Page 61 of Crown of the Dunes (The Ballan Desert #2)

I went easily, finding myself with my knees planted on either side of his bent legs, leaning back against them as he sat before me. My breathing was harsh in the quiet as he pulled off another segment of the fruit, agonizingly slowly, before feeding it to me as well.

His eyes fixed on my mouth as I chewed—followed the bob of my throat as I swallowed.

“I love watching you eat,” he admitted, his voice as rough as the sand beneath us. “I remember watching you rip into a roasted jackrabbit over a campfire and promising myself that I’d never let you go hungry again.”

The back of my eyes burned as I took another bite from his waiting hand. He continued to feed me until the whole fruit was gone. He moved to discard the peel beside him, but I grabbed his wrist, bringing them back to my lips.

One by one, I greedily sucked the juice from his fingers. As I flicked the tip of his index finger with my tongue he groaned, deep and guttural.

“You’re playing with fire, my feral little fighter,” he warned.

I released his hand to murmur against his fingertips, “I know. But you see me as I truly am. I want to see you like that again, without any masks, before we get back to Kelvadan and everything is complicated by what people expect us to be.”

He didn’t stop me, only breathing in sharply as I reached for the ties of his pants.

A hiss escaped between his gritted teeth as I pulled his already hard cock from his pants.

I stroked it gently and reveled in the way it pulsed in my palm.

Erix let his head fall back on the rock once more, the tendons in his neck standing out sharply as he gasped.

He dug his fingers into the sand at his sides, searching for something to hold on to .

With a sly smile, I slid down to kneel over his legs before sucking his tip into my mouth, and he found that my hair was the perfect place for his fingers to tangle.

The salty taste of him mixed with the sweet juice of the fruit lingered on my tongue in a heady swirl.

My eyes fluttered, but I fought to keep them open to drink in his reactions as I bobbed my head.

Magic bubbled up in my veins as I worked him higher, and the air began to crackle with unformed lightning.

“Touch yourself,” he gasped. “Please. I need to feel it too.”

Instantly, my free hand worked below the waistband of my pants, not needing any explanation as to what he meant. His pleasure pounded down the tether in my mind and made me already sensitive and close to the edge. I had no doubt he could feel my sensations reflected back at him.

As my fingers slipped over my slick skin, Erix’s grip tightened in my hair.

I moaned around him and was rewarded with a reflected shock of pleasure twisting down the bond and pooling in my gut.

I looked up at him through my lashes, finding his eyes screwed shut as he seemed to grapple with his control.

But I liked wild things.

I tugged on the tether between us, and his eyes snapped open, finding mine immediately. I held his gaze, bobbing my head as I traced my fingers over my sex. A feral rumble built in Erix’s chest as his silver eyes took on a feral glint.

“Sands, Keera,” he swore. “How do you do this to me? Undo me like you’re my salvation and my ruin all at once.”

I could only whimper around his cock in my mouth, trying to tell him I understood the sensation.

My head spun with the overwhelming pleasure of it—the weight of him on my tongue and the sharp sting on his hold in my hair that made liquid pleasure drip down my spine. It built and built under my skin and my fingers on my core found their rhythm.

They skated over my center and a sound like thunder cracked, drowning out Erix’s roar as he spilled into my mouth. Bright light flared, and I screwed my eyes shut as I shuddered through my own release, moaning around Erix’s still pulsing length .

It was long moments before I finally released him, coming back to myself and sitting back on my heels.

Erix stared at me as if dazed, and I wished I could bottle up that expression and keep it tucked away—Prince Erix of Kelvadan, struck dumb and disheveled by my mouth.

Carefully he reached up and pushed a stray curl out of my face.

“Did we…” I started, drifting off curiously.

“Call down lightning by accident?” he finished. “Unfortunately, I think so. Probably sent the horses running.”

“We should go find them,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “They won’t go far.”

Erix’s expression turned wistful but resigned as he tucked himself back into his pants. “Then we need to ride for Kelvadan once more. Their queen has been away for too long already.”

