
“I hate what I am,” I inform him, getting to my feet. A cool breeze brushes against my legs, reminding me that I am dressed in his muslin shirt. “From the minute I was born, my future was decided for me. I’ll never be free to choose my destiny, and that is because of you people.”
He scoffs, his eyes trail down my bare legs. “You see, the world with blinkers on. We have brought prosperity to your realm. Where your crops were failing, now they prosper. Youmight not want to believe it, but Shadow Kissed females are of great importance to my realm and my people.”
“And why is that?” I ask him, placing a hand on my hip. Maybe I can finally find out what happens to our chosen females when we walk through that gateway to their realm. “Why are we so important to your kind? Once a Shadow Kissed female leaves this realm, no one ever sees her again. Many rumours circulate that your god demands us as sacrifices.
He scoffs. “Trust Asen’s to listen to rumours with no substance to them.”
I storm towards him, anger fuelling my bravado. “You laugh like it’s a joke. Soon, I’ll leave behind everything I know. I’ll leave behind my brothers, my mother and the home I grew up in and I’ll never see them again. So, believe me, we sacrifice a lot for the safety of our people.”
I inhale sharply when his hand closes over my finger, that’s angrily prodding him in his chest. “Have you finished? Your people don’t have a monopoly on sacrifice. You have no idea the hardships and sacrifices my people endured. You’re just a naive girl from a little village who has never known the harsh realities of life, of watching your people suffer and perish.” He releases my hand roughly, like he can’t bear to touch me. “I’ll have water brought in for you to wash. We leave soon and you can return to your little village and live in your little bubble.”
How dare he! I glare after him, hoping the hate I feel towards him is felt like an arrow in his back. Treating me like a silly child when he probably isn’t that much older than me. I realise I have nothing to do but wait for someone to bring me water. So, I sit back down on the blankets and attempt to run my fingers through my tangled mess of long blonde waves. I don’t have to wait long. A young Shadow Borne soldier comes in, with two more trailing behind him, bearing a warm pail of water, muslin cloth, and some soap in his hand.
“Here you go, miss.” He pops everything down and he stokes up the fire, sending flames of heat into the tent.
I nod my head in thanks and, as they slip out of the tent, I test the heat of the water in the pail with my fingers. It’s nice and warm and I am dying to scrub my body of every scent his shadows left on me.
An hour later, I’m astride Raegal’s horse as he climbs up behind me. His scent washes over me and I flinch as his chest brushes against my back. “Let’s move out,” he barks out loudly, and his convoy falls in behind us as we leave the wooded area and begin our journey to Terleigh.
We have been riding in silence for a good thirty minutes when Jasiel comes up beside us on his mare. He smiles warmly at me. “How did you sleep, miss?”
“Well, thank you, considering I had his shadows covering every inch of my skin.”
Jasiel’s brow arches and he looks at his commander with a smirk. “Every inch, huh? Looks like our Lord Commander took excellent care of you then, Eretreya. The mutts stayed on the camp’s outskirts until dawn appeared. They seemed to want to get to you pretty badly.”