Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,46

go to sleep so the rest of the camp can as well? Every male here is hard as fuck right now because you just made Aria very wet. We’re all waiting to get off with our fucking fists the moment she’s asleep and can’t hear us being pathetic assholes. So, if you don’t mind, Aria, close your pretty lips and eyes and go the fuck to sleep,” Brander shouted, and the surrounding men grunted their agreements.

I snorted as Knox did the same, staring into my eyes. I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth, smirking at him. “Night, guys,” I whispered, pushing my head against Knox’s chest. He placed his hand over my ear, tightening the blankets around our entangled bodies.

“You like the taste of me?” Knox asked, and the men groaned, standing before stomping off toward the woods.

“Go to sleep,” I scolded, kissing his heart as my eyes grew heavy while he held me against his heat.

I forced my smile to remain hidden. The sheer horror that I could use him had dumbfounded him. You’d think as King, he’d be accustomed to people using him for his status, but to consider his prisoner, his sworn enemy at that, and that had left him feeling dirty and used? Well, he hadn’t liked that feeling one bit. Good, because I wasn’t done with him. Even if I’d rattled his beast to reach the man, I would sink my claws into his heart and show him he still had one that beat among the land of the living.

Chapter Eleven

We’d moved to a smaller camp with more people, making it overcrowded. I’d been unable to escape Knox, and he was hell-bent on twisting me inside out. He’d been training for three days, each of which he’d been shirtless and covered in sweat. His scent drifted to me nonstop, and whatever control he’d held over it, he’d thrown aside and let it suffocate the air surrounding me.

Today he’d been training in front of me with Brander. Both men dressed in nothing but pants as they fought with swords. I’d skipped my usual wandering around the camp aimlessly to twine sage for the coming Beltane ceremony, which was where we were heading.

I worried my lip with my teeth as my fingers worked skillfully, having twined and threaded sage a million times before into smudge sticks. The sound of Knox and Brander’s swords crashing against one another, mixing with their grunts as they collided, filled the silence of the camp.

Knox dodged an attack, and every sinewy muscle in his body pulsed as he spun, disarming Brander easily with an upward swing. Knox caught the blade before it hit the ground, handing it back to Brander. Turning toward me, Knox grabbed a jug of water, pouring it over his head, and I swallowed hard on a groan as his eyes sparkled in victory.

I set the sage down, running my fingers over the sweat beading at the back of my neck. Unable to look away from the water droplets that ran in slow motion down Knox’s abs, I exhaled a shuddered breath. Closing my eyes, I released my lip from my teeth as a moan escaped my throat before clamping my mouth shut. I grabbed the table, fighting the urge to strip naked and mount him like some wildling in heat that didn’t know proper etiquette.

“Are you okay?” someone asked, and I turned, opening my eyes to stare at Siobhan. Her voice sounded far away, yet she was directly beside me, wide, worried eyes studying me. Okay? No. I wasn’t okay.

“I’m great,” I mumbled as a rattle slipped from my chest. “Couldn’t be better,” I said in a high-pitched tone that caused Siobhan to frown and for Soraya to match her expression.

I turned as Bekkah moved into my line of sight, slipping her hand over Knox’s bare chest. The purr that slid past my lips was loud and very, very unfriendly. Knox’s lips twitched, tipping up in the corners as he leaned over, whispering something against Bekkah’s ear. His hand played with a strand of her hair, and Soraya screamed, “Fire!”

Smoke billowed up with the thick scent of wood and sage surrounding me. I watched Knox and Bekkah through the smoke with narrowed slits as anger shot through me. Turning away, I dismissed them, noting that Greer looked past me toward the table.

“Breathe, Peasant, before you burn everyone up,” Greer warned, staring at the table of sage, now fully engulfed in flames. “Some of us aren’t fireproof!”

“Noted,” I