The Sorrow of Shadows (Crimson & Shadows #1)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

brEYLA

“ W hat about him?” I ask Elijah, pointing to the copper-haired male in the corner of the tavern. He’s beautiful, really. Tall, bronzed skin, light brown eyes, and toned. My guess is he’s not a soldier but perhaps a laborer by the defined curve of his muscles. Someone who could throw me around in the sheets, but not necessarily one whose name I’d remember.

We’d been drinking all day, having shirked all our courtly and general duties in favor of getting drunk and forgetting the current state of things. Now, we sat in Luella’s tavern playing a game of truth or dare. In this version, though, if we fail the dare or don’t answer the question, we must take a shot of rum. Considering we knew each other better than anyone else, it was mostly just a game of dares. Elijah and I had a way of escalating the challenges, letting our competitive natures get the better of us. Before this, we had both been tipsy. Now we were one shot away from making fools of ourselves. I couldn’t find it in me to care, though .

“Him?” Elijah quirks a brow at me. He had dared me to kiss the male I thought would be the best to take to bed. With a caveat being he had to approve of the choice.

“Did I stutter?” I give him an incredulous look.

“Someone clearly has a type,” he says, smirking.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I scoff. Elijah didn’t know every male I had bedded, but he knew most of them. I did not have a type. Unless the type was dominating, muscled, and good at what they did.

“Please, B. I’m not blind. That male bears a distinct likeness to your long-time lover, Ci?—”

“He’s not my lover.” I glare at him over my mug of ale, silently telling him to drop it.

“And I’m not your best friend.” He rolls his eyes, calling me on my bluff.

“That can certainly be arranged,” I threaten. We both know I’m lying.

“Nope, sorry. It can’t. You’re stuck with me until the end of our days. Probably the end of your days since you’re more likely to do something reckless that will lead to your untimely death.”

I stare at him, my mouth hanging open. “Your lack of faith in me is disturbing.”

“I have full faith in you, B. Your taste in males, however...” He trails off, implying he disagrees with my choice.

“Fine,” I huff. “You choose one then.”

He grins at me triumphantly. “That one,” he says, pointing to a dark-skinned male in the opposite corner. “He will do just fine.”

“And you said I had a type,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. Elijah didn’t discriminate when it came to lovers, but this male definitely fit the look of one of his repeats.

He shrugs at me, clearly not denying it. “Go.” He shoos me away from the table.

I down the last of my ale before approaching the male. He has rich brown skin, smooth and stretched taut over his muscles. As I near him, I can see he has deep brown eyes—so dark they’re almost black. They twinkle in the light of the tavern as I close the distance between us.

“Can I help you, Gen?—”

“Shh. Not the general right now,” I interrupt him, covering his lips with a finger to hush him. “And yes, you can.”

“Just tell me what I can do for you,” he offers. His voice is low and melodic. I could easily fall asleep to the sound of it.

“Are you taken by anyone?” I ask out of respect.

His eyes widen and he realizes what I mean. “Not currently,” he replies with a wink. “But I could be tonight.”

I chuckle lightly at his brazenness. Technically, I started it. But it takes a lot to openly flirt with the general and princess of this kingdom. Leaning in closer, I whisper, “Perfect. I need you to help me win a dare.”

Before I can overthink it, my lips are on his. They’re full and soft and exactly what I need right now. This started as Elijah’s dare, but I didn’t need much encouragement. A warm body sounded perfect to take my mind off things. He wastes no time kissing me back, his lips pushing and pulling with mine.

The male clearly knows what he wants as he deepens the kiss, his tongue licking along the seam of my lips, begging for entrance. I gladly oblige, opening my mouth and deepening the kiss further. His hand grasps my hip, pulling me down into his lap.

He tastes of whiskey, and I pull his bottom lip into my mouth. I suck and nip, drawing a soft grunt from him. Strong hands squeeze my hips, urging me to rock softly against his hardening length. Happy to oblige, I roll myself against him, a breathy moan leaving my lips.

Breaking free from our kiss, he trails his lips down my jaw, alternating kisses and soft bites until he reaches the base of my neck. I feel him move one of his hands up my side, grasping my breast and kneading softly. Teeth dig into the soft flesh of my throat, and I moan, throwing my head back.

Lost to my pleasure, I had forgotten entirely we sat in a crowded tavern. Elijah hadn’t, though. “You win, B. Now get a room!” he shouts at me.

The male’s other hand laces through the hair at the base of my neck as he tugs softly, eliciting a whimper from me. This was growing far too heated for public, but I couldn’t stop myself. I just needed more, needed to feel good.

He breaks the kiss, trailing his lips across my neck to my ear. “Let me take you somewhere more private.” The low timbre of his voice sends chills down my spine. I nod in agreement, and he stands from the bench.

Wrapping my legs around his waist, I let him carry me through the tavern to the exit. Somewhere in the background, I hear Elijah whistle as we pass, but I’m too engrossed in my partner to respond. I want what this male promises and can sense it will be good.

The second we exit the tavern and turn the corner, he has me pressed against the wall of the nearest building. I thought maybe we’d make it to his home first, but this will do. His lips are on mine again, more desperate than before.

