Eternal Darkness (A Novel of the Amagarians Book 1) by Stacy Reid Read Free Book Online Page A

conversed with, a man with whom she shared no common interest? He frightened her on a deep visceral level, but the heat in his eyes could not be mistaken, nor the desire that had jerked low in her womb.
    She trailed her fingers from her neck to stop above her heart. She did not know why it pounded so when she thought of him. It could be fear, but a part of her whispered that it was sheer fascination.
    Could she take a Darkan as her lover?
He would be the perfect choice, for there would be no danger of her losing her heart. She had sworn to always be a queen who would rule without the messy emotion of love interfering with her duty to her people. Her grandmother, Lady Ava, was still tormented daily over a choice she made years ago. She’d had the opportunity to save her people, and she’d chosen her consort.
    But what did Saieke knew about seduction? Her previous attempts had been sorely lacking. Groaning in exasperation, she flashed onto the bed, and thumped her headrest. She really did not know if she could do it— deliberately take a Darkan for a lover, using him for her purposes.
Using him
. It was the part she had struggled with so much in her court. What in kings’ teeth was she thinking?
    She had to decide on a course of action, or she would return to Boreas on the morn. She went to sleep with the resolve that she would find a way to save her people, at all cost.
    ***
    Drac stood cloaked in shadows on a high turret overlooking the south wing. His beast prowled in the cage of his mind. The princess appealed to him. He could smell her unique and elusive scent from the west tower. Astoundingly beautiful and poised, she had handled herself like a queen in the presence of his king as they drew up the honor bargain.
    Drac had felt her distrust, her uncertainty, yet her expression had not betrayed her. If his kind did not feed their beasts with negative emotions, he would have thought her serene and at peace with the bargain. Most would have been paralyzed with fear. Her poise was certainly something to be admired. Or she could be simple-minded and not aware of the precarious position her flight placed her in. He recalled the surge of fear and uncertainty that occasionally flared within her. No, she was aware…just a princess trained.
    He felt uneasy since meeting her, and that feeling was anathema to him. Drac scowled. He had never encountered a woman whose scent made his beast uncoil and inhale, which it did several times. Her scent had hit his gut like a rush of negative energy. Something elusive had also lingered beneath her fragrance, something delectable that confounded and aroused him. He snarled, snapping his teeth together, shifting as his trousers tightened against his erection.
    Dangerous
. What intrigued Drac even more was that he wanted to know about her. Why did she flee her kingdom? Was it to break her kingdom’s pledge to the Nurian king? The princess courted death if she was indeed breaking a blood oath.
    Gidon wanted her protected at all times. Warriors had been handpicked by the king himself for her protection. The Princess’s presence would arouse curiosity, fascination, suspicion and rage. Many remembered Queen Sora would still be reigning today if not for Boreas’ bigotry and revulsion. Gidon had selected Lachlan, another enforcer, and their negotiator and peacekeeper, to travel to Boreas. Gidon felt it prudent to not provide any more Darkans on the princess’s return to her kingdom.
    Drac understood Gidon’s caution and respected it. A team of even four of their kind would likely incite war.
    Drac would remain at the castle for the night, and then he would depart with the dawn to complete his mission of finding King Rajliegh’s assassin, thankfully away from the temptation of the princess.
    Take her….
    Want and need hummed beneath his skin. His beast rumbled in satisfaction, and Drac frowned. It had never been satisfied before with anything other than negative emotions, the darker the better.