Page 23 of His Darkest Desire
“She is a gentle soul, strong but lost in suffering,” said Shade.
Even before he spoke his next words, shame crawled beneath Vex’s skin. “Shall I compare her suffering to my own? Shall I weigh our pain upon the scales and determine whether hers is of greater worth than mine? She must fulfill her oath. She will have to learn to set aside her pain.”
Flare flitted in front of Vex, their blue ghostfire swirling into a little inferno. “Unless you mean to emulate the queen, magus, you must find another way.”
“So what, then?” Vex demanded. “What would you demand of me?”
“Would it be so terrible an inconvenience to show kindness?” asked Echo, who moved into place beside Flare.
Kindness… What role did kindness play in any of this? The world, life, fate; it was all cruel. Kindness was the greatest illusion of all.
Yes, Kinsley had awoken a…carnal hunger within Vex. Was that not to be expected after so many years without companionship? She was a lovely creature, especially for a human. But his longing for her body, for her feel, her taste, was not so simple. It was underlaid by a want for something more. A craving far deeper than it had any right to be.
He yearned for her desire. He wanted her to welcome him, to reach for him, to beg for him. Wanted her to be wet and ready for him. Wanted to hear her moans of pleasure and her cries for more as he thrust into that lush body.
But most of all, he yearned to protect and care for his mate.
His brows fell, and the corners of his mouth ticked down. “You suggest I demean myself further by…wooing a human?”
Shade floated over to their companions. “You wield power over her, magus, and your use of that power will define you.”
Vex pressed his lips into a tight line and dragged his gaze around the circle. He’d placed the standing stones himself, had carved the runes and cast the enchantments. They’d never been meant to serve as a prison. Once—long, long ago—they had meant freedom. Once, they had been an unspoken promise to his people. He’d turned all his power toward fulfilling that promise.
And he had failed.
His pact with Kinsley was more binding still. He’d agreed to save her life, and he had done so by the only means available to him—he’d woven his lifeforce into her. Such a thing was only done between mates. But the sharing of his immortal soul had been the only way to stave off her death.
She was his mate and his debtor. He’d fulfilled his end of their bargain, but that did not mean he had to make her existence unpleasant while she worked toward completing hers.
“I shall take your counsel into consideration.” Vex strode forward.
The wisps parted to clear his path.
“Go,” he said with a wave. “I weary of company, and it is well past time I attended my own thoughts. Keep watch over our guest.”
With acquiescent whispers, the wisps took their leave.
Vex stopped at the center of the circle. Ancient, unimaginable power coursed beneath him. It rushed up through the mighty roots of the tree he had fostered, flowed through the stones and wood of the cottage he’d erected with his bare hands and raw arcane energies, and filled the air with a tingling charge.
He’d been master of this realm since he’d been banished here, and everything had bent to his will. Apart from the wisps, Kinsley was the one thing in this place he could not control.
Not without killing the last shred of what set him apart from the queen.
“It is for me to decide the price I will pay for my freedom… Just as she intended.”
CHAPTER NINE
Between the fear of her captor returning to finish what he’d started and the hunger twisting in her stomach, Kinsley’s sleep was fitful. Each time exhaustion claimed her, some unfamiliar sound, or a flicker of ghostly light—whether real or imagined—startled her to wakefulness.
But her captor hadn’t returned by the time the dreary gray light of dawn spilled in through the window.
And she was so damn tired.
Kinsley drew the covers over her head to block out the light and hide from the world. To hide from him, the nightmare made flesh who kept her here. She told herself that she’d be okay, that he wouldn’t come, she tried to settle her thoughts and clear her mind, but sleep remained elusive.
With a sigh, Kinsley rolled onto her back and scrubbed her hands over her face before letting them fall to her sides. She stared up at the bed’s canopy.
What am I going to do?