Rough, Sara Fields [the top 100 crime novels of all time txt] 📗

He gazed back at me with a certain consuming hunger and just as he was reaching for me, a knock sounded loudly at the door. With a reluctant sigh, he turned toward it and with several large strides, he opened it to reveal a male servant. The man looked nervous and it was clear to me that he hadn’t wanted to interrupt the two of us. It was likely that he hadn’t had a choice though.

“What is it?” he asked. There was a very slight hint of annoyance in Magnar’s tone as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. I didn’t know what he had planned for me, but it appeared it likely wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

“My king, the visiting ruler Erik seeks an audience with you,” the man said.

“I thought he’d left yesterday,” Magnar grumbled.

“The hand of the king invited him to stay a few days longer. I was not informed as to the reasoning, Your Majesty,” he answered.

“I expect that Neegan has planned out the next few days’ full itinerary,” Magnar groaned. He dragged his palm over his face, sighing quietly with frustration.

“I’m not sure, my king,” the servant replied anxiously and Magnar shook his head.

“I know. Thank you for informing me. I will be right down,” he answered. The look of relief on the servant’s face was more than apparent. He bowed his head and Magnar closed the door.

With several large steps, he strode back to me. He swept me up in his arms and captured me in another kiss that made my heart race and my core ache with need. My clit throbbed and I pouted petulantly knowing that there would be no time for the two of us to spend together for some time to come.

My needy little pussy was going to have to wait because we had to focus on the dangers at hand. We needed to deal with the Cult.

“We have to find out who the Acolyte is and deal with him,” I whispered.

“I know we do,” he answered. “We’ll do it together.”

“I’ll keep watch from within the walls,” I said softly.

He was silent for a long moment before he slid his hands down my shoulders, squeezing them tight before he leveled his gaze with mine.

“After this is all over, my love, I’m going to take you to that meadow like I had planned to today and remind you that I will forever be your alpha,” he purred, and I whimpered softly in anticipation.

“I’m looking forward to it, Alpha,” I whispered, swallowing heavily as I tried to figure out what that might mean.

“Me too, my sweet sigma.”

I could feel his reluctance as he pulled away from me, but we didn’t have any other choice. He brushed his hand against my cheek before he finally turned away and walked out the door. I waited several long moments before I followed and slipped inside the secret passages of the castle, watching over him from the safety of the walls.

The Acolyte was a ticking time bomb. Either we died first or he did.

For the next several days, I observed the happenings in the castle tirelessly. I attended every meeting that Magnar went to, every dinner and every late night showing of power that included an incredible amount of alcohol and beautiful women dressed in nothing more than thin gauzy fabric. I watched them dance for him, but he didn’t give any of them a second glance because he only had eyes for me.

I scrutinized every man I could find for a limp, but either he wasn’t here or he knew how to cover it up enough so that it wasn’t noticeable in public. I could look for the mark on his hand, but from a distance I couldn’t see them well enough to distinguish a scar of any kind. The Acolyte’s brown eyes weren’t remarkable enough to set him apart either, but I looked for them anyway. I watched for it all.

Late one night, I noticed that there was a piece of fabric caught in the window of the bedroom chamber I’d first been confined to. I opened it and grabbed it before it flew away, noticing that there was a small piece of paper curled up into a tight roll expertly hidden along the hem.

The scarf was a sign. It was from my father and the Brotherhood.

I pressed my back against the wall and unfurled it.

Ariana,

With the rise of the red moon, turn your gaze to the north among the overgrown colors of wildflowers. I’m sending a gift fit only for the lips of the betrayer. See to it that it is delivered.

The Ghost

I turned to look up into the sky to see the tiny glittering lights of the stars. The moon hadn’t risen yet, but I knew it would soon by the slight scarlet hue on the horizon. I grabbed a dusky gray hooded cloak and slipped it over my shoulders before I rushed along the stone hallways until I closed in on the gardens. Tonight, the castle was mostly abandoned, much of the servants asleep in their beds, exhausted from preparations for the biggest event the city had seen since the day of Magnar’s crowning.

Erik and Magnar had planned a big dinner celebration with the people of Kingsworth to commemorate a big announcement. He’d been too exhausted to tell me much about it when he’d come to bed the past few nights, but I could guess that they’d come to terms on an alliance of pretty epic proportions.

I’d learned a bit about King Erik in the time since I’d first met him.

Erik was king of a city far to the north that was said to be at least four times the size of Kingsworth. There were rumors that the buildings were tall enough to scrape the sky. It was built into the side of the mountains, carved out of stone and rock.

The city had never been taken.