“You can eat first mate or clean your body.”
His princess glanced at the platter of food, then peered up at him. “I would prefer to remove the dirt and blood from my body.”
She paused staring at him as if waiting for something he obviously should be aware of.
“What is it, mate?”
“Do you not intend to turn away?”
“I am already familiar with every curve of your body, mate, there is no need to be shy.” Still sensing her hesitation, he projected the images of her naked before him in the emperor’s room and how she appeared to him as he’d kissed and pleased her with his fingers.
A blush washed over her body, and she sank lower into the depth of the water and pulled the tattered sari from her body and threw it onto the stone floor. Then she sank deep, swimming like a water nymph to the bottom before resurfacing. A few minutes passed in silence as she lathered her face with a rose scented fragrance, before dipping deep into the heated pool once again. This time when she surfaced, she met his gaze.
“I get the sense that when you refer to me as your mate, you do not mean for a night of…bedding.” Her voice was low, trembling, and his heart turned over in his chest.
Hunger clawed at him, creating an urgent, intense wave of lust. “I do not.”
Carefully avoiding his eyes, she reached for the scented oil on the rocks and lathered her skin and hair. Her skin looked rose-petal soft and inviting. “Where are we? At your home?”
He lowered himself to his haunches, watching her. She studiously avoided his gaze and the frantic pulse at the base of her throat tripped even faster. Yet he felt no fear and satisfaction rushed through his veins. At last, she was beginning to understand what she meant to him. “We are at Castle Kerberos. Home of Gidon Al Shra, King, and Ricarkri of the Darkage.”
“I see.”
As an Archduke for the realm, and friend to his king, Lachlan had a standing invitation to castle Kerberos along with his own personal chambers. He could only imagine the uproar he had left behind, but his first duty was the care of his woman.
“Do you live here?”
“No.”
Her lips smiled briefly, and it was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in a long time. It made him feel warm.
She huffed out a small irritated breath. “Are you always this succinct?”
“No.”
She waited, and he just watched.
“Then where do you live?”
“I am an Archduke of the Darkage.”
“What does that mean?”
He really liked her curiosity about him and his way of life. The pleasure that rippled inside his chest was unfamiliar but welcoming. “Our kingdom is divided into four provinces, and at each helm is an Archduke. I govern the east, Drac El Kyn sits on the seat of the North, and Talon Merinus at the south and Gidon Al Shar sits on the throne of the West, but he is also king of all. In my province, there are three million citizens. I must govern them by the laws of the Darkage and train the warriors of the east to be ready when they are called to arms to defend our kingdom.”
“In my world, your title would be that of a prince. When I first crossed through my portal to Amagarie, I thought to approach King Gidon for the aid I seek. The rumors and history of the dark ones were offputting, they spoke of a kingdom that was awash in constant bloodletting and war. So, I went to the Mevian emperor. How odd that the first moment I feel a sense of safety since I left my world is at this place?”
“And what aid did you seek?”
She considered him for several seconds. “I wanted an army.”
Something dark stirred inside him. “Why?”
There was a slight hesitation, then she said, “My brother, his wife, and children were slain.”
Profound pain darted through her, and the taste of it was repulsive to him.
“We…my advisors, and I did not know who committed the foul deed. An investigation was launched, but we found no one. The ebb and flow of life continued, and a few months later, on the day of my coronation…” Her throat worked, and she visibly composed herself. “On that day, as the High Priestess of Dxyriah was about to place the crown on my head, my home was attacked. I barely escaped with my life. And the man who’d attacked my home and assassinated my family now sits on my throne.”