I feel his hands grip my sides, fumbling for the hem of my shirt. He pulls it up, slipping a hand under it and up to my breast. I writhe against him, my hips seeking friction against his growing erection. A low moan escapes his lips into our kiss, and I do it again.

I’m so caught up in the feel of him on me that I don’t hear the footsteps of an approaching figure.

I startle and pull away when I hear, “Well, this looks familiar, Princess.” Aurelius is feet from us now, a look of disgust on his face.

“I didn’t peg you for a watcher, Aurelius,” I mock, trying to get a rise out of him. My lips search for the males again, trying to make the message clear that Aurelius wasn’t welcome.

“What’s his name?” he asks. Suddenly, I’m thrown back to the first time he asked me that question.

“What’s his name, Breyla?” Aurelius asked. He gave me a disappointed look. What the hell did he have to be disappointed about? He didn’t give a shit about me.

“What does it matter?” I asked, looking away from the boy I had just been kissing. I was without a shirt and very close to being without pants. Aurelius had discovered us in one of the lesser-used passages of the castle right as things were getting good. He could have just kept walking, but no—he had interrupted us like the prick he was.

“It matters,” Aurelius gritted out.

I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling very exposed. “I don’t know,” I said quietly.

“So, you were going to fuck him, and you don’t even know his name. What’s your name, boy?” Aurelius asked. I didn’t miss the demeaning way he called him boy.

“Simon,” he mumbled.

“Simon, fuck off,” Aurelius growled.

Simon looked at me, trying to decide what he wanted more—to get fucked or not to piss off Aurelius.

Ultimately, Aurelius must have been more frightening than me because Simon dropped me to the ground. “Sorry, Princess. It’s not worth it,” he said, backing away from me.

“Are you serious?” I demand, trying not to scream in frustration.

“Another time, maybe.” He winked and disappeared down the hall.

Pulling my shirt on, I stormed over to Aurelius, shoving him in the chest. “You’re the fucking worst,” I seethed. Aurelius grabbed me by my wrists, holding them immobile in the air.

“Not by a long shot, Princess.” He smirked with satisfaction .

“I’ll get you back for that, you ass.”

“Why do you even care?” I ask, my focus returning to the situation at hand.

“Who said I did?” Aurelius retorts.

My partner runs his hand up my shoulder and caresses my cheek, turning my gaze back to him. “Sure seems like you do,” he says as his lips trail up my neck.

I tip my head back in surrender to the feel of his lips on my skin, but I can’t shake the feeling of Aurelius’s eyes on us.

“Fuck off, Aurelius.” My words mirror the ones he first used to chase Simon away years ago. That male never returned to my bed, and it started an exchange of insults between Aurelius and me. We would go back and forth, finding new ways to inconvenience the other, and our efforts would escalate each time.

“I don’t think I will,” he says.

“Fine,” I say, the word coming out as a breathy moan as my partner slides his fingers down the front of my pants at the same moment. “Stay and watch for all I care.”

Feeling his fingers trail lower, I roll my hips into him, wanting him to get on with it. Just as he reaches the spot where I want him, he’s yanked from me.

“Get lost,” Aurelius growls at the male. His eyes seem to glow from anger. An anger I don’t understand.

Much like Simon, the male decides this isn’t worth the hassle—that I’m not worth it—and leaves me alone with Aurelius.

“What’s your problem?” I spit the words at Aurelius.

“You, Princess.” His tone is calm, but his body is anything but. He has me pressed back against the wall in the blink of an eye. His presence occupies the one left by the male, but the way Aurelius fills it is suffocating. He dominates and commands the space around him. My chest heaves, lungs working hard to pull in the oxygen Aurelius has sucked from the air around me. “It’s always you,” he says, eyes narrowing on me .

“Good to know I’m still your problem,” I respond quietly, venom lacing my tone.

Aurelius sighs in frustration, then uses his thumb and finger to grasp my chin and turn it to meet his gaze. “You are much more than just my problem.”

I don’t follow his meaning, but my eyes search his for some explanation. His face is unreadable, and he refuses to break eye contact. The space between us is almost nonexistent, and my lips part slightly on instinct.

It feels like he’s stealing the breath from my lungs as we both stand there in silence, locked into a battle of wills for who will look away first.

“Let me go, Aurelius.” My words are soft but demanding. He ignores them entirely, instead pressing closer.

“Why? So you can track down some other poor male that will leave you wanting?”

I scoff, “He would not have left me wanting.”

“Are you sure about that?” he challenges.

“Who I fuck is none of your concern,” I retort.

“Perhaps not,” he concedes. His lips hover less than an inch from mine, and I wonder how we got here. I also wonder how his lips would feel against mine. Would they be soft and full like the other male’s? If he were anybody else, I would lean forward and take what I wanted from him—what he robbed me of when he dismissed the other male. “But I could think of much better options if you’re looking for someone to warm your bed.”

“Oh really?” I challenge. “Like who?”

Realizing his mistake too late, Aurelius says nothing. I wait a few heartbeats longer before pushing him off me and striding away from the wall. “That’s what I thought,” I snicker and return to Elijah and the tavern.