Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) by Brenda Davies (free e books to read .TXT) 📕

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Cole inhaled a shuddery breath as he strained toregain control of himself. He was no longer just battling the lycanpart of himself but also the hungry dark fae. It had been over aweek since he last satisfied his dark fae urges.

He hadn’t gone this long since childhood, andhe hadn’t realized how ravenous he was until now. However, as hestared at the wall of books and willed his erection away, he triedto recall when he last fed.

He didn’t remember the woman, but that wasnothing new; he didn’t remember most of them. The rare few madereturn appearances in his bed, and it was never because he wantedmore of them, but because they ran in the same circles, likeBecca.

But as Cole recalled the last time he fed, herealized it was before meeting her. His head swiveled towatch Lexi as she glided toward the doors, and his softeningerection stirred again.

Shit, he sucked a breath in throughhis teeth and fisted his hands. His nails dug into his palms as hewilled himself to let her go.

Not only was he hungry, but every part of himcraved her, and it was only a matter of time before he had her. Hewould not be denied much longer.

He rested his hand against the shelf as shevanished into the hall, but another round of knocking, and notbeing able to see her anymore, spurred him into motion.

She was at the door when he stepped into thehallway. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sahira emerging fromthe hall leading to the kitchen. She was wiping her hands on adishtowel as she walked. When her eyes met his, he saw the concernin them as she stopped a few feet away.

Lexi cracked the door open, but she didn’topen it enough for him to see who stood on the other side. However,a familiar scent caused his hackles to rise.

“Elexiandra,” Malakai purred from the otherside of the door.

Sahira stiffened, and when he glanced at heragain, he saw a hardness that had never been there before. Not evenwhen she was warning him away from Lexi had she looked so tense.Her chin jutted out as her eyes met his again.

She gave a subtle nod of her head toward thedoor. Cole didn’t need her to tell him to intervene in this, healready planned to do so, but it astounded him that she found himless of a threat to Lexi than Malakai.

He hurried to intervene.

CHAPTER 39

Lexi’s hand tightened on the door as Malakai restedhis hand on the frame and leaned toward her. His brown eyes burnedwith an intensity that made her stomach churn. A cruelmaliciousness burned in those eyes as he smiled at her.

It took everything she had not to step awayfrom him, but she managed to hold her ground. The unravelingcontrol of the dark fae prince made her a little uneasy, but Colenever made her skin crawl like Malakai did.

Malakai was smiling at her, in completecontrol of himself, and couldn’t make her one of the shadow kissed,but he was far more of a menace to her than Cole.

For one thing, Malakai wanted to marry herand rule over her life and lands. She’d rather be tied behind ahorse and dragged naked over a field of glass before being dumpedin a vat of rubbing alcohol than have such a thing happen, butstaying free of him could become the biggest battle of herlife.

She had a feeling he would make that lifemiserable until he got his way.

“Malakai,” she greeted flatly.

His eyes fell to her lips and narrowed. Shealmost touched them but stopped herself. Now that he’d drawn herattention to them, she realized how swollen Cole’s kisses had lefther mouth.

“Is there something I can help you with?” sheasked.

“I came by to speak with you about something.I thought we could take a walk.”

Lexi glanced at the sun and then the amuletat his throat. What did he do to earn it?

Knowing Malakai, it was something awful. Sheinwardly recoiled from him even as she remained standing where shewas. He unnerved her more than a child speaking in tongues, but ifshe revealed that to him, he would use it to his advantage.

She suspected he knew he unnerved her, and heliked it.

“I’m too busy for a walk,” she said. “I’msorry you wasted your time coming here.”

She started to shut the door, but he threwout his hand to keep it open. Leaning closer, his grin revealed allhis perfect white teeth, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

If the eyes were the window to the soul, thenMalakai’s soul was more rotten than meat left out in the summer sunfor weeks on end.

“I’m sure you can spare a few minutes of yourtime, Elexiandra. I have some very important things to speak withyou about,” he said.

She suspected some of those important thingswere marriage, and she was not in the mood to deal withthat. Even before Cole entered her life, she was determined not tobind herself to this man. But now that she knew what it was like todesire another so completely and like them, she would neveragree to marry Malakai.

Unfortunately, she might not have achoice.

“I can’t, Malakai,” she said. “You’ve come ata bad time.”

A flash of red ran through Malakai’s eyesbefore he managed to suppress it. Whereas the signs of Cole losingcontrol excited her, this loss of restraint from Malakai caused herblood to run cold. Cole wouldn’t destroy her life; Malakaiwould.

“I have to go,” she said and tried to closethe door again, but he refused to remove his hand.

He leaned closer as he hissed. “I’m notplaying, Elexiandra.”

“Neither am I,” she grated out as she glaredat him.

Yes, he terrified her, and he might force herinto a loveless and most likely brutal marriage, but she wouldnot let him push her around. She would not give in to himwithout a fight.

“Please leave,” she said.

This time when his eyes flashed red, Lexibraced herself for him to lash out at her, but before he could hither, an arm enveloped her waist. Cole tugged at the door, and shereleased it to him.

As he opened the door further, he pulled herpossessively against his chest. His posture was casual, buthostility coursed through