Page 26 of The Dark Prince
He was kneeling next to me, one large, gloved hand on my shoulder. I’d been having a nightmare, and he woke me up.
Blindly, I reached for him, my mind a blur of bad images and sensations.
“Who has hurt you? What is wrong?”
I couldn’t put it into words, because nothinghadhappened. In life, the men had stalked me for days, but got nowhere. I was too good at hiding, and Roselle held most of their attention.
But in my dreams, they have already found me.
It was stupid. I was a weak, little girl. No one had touched me, and yet I was still so terrified I had frequent nightmares.
“It’s stupid,” I spat out even as I gripped his sleeve in my hand.
A hand on my chin tilted my face up toward his golden eyes. “Nothing is stupid if it frightens you. We all fear monsters.”
He let me cling to him, and I climbed into his lap before I lost my nerve.
A bit stunned, he didn’t protest as I sobbed against his chest, his arms slowly coming around me to rest in the gentlest embrace I’d ever had.
“This is one reason I stay away,” he began, his dark voice rumbling in my ear. “Men have hurt you before.”
I nodded into his chest, unable to speak. His arms tightened around me, and I closed my eyes in bliss. Tyr was safe. He’d lop off the head of anyone who tried to touch me without permission. One by one, my muscles relaxed.
Tyr tried to pull away, but I stubbornly held on. “It is still the middle of the night,” he said softly. “You must sleep.”
He tried to lower me back to the furs, but I tugged him with me. With an audible ‘oomph’, he fell down into the furs next to me, dark clothes and all.
“Please,” I whispered fiercely, afraid the nightmares would return if I closed my eyes. “Just stay right there. That is enough.”
Before he could protest, I wiggled back into the furs, sliding in against him and burying my head in his chest. His heartbeat was strong and steady against my skin. Instantly, I calmed.
He made a sound like he was going to speak, then must have thought better of it. He exhaled a heavy puff of air from his nose before he turned properly on his side and draped a fur over the both of us. An arm snaked around my side and held me in place. I wiggled against him happily, and he tensed.
Ok, no wiggling.
“Just until you fall asleep,” he begrudged so softly that I wasn’t sure if he meant for me to hear. I didn’t care. His body felt wonderfully warm and secure pressed to mine. I had my Tyr, and he would keep me safe from harm.
My eyes drifted shut again, and I slept through until morning.
Twelve
TYR
Iknew it. I had suspected Perron had hurt Isadora, but her dream was confirmation it hadn’t just been him.
How could anyone threaten or wish to hurt her?
I hadn’t planned on sleeping next to her in order to avoid temptation. Yet it was the only way she calmed and fell back to sleep.
Not before rubbing against me in the most heinous of ways.
Little minx.
As she relaxed against me, I carefully pried myself out from her grip, rolling onto my back in the furs. My hand immediately went to my hard cock through my breeches. I bit back a groan as I stroked myself, knowing I needed relief if I was to make it through the night with her virtue intact.
I turned on my side, facing away from her as I plunged my hand below my breeches. To my utter embarrassment, it only took three rough strokes until I came with a grunt, spilling my seed into an old rag I’d dug out of my pocket. I wiped my hand on the rough cloth and rolled it up tightly, then shoved it back down into its pouch in my pants. I pulled my breeches back up on my hips in disgust.
What would Isadora think if she caught me?
