The Prince of Zammar

Into the Fire - Chapter Three & Epilogue

THREE

Jalen sighed to himself. What, in his ancestors’ names, was she waiting for? A formal invitation? He made sure to color his tone with his impatience when he ordered, “Enter.”

He sat on one of the cushions next to the table, with his back to the wall and his face in the shadows. Jalen’s view of the anteroom was more encompassing than Sadie’s was from where she stood. He also had an excellent view of Marek, one of the two elite guards standing at his door, and what he saw angered him.

Marek was eyeing Sadie with obvious lust. This could become a problem, Jalen thought with a frown. Jalen knew Marek had no compunction about how he sated his appetites with whichever woman caught his eye.

He would order Kadar to remove Marek from Sadie’s guard rotation. After seeing this, Jalen did not trust Marek to keep her safe.

His gaze drifted back to Sadie. She’d noticed Marek’s leer and stood frozen in place.

With his patience wearing thin, Jalen almost barked at her to come to his side, but he restrained himself when he saw her take those first tentative steps in his direction. Concern trickled into his mind as he became aware of his own agitation. He analyzed his body’s and mind’s reactions. Was an episode growing? Showing Sadie his more unstable nature would not help win her trust.

The beast was there as always, coiled and ready to take over, but he still had some time. Time enough to enjoy her company for a while.

Besides, she was at the threshold now, searching for him. She looked him up and down in in a completely shameless once-over, and he felt his lips twitch. Her continued nose-thumbing at palace protocol amused him. When Sadie’s gaze lingered on his bare chest, he smiled. He almost laughed out loud when she realized she had been staring and jerked her eyes away. Other than her inspection, she did not react to his presence.

“Come. Sit and eat,” he spoke out when she did not move further into the room.

His command elicited a bow from Marek in the vestibule, and Sadie had no choice but to take a step forward when the door bumped her and clicked shut. With a squaring of her shoulders, she strode across the floor towards the table.

Jalen knew the delicacies on display would tempt the coldest of hearts, and after a week’s stay in the city’s gaol, Sadie had to be famished. A full belly and some rich sweet coffee should put her at ease, he thought

She knelt at his table, her eyes wide as she stared at all the food offered to her. Without waiting for his permission, she reached out and plucked some roasted lamb with her fingers. Did she even chew that first bite? He thought about delaying her gratification and stopping her with a reprimand, but when she opened her mouth and her tongue flicked out to snag another tasty morsel from her fingertips, all thoughts of chastisement fled his mind. Her look of bliss at the bite bordered on erotic.

Jalen’s eyes tracked the progress of her next piece of lamb as it traveled to her lips. The way she licked her fingers before finding the cloth for her hands made him imagine her tongue swirling around his cock instead. He felt himself growing hard.

Her eyes again locked with his, and he read in them her uncertainty. He indicated with a wave of his hand that she should continue to eat her dinner. He liked her enthusiasm, although her manners were atrocious. He had to admit that, in spite of it all, this meal was the best Jalen ever had the pleasure to host.

As the meal progressed, he let her see the desire that was growing inside him, and was rewarded when he saw her swallow self-consciously. His other senses told him her body also answered to his proximity.