The Queen's Line (Inheritance of Hunger #1) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,47

the pants, moving quickly to find a skirt to wear while riding.

I wanted to fly, to take off into the sky and get the wind and sunlight on my skin and to finally catch my breath. But I was missing wings, so a saddle and a fast horse would have to do.

I managed to skirt around the guards, who seemed mostly to ignore me anyway, and took a garden door out of the palace. The gardens were horribly neglected and overgrown, grasses thigh high, but there were still flowers blooming in the midst of all the chaos—roses overtaking trellises and magic lilies peeking shyly around sapling trees. I found a route, feathered grasses clinging to my skirt and leaving seeds behind as I followed stepping stones over to a break in the hedge. The stables were on the other side, down a gravel path and on a plateau below the outcrop the palace was perched on.

I moved as quietly and quickly as I could, half expecting Guard Stark to appear unexpectedly. I'd never lived much of my life outside of observation. There were always servants on hand in the capital, always someone watching under the guise of being helpful. I'd learned how to slip around corners at a young age, to lose the tail of a watchful guard, but my freedom usually only lasted for a handful of minutes, maybe an hour if I was lucky.

As I approached the stables, it seemed I'd have even less than that. There was a low masculine murmur from inside, likely a groomsmen I hadn't come across. I tiptoed up to the wide open doors and then paused, a slow smile stretching across my lips. Former groomsmen, as it turned out.

"Yes, you are sweet, aren't you?" Owen murmured, brushing down the length of my gray gelding's back inside of its stall. "Just like your princess. She's as lucky to have a horse like you as we are to have a princess like her."

The horse snickered and danced in place, and Owen laughed, cheeks full with his smile.

"I think you do her justice just fine," Owen said with a dip of his head, as if the two were carrying on a conversation. "I'll have to take some notes, won't I? Don't want to disappoint someone as perfect as her."

It was like being struck in the stomach, nearly bowling me over in one great burst of heat and…and a clench of need. My feet were moving before I knew what was in my head, and Owen looked up from the gelding at my rapid approach.

"Just thought they could use a little company," Owen said, his smile even brighter for me than it had been for the horse. My blood flashed in my veins, a spark to fuel.

The stall door was open and I reached inside, grabbing Owen's free hand and yanking him towards me. The brush in his hand clattered to the floor, and my gelding huffed as Owen came stumbling over, our chests crashing together. I was high on my toes, arms around his neck, when he caught on. He lifted me from the dusty floor and up into his hold as our lips slanted over one another.

I was starving, desperate, aching. I needed Owen. Not touch or kisses or sex in general, but this man specifically. His flavor on my tongue, his brittle moan caught in our kiss, his dense arms squeezing me tighter. He stumbled, and my back hit the gate of an empty stall, our hips pressing closer together. I dug my fingers through his unruly dark hair, clutching the strands in my fist as I licked my way into his mouth and rolled my hips into his.

"Bryony," he gasped, drawing away with wide eyes.

"I'm very curious. I need you badly," I answered, leaning in again and scratching my teeth over his jaw as I used his own words from days ago. His skin was smooth now, although I knew by nightfall it'd be scratchy and coarse again, and he tasted like salt on his neck and cloves on his lips.

Owen groaned and shuddered, his nose pressing into the corner of my jaw, breath panting and warming my throat. "Are you—"

"Owen, please," I said, and even though I was begging, I was also pushing on his shoulders, trying to drive him to his knees.

So this was what knowing felt like. I didn't care where my hands went, or if anyone else was nearby, I just had to have Owen against me, the