Lexi couldn’t see the intimidating king of the dark fae teasing anyone, even his son, but she saw no reason for the prince to lie to her. Then again, she didn’t understand why he was talking to her.
Part of her remained tempted to bolt out of here, but he so entranced the other part of her that she found herself eager to learn more.
“Do you still get lost here?” she asked.
“On occasion,” he said with a rueful smile.
She didn’t know if he was telling her the truth or saying that so she wouldn’t feel bad, but either way, it made her laugh. “It is a rather large castle.”
“There are over a thousand rooms.”
Lexi’s mouth dropped; a thousand rooms! If that were true, then he wasn’t lying about still getting lost in this place.
“What can someone possibly do with a thousand rooms?” she blurted, and then her hand flew to her mouth and her blush deepened as she realized the question was rude.
He didn’t seem to find it such as he laughed. “I have no idea, and I certainly haven’t seen them all. I could spend the rest of my life exploring this place and never find all of them. Some are hidden. Some are lost rooms only entered by past kings and queens, and those same rulers sealed others away.”
His words intrigued her. She would love the chance to explore this place for a week in search of those hidden and lost rooms. It would be fascinating. “I would try to find them all.”
“Perhaps one day,” he murmured.
As he spoke, more vines moved to brush against him, and a few encompassed his biceps before slipping away again. He was oblivious to them, but Lexi’s amazement of the plants grew; not only were they lycan plants, but they craved the touch of a lycan.
Under the silvery glow of the moon, his eyes were impossibly bluer as they perused her. Unlike Malakai, whose lascivious gaze seemed to strip her bare, she didn’t squirm beneath the prince’s inquisitive stare.
He didn’t make her feel dirty or exposed before him; instead, she felt as if he was trying to understand her better, and she was becoming increasingly intrigued by him. For some reason, this terrified her more than Malakai’s obvious lust.
The dark fae were not known for their kindness or interest in others. They were known for their ruthlessness, power, and ability to turn once perfectly normal beings into mindless sex slaves.
It wasn’t something the dark fae did to all of their sexual partners, but they did it enough that cautionary tales about them abounded.
Despite the warnings to stay away, there were still those who got too close and eventually became one of the shadow kissed creatures seeking only sexual gratification.
She would not be one of them.
“So, Elexiandra, is this your first time in a Shadow Realm?” he asked.
“Lexi,” she replied.
“Excuse me?”
She edged a little further away. “Please call me Lexi. It’s what I go by.”
He smiled at her as he prowled a little closer. When he was this close, the heat of his body caressed her skin, and her fingers itched to trace his ciphers.
Lexi gulped and shuffled a few steps back. Getting involved with a dark fae was an excellent way to lose her mind.
“Lexi then,” he murmured.
“And you’re Colburn,” she said.
“Call me Cole.”
She tried to think of a response, but her mind and common sense had taken a vacation when she required them most.
“Have you ever been to a Shadow Realm?” he asked.
“No, and I admit, I find it fascinating as well as a little frightening.”
“I think that is most immortals’ reaction to the Gloaming.”
Turning, she gazed out the windows and focused on the lush forest outside the glass as she tried to calm her racing heart. “Is there a sun here, or is it always night?”
“There is a sun, and like on Earth, it rises and sets. However, there are always at least two moons visible at one time, and at midnight, all four are clearly seen for at least an hour. There are all kinds of creatures in this land. Some are like the human realm, and others… well, others would give you nightmares for a week.”
“Amazing,” she murmured.
She’d love to walk outside this castle and into those woods to explore the wonders they hid. She never heard him move, but his chest pressed against her back.
Lexi gulped as her skin tingled like little pulses of electricity were running through it, and her heart raced like a horse pulling a chariot. The hair on her nape rose as bumps broke out on her arms. If she turned, she could touch him and discover what he felt like.
Don’t be an idiot!
She tried to remind herself of all the deadly things the dark fae could do and how treacherous they were, but it wasn’t doing her any good. She yearned to touch him and ease her curiosity.
She couldn’t get any saliva into her suddenly parched mouth as the power he emanated crackled against her until she felt dizzy from it. Clasping her dress, she forced herself not to touch her forehead and swoon like some woman from the past who suddenly got the vapors.
“That”—he leaned over her shoulder and pointed to the moon on the right. When he spoke, his breath brushed her cheek—“is Orius, and that one”—he pointed to the moon on the left— “is Carpton. You can’t see them right now, but the other two moons are Dashius and Golen.”
Lexi found it increasingly difficult to breathe as his presence overwhelmed all her senses. He smelled of allspice and something else, something musky and powerful, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but it was alluring.
“They’re beautiful,” she managed to croak out.
Larger than the moons on Earth, they cast a lot of light upon the realm. And they were beautiful. One was full, while the other was a crescent sliver.
“Yes,” he said, and she felt his eyes on her.
Lexi gulped; she shouldn’t do it, but her head turned toward him, and their eyes met. They were so close, she could tell that no other colors marred the perfect Persian blue of his eyes.
She didn’t mean for it to happen, but her gaze fell to his lips. Sheltered her whole life, she hadn’t spent much time around boys or men.
She was aware her father protected her, probably too much, but she’d never argued with him about it. He always said she would have plenty of time for those things when she was older, but she would never be a child again. He was determined she enjoy her childhood for as long as possible.
She’d probably stayed sequestered for too many years, but though the war only lasted a couple of years, the tensions building up to it started years before then. When she might have normally spread her wings, she remained at home to run things while her father became more entrenched in the events unfolding.
And now she was standing with one of the most powerful and deadly creatures ever to walk the realms, and she longed to kiss him. When his gaze fell to her mouth, her breath caught.
Was he going to kiss her?
She should run as fast as she could from here. Getting entangled with the prince of the dark fae was the worst idea ever, and Lexi didn’t want to end up shadow kissed, but she couldn’t move away from him.
One kiss couldn’t hurt. It took far more than one tiny, curiosity-easing kiss to turn someone into a mindless sex slave. She didn’t know how much more, but since she planned to keep her clothes on, she wouldn’t have to worry about it.
He was leaning toward her, so close his breath warmed her lips, when a piercing scream shattered their solitude. The prince jerked away as more screams and shouts preceded a loud bang.
“Stay here!” he commanded and ran from the room.
Sahira! Lexi hesitated only a second before running after him.