Crown of Lies: The Complete Trilogy by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory

Author:J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory [Rain, J.R. & Mallory, H.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rain Press
Published: 2023-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Finally

Deep within the little wood, we found a grove where the trees had grown close, their branches knotting together to create a natural hollow.

I still didn’t quite grasp what was happening as Nicolo lifted me by the thighs and I naturally wrapped my legs around his waist. Then he carried me into the hollow and laid me down while he checked the back of my head, as if doubting his own abilities.

“I’m fine,” I said softly.

He didn’t say anything, just nodded, as he turned his back to me and started to build a fire, something I hadn’t even thought about even though the was now low in the sky and cloud cover was building. The air held a certain chill I hadn’t noticed before and, as if on command, I felt a shiver rush down my body.

When the fire was crackling and the heat was billowing towards me, Nicolo turned back to face me. He smiled.

“You saved my life.”

“And you saved mine.”

“I’m the one who put you in danger in the first place.”

That wasn’t true, but I let it pass.

He shook his head. “I saw him closing in on you and… I’ve never felt anything like it.” He breathed in deeply, as if there was something heavy on his mind. His gaze settled on his hands in front of him and as I watched, he stretched them out, splaying his fingers as he focused on them. “I didn’t,” he started but then shook his head again. When he looked up at me again, the violet of his eyes seemed to have deepened into a dark purple. Something weighty, heavy. “The idea of something happening to you, Charlotte...”

“I’m okay, Nicolo,” I breathed, wondering if he would notice that I’d used his given name. He didn’t even pause though, didn’t hesitate.

“He could have killed you.” He looked away then, as if he were battling with himself, as if he were trying to suppress his feelings. When he looked back at me, the emotion was thick in his eyes. “I don’t remember ever feeling so… so afraid.”

We were lying close in the coziness of the hollow, and his eyes were on mine—piercing and demanding. I was used to Nicolo looking at me, from our first encounter he’d found me attractive in a way that he did nothing to hide. But this was different. Those violet eyes, so alien and yet so warm and welcoming, didn’t burn this evening. It wasn’t lust, hunger or the fierce desire of the past that I read into his gaze, but something else entirely, and though I’d found the lust very flattering and I’d encouraged it, I liked this better. So much better. Because it felt real, sincere. It felt like he’d just opened himself to me—that he’d finally let me in.

I wondered if my eyes answered his in kind, as they always had in the past.

In an instant, he crossed the narrow gap between us and our lips met again, not locked together, but moving fast in a series of light, tender kisses, nervous and yet his touch felt so natural.

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