Black Moon Draw(70)

“I do not disagree,” he says before I can voice my response aloud. “You deserve a man I cannot be at this moment.”

In my heightened state of awareness, the words crush me. The ultimate rejection. I’m regretting my decision, even if some part of me knows it’s the right one.

He releases my ass and shifts his hips back, wrapping me once more in a hug as intimate as it is platonic.

The tears are back, a combination of hurt and frustration. What are the chances I find a man who makes me feel the way this one does – and he turns out not only to be a fictional character, but one who is engaged to someone else?

Par for the course. It takes me a good five minutes before I can breathe steadily again, and there’s no way my humming body is going to let me sleep or calm down when I’m in his arms. His passion has the power of a tsunami, and it would be so easy for me to surrender and let him sweep me away.

But not right. As much as I hate to admit it.

Blinking away tears, I press my face to his neck and breathe his scent.

He says nothing, and I work on calming down. What’s clear: there’s no way I can take a nap. My body responds to his touch rather than my silent commands, and bleakly, I realize this might be the only opportunity I ever have to experience a night with someone like him.

And I can’t do it.





Chapter Seventeen





We don’t remain much longer. I want to write off my inability to sleep on the cold weather and grass tickling my cheeks, but I know it’s the wired energy, hard body, and sexually-charged tension that’s preventing me from calming down enough to sleep.

We start down the dirt road once more. My feet hurt worse from blisters and my pace is much slower.

The Shadow Knight doesn’t complain. The awkwardness between us is charged with emotion and attraction, not to mention apprehension about what happens in two and a half days.

At long last, moonlight reveals the steep walls of his hold, visible up a winding dirt road that runs along the cliff. Only the wall is visible from our angle, but it’s enough to show me how large the seat of his kingdom is. The imposing wall stretches from the cliff for over a mile inland.

A large party on horseback emerges from the fortress and barrels down the road, stopping as they reach us. A man with the head of a Jackal dismounts and drops into a low bow before the Shadow Knight.

“M’lord. We were sorry to hear of the death of your second. I am his brother, here to replace him.”

Wolfie’s dead? I had no idea. A glance at the Shadow Knight’s face is enough to tell me this is a big deal. His jaw is clenched, his eyes gray gems. His sadness in the tower makes sense to me now. I have to imagine he and his second were close, since he told the master-at-arms his secret.

“Your steed, and one for the witch.” Jackal says, motioning someone to bring two horses forward.

“The witch rides with me,” the Shadow Knight says firmly.

I curse him silently but don’t say anything, my mind taken over by another question I hadn’t thought to ask. On the roof of the Red Knight’s, my little squire had been prepared to die for me.

Had he?

I can’t stomach the idea.

“Brown Sun Lake is marching upon our lands. The Desert Knight has tricked us, crept behind our armies,” Jackie-the-Jackal continues, urgency in his tone. “His armies are at the edge of the forest.”

The Shadow Knight mutters foul curses, all business once more, his battle energy back after a rather peaceful day walking. He slings himself onto the horse. Bending down to grab me, he gives me a warning look as I push at his arm.

“I can ride my own horse,” I object.

“On the battlefield, I command.” He cups his hand behind my neck to bring my face closer to his. Gray overtakes his eyes.

Don’t think of the kiss. It’s too late. My eyes go to his full lips, and I recall what it was like having him on top of me and his mouth pressed to mine. Any truce I thought I had with my body is instantly gone, boiled alive under his intensity.

“Do you understand?” he whispers.

I nod, not trusting myself to speak.

He releases my neck before wrapping an arm around my waist and hefting me before him. I shiver as our bodies meet. Each touch is getting harder to ignore.

The horses head away from the castle, following a dirt road leading along the foothills of the mountains.

“The answer to your question from earlier is nay,” he says for my ears only.

“What question?” I reply.

“This is your home, Naia. I will do everything in my power to show you that.” His hand slides to my lower belly, and he presses me more firmly against his hips. “You belong to Black Moon Draw. You belong to me.”

“So we’re back to that,” I manage somehow to keep my tone even. My pulse races and I’m overly aware of his strength and heat, the width of the hand on my belly, the way he nudges my head aside with his chin. “Did you forget our deal already?”

He says nothing.

The men around us move away, spacing out as we ride along the foothills towards a break in the mountains.

“Naia,” the Shadow Knight’s voice is almost too quiet for me to hear. “My master-at-arms did not have a brother.”

My eyes go to Jackie, who leads the procession, followed by other men whose faces are conveniently hidden by their animal heads. “Then who are they?” I ask, uneasiness trickling through me.