arrive there? Last he recalled he was searching for something… He strained to recall what, but shook his head as rosy perfume rose around him, seeping into his senses.
His smile returned. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was home with his uxorem. Diana’s hair was loose around her shoulders and a gray dress clung to her body. Her fingers toyed with the lacing at the front and he watched as one side slipped down, baring her shoulder. He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to capture her scent. To his frustration it eluded him. A low growl escaped him in his frustration as he stalked forward. He needed his mate, now. He needed her under his fingers and her cunt beneath his mouth.
She grinned in invitation and her eyes trailed over him as he stalked closer to her. The robe fell away, revealing her lush figure. He licked his lips, his lust surging through him in need to claim his mate. He reached down to loosen his pants and frowned as his hand encountered armor. Dropping his gaze, he glanced in confusion at the dark belt that protected his loins. Why would he return to his chambers in armor?
“My love,” Diana’s voice whispered huskily, drawing his attention with another fragrant cloud, there seemed almost to be a thread of impatience to her voice in that one word. “Don’t make me wait. I need you.”
“Yes,” he murmured, his cock surging impatiently.
It didn’t matter why he was wearing the armor. He would be divested of it quickly enough. He pulled away its lacings and let it drop loudly to the floor. She sighed happily, a rosy mist exiting from her mouth as she drew nearer, her hand stretching out toward him. Enticing him nearer. He was nearly close enough that if he sprung forward, he would be able to pull her up into his arms.
“Silvas?” a familiar voice called. It sounded strained with tension and he scowled. Who was interrupting his intimate time with his mate?
He growled low and menacingly as he turned away from his mate. He would deal with the intruder and then return to sink into Diana’s sweet heat. He scowled as he was unable to focus on the stranger. Their figure blurred and warped every time he tried to focus on them. It had to be a threat. He didn’t know of any being within the Eternal Forest who had such capability. He bristled with hostility as his eyes narrowed on the threat.
“It’s a terrible monster, my love,” Diana whispered behind his back in a soft breathy voice. “Show me your strength and dispatch it quickly and return to me. I will show you such pleasure. It has been ages since I’ve had a strong male in my bower.”
He cocked his head at the strange turn of phrase, but he couldn’t afford to be distracted now. His lips curled back from his teeth as he advanced on the stranger.
Chapter 25
Diana froze as she watched Silvas stalk toward her, his expression a picture of utter menace. Just moments before he had been talking to the shadows just beyond her line of sight. She thought she heard a voice emerge, but she had had difficulty catching the words. His agreement, though, had been clear. Her heart thumped painfully behind her ribs. For an instant, he paused. He cocked his head and he slowed slightly, but once more the air filled with the sickeningly sweet smell and his expression once again became aggressive, the gray bands in his eyes blown out more than she had ever seen before.
Fear pounding painfully in her chest, she raised her arrow in a warning. “Silvas? What’s gotten into you?” A perplexed look crossed his face and she felt a shift of awareness along their bond as if he were fighting with himself, but it was fleeting as his brow drew down and his face hardened. Her stomach sank as she realized that he was staring at her without any recognition. Instead, he was advancing on her as if she were the enemy.
His posture radiated hostility. His head tilted forward, brandishing his dangerous antlers, and his long tail was slashing through the air behind him.
“Please,” she choked out. “Please, stop. I don’t want to hurt you.”
His lips peeled back in a cruel snarl and he lengthened his stride.
He wasn’t stopping!
She choked on a fearful cry at the way his face wrinkled in a terrible grimace. The angle of his head cast much of