“I’ll emphasize to him how important it is for courageous young men and women to stay home and safeguard their villages.” Skye lay quiet for a moment. Then her tone changed. “You don’t have to wait for me to fall asleep, you know.”
“What?” Panic threatened Lark, throwing her wits into disarray. She understood how vital it was to protect Azaleen’s reputation. “I’m not waiting—”
“No, you aren’t,” Skye said. “You don’t honestly think I’d say anything, do you? Lark—please. I have eyes and at least half a clue. The whole team knows—although my aunt might be oblivious. No one in Verdancia is more loyal to Queen Frost than we are. She asked you to come to her tonight, didn’t she? I mean, I sure would. We’ll be gone on missions, and she’ll be back to facingall the generals and politicians alone. Well, she has Chief of Staff Fontaine, but she won’t be sleeping with her.”
Shock rocked Lark. Did they always know what Azaleen was up to? Did the queen only enjoy an illusion of privacy? “You and the guys know? Nothing’s really happened yet. Azaleen’s reputation—”
“Is safe,” Skye assured her. “We’ve worked closely with the queen—Luke the longest—and it’s our duty to know who she’s with at all times. Can’t have a traitor or spy get her alone. Honestly, I’m happy for both of you. Queen Frost has kept no one’s company—save her household and Sabine—since her husband’s death over ten years ago. If she’d had any lovers, regardless of how discreet, her personal guard would have known. If you two can carve out a few hours of bliss amid a deadly invasion that could crush our fragile experiment of a nation, then I’m happy for you.”
Lark found herself at a loss for words.She hasn’t been with anyone in over ten years? No pressure there,she thought. “Thanks, Skye. You know I’d take a bullet for you too.”
“Try not to,” she quipped in a playful tone. “One more hole in you and all the good parts will start leaking out.”
Laughing and shaking her head, Lark slid out of bed. “I’ll be back before the guys wake up. We must at least project the appearance of propriety.”
“I’ll be picturing Renée and living vicariously through you, so you better take an extra lap around the stars for me.”
Lark’s joy radiated from the inside out as she pushed her ear to the door. Hearing nothing, she opened it a crack and peeked into the hall. The wall lamps had been turned down, now little more than a soft glow. Footsteps. She pulled back, glimpsing Wes enter his room and close the door. She waited and, when no one else came, eased out, tiptoed to Azaleen’s door. Turning the knob, she found it unlocked. Instantly, her brows drew together at the queen’s lapse in security. Of course, her elite team surrounded her in a secure hotel in a city she ruled. With a bracing breath, Lark slipped inside.
Chapter four
Where Desire Meets Dawn
Azaleen’s room glowed with soft candlelight, flames dancing in the breeze from the window. At first, Lark could neither move nor speak as she took in the image of a goddess. Her silvery mane cascaded around her bare shoulders, framing a flawless face highlighted by magnetic blue eyes. Her vampish black silk lingerie bore stark contrast to her alabaster skin. She had been in midstride when Lark entered and now stood invitingly at the foot of a massive, luxurious bed, draped with lavender silk sheets and piled with fluffy pillows.
Lark went still, every cell in her body forgetting its purpose, mesmerized by Azaleen’s exquisite beauty. The queen’s lips curved, and she fluttered her lashes. “You came.”
“Surely, I might have taken my life in my hands and come even if you hadn’t invited me.”
Azaleen sashayed a step closer, a mischievous look playing across her face. “How insubordinate.”
As her nerves smoldered into arousal, Lark locked the door behind her and inched nearer to Azaleen. “I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had time to learn all the properetiquette.”
Azaleen arched a brow, her lips pressed in a crooked smile. “Then perhaps I need to teach you.”
Now, only a hair’s breadth apart, Lark inhaled her pleasing fragrance, every sensation roaring to life. They were about the same height, with Lark’s athletic form only an inch taller. Standing so close without touching was exquisite torture, but she waited for Azaleen to make the first move.
The queen’s smile broadened, and she cupped Lark’s cheek—a gentle move, affectionate rather than erotic. At the touch, Lark’s eyelids closed, and she inhaled deeply, savoring the moment. As if rehearsed, they fell into each other’s arms in unison, pulling tight. Lark wasn’t sure if the heartbeat thundering through her was Azaleen’s or her own as her head swam with pleasure.
“What do you want, Azaleen? I want to please you,” she purred into her ear. Holding her close like this was intoxicating. Lark trembled, yearning for more.
Azaleen pulled back enough to find Lark’s lips with a searing kiss, deepening with a driving thirst. Then, holding her gaze in the flickering candlelight, she said, “I want you to command me.”
Lark froze, unsure she’d heard right. She hadn’t expected such a request. “My queen?” she asked in hesitation.
Azaleen’s expression remained profoundly serious as she rested her hands on Lark’s hips. “For so many years, I’ve never been able to escape my station—not even for a night. I must always be in control, wrapped in an aura of authority, making life-and-death decisions with the ease I’d use when selecting a pastry. It’s exhausting, more so than I can explain. For one night, I wish to put aside the queen and simply be a woman—to remember how it feels to submit to human impulses, to give and take without weighing consequences, to surrender myself to someone I trust, and to lose myself in wild abandon. Will you do that for me?”
Though nearly rendered speechless, it was as if a part of Azaleen’s consciousness had been absorbed by Lark’s own, and she understood. She’d never borne the weight of responsibility or the constant scrutiny of one in authority, and, yet, she grasped the essence of her queen’s longing.
Catching her cheeks between her palms, lost and found in the depth of her gaze, Lark said, “Gladly,” and kissed her. “But you must promise to let me know if what I do pleases you.”
With a chuckle, Azaleen replied, “I’ve no doubt you’ll please me, Lark. If I think you need a suggestion, I’ll offer it. Now, my dear—lead on.”
A slow, hungry grin spread across Lark’s tan face, and she backed Azaleen to the edge of the bed. There, she inspected her prize with unfathomable delight. “God, you are so beautiful. I want to see all of you.”
“I am yours to unwrap.”
Azaleen’s words, the frisky ring in her voice, sent a tingle rippling across Lark’s skin. At once, her mouth seemed filled with cotton. Her fingers drifted to Azaleen’s shoulders, then coaxed the ribbon-thin straps down her arms with slow, deliberate care. The garment whispered to the floor, revealing only bare flesh underneath.