Page 189 of A Fate in Flames

Dalkhan exhaled sharply, running a hand over his jaw.Anger coiled in him like a beast ready to strike.

For a second, I regretted asking.

“You don’t have to tell me,” I whispered.

“It’s not that.”He turned his hand, brushing his fingers against the inside of my wrist.“I’m being called upon.I am needed elsewhere.”

A selfish part of me burned with the urge to tell him to stay—to choose me over whatever duty called.From the way his eyes lingered on mine, it was clear he didn’t want to leave either.

As he rose from the bed, Azmik moved to my lap entirely.

Dalkhan reached for the ancient chains he always wore, slipping them over his head to settle heavily against his chest.He reached for his trousers.

I traced the planes of muscles across his back.His shoulders flexed as he tugged the garment up over his thighs, the dark leather moulding to him perfectly.As he worked the ties at his waist, I memorized the taut lines of his abdomen.

He was magnificent in his fury.Beautiful in his broken vulnerability.

Dalkhan caught my stare.A slow, wicked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.His tongue darted out, dragging across his lower lip.

He moved toward me, pressing his body against mine until I was trapped between him and the bed.

Azmik, with perfect timing and perhaps some divine sense of discretion, dissolved into shadow and vanished.

“I have no intention of leaving,” he whispered against my ear, “before I taste you again.”

I was still coming down from the high of pleasure as we slipped through the shadows.He carried me through the darkness, and when I opened my eyes again, I was sinking into my own bed.

Dalkhan stood at the foot if it, his form already vanishing into smoke.Before he was gone completely, he lifted his hand—still glistening with the evidence of what we’d done—and dragged his tongue across his fingers.His eyes held me captive as he savoured the taste of me.

I was lost in the lingering sensation of him imprinted on my skin.

“I’m so turned on, you have no idea.”

I nearly fell off the bed, my heart almost launching out of my chest.

Theo was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed and an infuriating smirk on his face.

“Heavens, Theo!”I groaned, throwing an arm over my eyes.“Do you ever knock?”

He pushed off the frame and sauntered deeper into my room, ignoring my obvious distress.

“Do you think he would mind if I used that move?”

I laughed, a mix of exasperation and amusement.“You’re impossible.”

Theo smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

I reached for the nearest pillow and hurled it at his face, but he caught it effortlessly and tossed it back.

“Alright, alright,” he drawled.“I’ll take that as ano.”

I scowled.“Get out, Theo!I’m not even dressed.”

He didn’t move.Instead, he just leaned against the wall.The idiot even had the nerve to wink.

“You know, you should really get a lock for that door, El.”He grinned wickedly.“Or at least invite me next time.I promise I’ll be quiet.”

I made a sound somewhere between a growl and the cry of a dying animal, launching another pillow at him with considerably more force.