The reminder of my responsibility settled over me and grew steadily heavier as we prepared to set out once more. The city needed a leader in these dire times, and I was unsure I measured up to the challenge.

I stared down at the lump of bread no larger than my fist as nausea roiled in my gut.

Through years of practice, I was able to tamp it down and bring it to my lips and take a bite.

Normally my nausea had been due to hunger, but dread now filled my stomach, making it hard to eat—dread that the people of Kelvadan would know that same hunger, sooner rather than later.

After reading a report on the dire state of Kelvadan’s grain stores upon returning, I had declared to the archons that the entire palace would start rationing.

It would stretch the city’s ability to endure for a few more weeks, but the future beyond that grew dark and desperate.

There was no end in sight with the crops continuing to fail, and already this amount of food was not enough to sustain a grown adult.

Many would already be going to bed hungry on these rations .

My eyes burned as a choked down my bread, knowing now was not the time to waste food, even though it sat like lead in my belly. I blinked rapidly at the sky, trying to compose myself as I chewed and swallowed.

Crying over my hunger had never succeeded in feeding me in the past, and it wouldn’t feed the people of Kelvadan now. As I squinted at the crystal-clear morning sky, I found myself staring at a pair of fluttering wings.

At first, I thought it was Zephyr, who had followed Erix and I back from Kelvadan and I assumed now fluttered around Erix as he labored in the fields to fix the irrigation system.

As the bird descended though, I realized it was far too large.

Where Zephyr’s feathers were banded in black and white, these were a golden brown.

The bird fluttered down past the balcony where I sat before the startlingly high-pitched caw of an eagle drifted up from below, signaling that it had likely alighted on the terrace below. Curiously, I stood and wiped my hands on my pants before hurrying from my room and down the spiral staircase.

As I skidded around the corner, I found out why an eagle had decided to land at the palace. Calix stood near the railing, the eagle standing proudly on his gloved forearm. It preened in satisfaction as the prince gently stroked his feathers.

My footsteps scraped on the stone floor, and both the man and the bird turned to look.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” I said, raising my hands. “I just wondered what such a magnificent bird was doing here.”

Calix smiled broadly, the expression as swift and bright as a sunrise. “Nonsense. I’m glad to see you. As is Sirun.” He motioned to the animal on his arm.

“He’s yours?” I asked.

“My companion, and my messenger,” Calix said. “He carries letters from me to my father, the king, when I’m visiting the outlying islands or away on missions like this. But I also just love birds. Falcons, hawks, eagles… you could say I have a way with them.”

He lifted his arm, and Sirun took to the sky again in a flash of bright golden feathers .

I walked to stan near Calix near the railing and we watched side by side as the eagle wheeled away into the sky. I could see why he was drawn to the creatures. Like a horse, or a ship, wings were freedom. Right now, I wished I could grow wings and leap from the terrace too.

“Actually, I’m glad to have been interrupted by you,” Calix admitted. “I’ve been trying to catch you for the past few days, but you had been nowhere to be found.”

I ripped my gaze from the sky to stare down at my fingers where they gripped the edge of the railing. “I was sequestering myself while I figured out how to fix our grain issue. The archons should have been able to help you with anything you needed.”

“Did you find a solution?” There was something calculating in his eyes before they softened into genuine curiosity.

I thought about lying—in the Ballan Desert, a lord who showed weakness wouldn’t stay a lord for very long. But Calix’s open demeanor disarmed me, and I was not a skilled liar. The worry written on my face had likely already spoken the truth.

“No,” I sighed, barely fighting the instinct to put my face in my hands.

“Well then you’ll be glad to know that I heard back from my father about a trade for grain, and he has set his terms.”

At that I perked up, whipping my head toward him. “What are they?”

Calix scrubbed a hand over his close-cropped beard. The awkwardness written on his face made my stomach lurch with dread.

“That is part of why I was hoping to catch you personally and not the archons,” he started. “The King of Viltov is willing to offer significant support if our kingdoms were to form an alliance. However, he is insistent on certain… assurances that this agreement would be honored.”