CHAPTER 13
“Interrogate the prisoner once more then kill her, tonight.” Saar’s knees buckled, and he placed his hand against the corridor’s rough stone surface. His chest tightened, squeezing his lungs, his breaths shallow, forced. The sunstones lining the walls flared to life, warming the skin on his palm.
I have to kill Kaelyn.
His stomach heaved. The taste of bile filled his mouth.
He pushed off the wall and headed toward his destination. Heavy and firm, his boots clomped against the stone floor. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his trusty blade stored within its sheath. An image of him wielding his weapon through the air, the pointed tip slicing through—
The hair at his nape rose. Deep inside, a growl rumbled to life, low at first, but building with each heartbeat. His beast bucked against Saar’s will, fighting for dominance. Pulling on his core values of courage, honor, and loyalty, he forced his inner beast to obey his command.
As much as the beautiful Ursus shifter tempted him, he couldn’t go against his king’s command.
Light from the stronghold and the cells within brightened the corridor.
He slowed his pace, and stopped just out of visual range.
A clink of glass against metal rang down the corridor.
“Saar, are you playing hide and seek with me?” Ginnia’s gentle voice wafted from her cell.
A ball coiled in his stomach. What fate was in store for the little seer? Would Noeh command him to kill her as well?
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Alora, please, anything but that.
Numbness crept into his chest, erecting a barrier around his heart. He exhaled. Time to complete his task. He took a single step then another, his determination and loyalty to his king driving him forward. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Kaelyn, so he glanced at Ginnia. “Hello, Muzzie. No time for hide and seek tonight, I’m afraid.”
She pressed her bottom lip forward in an endearing pout and crossed her arms. “You’re no fun. Kaelyn and I are bored.”
Saar drew his gaze to the Ursus prisoner.
She leaned against the wall, one hand curled around the last bar in her cell, the silver rope entwined between her wrists. The bear’s head whistle dangled from the woven chain around her throat, and her eyes gleamed with that spunky determination he’d already come to adore. Hardening his heart, he reinforced the walls he’d erected long ago. He couldn’t afford to let his emotions interfere with his task.
He tracked his fingers to the hilt of his sword. The familiar sensation of the smooth metal should’ve been a welcome balm. Instead, the handle’s coldness seemed like he’d shaken hands with dread. Goosebumps rose along his arms.
“Back for more?” The sexy tone of her voice poked at his walls, as if searching for a weak spot to gain entrance to his heart.
He glared at her. “I have more questions. Ones you will answer.”
She pushed off from the wall and flicked her braid over her shoulder. The golden strand interweaved among the hair glimmered in the light. “We’ll see about that.”
Dressed in her tight-fitting dark shirt and black pants, the muscles in her shoulders and arms rippled with her strength. Saar perused her body, noting her full breasts and flared hips, but also her flat abdomen and the firm muscles in her thighs. She seemed like a female that could handle a bit of roughness in the bedroom.
He tensed at the forbidden thought. Heat crept up his back and warmed his ears. Not only would she reject him for his scar just like all the others, she was the enemy. Besides, she’d be dead soon…by his hands.
With more force than he’d intended, he growled at her. “Tell me about Mauree’s hideout.”
Kaelyn wrapped her fingers around the bars and leaned into the cage. Her cheeks pressed against the metal bars, her lips, plump and full, jutting between two rods. “No.”
The sudden urge to wrap his arm around her and feel those luscious lips made him flinch.
A smile tugged at the corner of her gorgeous mouth. “Wow, you scare easily.”
Searing anger rushed through his veins. Before he could stop himself, he acted on his desire, thrust his hands through the slits between the bars and tugged her to him.
Soft and warm, her curves melded against him, the bars captured between them. With a tenderness he hadn’t known he’d possessed, he cradled her head in his hand.
She struggled for the briefest moment, then met his gaze. Her eyes dilated, and she slipped her tongue from her mouth, moistening her bottom lip. “Do it.” Her words were breathless, husky, and all challenge.
“If you insist.” He brought his mouth to hers in a bruising kiss.
Her lips were as warm and soft as he’d imagined. Bold and brazen, she licked the sensitive seam between his lips.
Craya, yes… He opened to her and their kiss deepened. Need, hot and fevered, raced to his groin. The sac under his tongue hardened as it filled with his bonding ink. His inner beast growled. Mine…
The muscles in her arms and back stiffened.
Saar released her.
She stepped away. Her trembling fingers rose to her mouth. In the lines etched around her eyes, confusion and…something that appeared to be revulsion. Those were reactions he’d seen on females before.
He curled his lip, the scar tissue pulling tight. Of course she’d rejected him. Yet, his bonding sac had hardened. In all his years, he’d never reacted to a female that intensely before. A tendril of foreboding crested over his shoulders.
“Are you two done?” Ginnia’s soft voice filled the void.
Saar turned to the seer. “I’m sorry you saw that, Muzzie.”
“I’m not.” Ginnia snickered.
Kill the prisoner. Noeh’s command beat at Saar’s mind. His throat constricted, squeezing around a hard lump. There was no way he could kill Kaelyn in front of sweet, innocent Ginnia. Craya.
His attention returned to Kaelyn. She peered at him, her face a mask, her expression unreadable. Perhaps that was for the best.
He drew a key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. With a quick twist, the heavy pad slipped to the ground. The fixture crashed against the stone floor.
He slid a finger around the cell’s doorframe and tugged. A high-pitched squeak issued from the hinge.
Kaelyn’s eyes widened. Fear, brief and swift, flitted over her features. “What are you…”
Grabbing her arm, he spun her around, pinning her to him back to front. With her hands bound by the rope, she was easy to capture. He wrapped her long hair around his fingers.
She gripped her hand over his, trying to free herself. “Let go.”
“Take out your braid.”
“What? Why?”
He glanced at the golden material interwoven among the long tresses. “I’m taking you for a little walk, blindfolded.”