Crown of Iron (Book 1 of the Crown Trilogy)

Twenty-Seven

My foot slips on the slick surface of a rock in the middle of the river. I yelp, my arms jetting out to the side to balance me on one foot. With a slow, deep breath, my feet find purchase, and I lift my head.

Kyron stands on the bank with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Tell me again what this has to do with my training?" I ask.

He steps onto the rock nearest him. "It's the safest place I can think of to let you play with my fire. All of this," he extends his arms, "is your playground. Just try to keep it over the water so you don't light up the forest."

I sigh and smooth my hair back. "All right, so now what?"

"Call it to you."

"Like I'm calling a puppy?"

"No. Summon it to you like it is your own...command it."

I eye the flame sparking to life in Kyron's hand, and from the very center of my being, I wish for it to move toward me. The muscles in my jaw flex and my forehead wrinkles as I try harder. Come on flame, come here, I think.

The fire flickers in its creator's hand, mocking my failure.

"It's not working," I say, releasing a breath.

Kyron steps forward onto the next rock, closing some distance between us. "You already used my gifts in a way I never have. You accessed two of them at the same time. I can quickly switch from one to the other." With a flick of his wrist, a ball of fire flies into the air and smokey shadows billow from his fingertips, but the flame extinguishes before the cloud can cloak it. "But the hidden fire trick you did was phenomenal. What were you feeling at that moment?"

"Scared, angry, disgusted."

"Strong emotions. How about my gift? Could you feel it?" He moves to the next rock.

"I felt it." I shake my head. "I always feel it when you're close, but it isn't until you touch me that the desire to wield it is uncontrollable."

He walks over the last two boulders, standing before me with his shadows between us. "Is it stronger now?" he asks.

"Yes."

The cloud stretches in his hand, reaching for me. I brush my fingers over the delicately curling tips like I'm petting a small animal. My eyes close and I relish in the darkness. It flows through me, hiding my secrets, calming my fears, blanketing me in eternal bliss.

"Take it, Raelle," Kyron softly urges.

I lower my hand until our palms meet. The shadows caught between us. It slides through our fingers and coils around my wrist, brushing along my skin. Kyron slowly moves away, and I meet his gaze. The shadows slither along my shoulder and around my neck, morphing from smokey gray to colors reminiscent of clouds reflecting the rays of the setting sun.

"Pull more to you and cover yourself in it."

I will the shadows forward and a sensation like a tug pulls at my chest. The shadows embrace me, whirling around me, and Kyron's breath quickens.

I loosen my hold on his gift, and he shakes his head. "Don't stop. It doesn't hurt. It just...I've never seen it change." He licks his lips. "I want you to take more."

"What does it feel like for you?"

"It's like returning from battle, and those you care for the most are still at your side or finally finding rest after nights of sleeplessness. The warm burn of a spicy whiskey." He smiles and his cheeks turn pink. "A soft body pressed to mine after months of not knowing another's touch."

My heart flutters like its grown wings and will soar out of my chest. I cling tighter to his gift, letting it anchor me. "It's a sexual feeling for you?"

"Isn't it for you?" He steps onto my rock, and shadows engulf us into a multicolor, foggy cocoon.

It's impossible to ignore the way my stomach transforms into a cage of fluttering butterflies, how my fingers ache to tangle in his hair, and my thighs press together to gratify the euphoric throb between them. I want him, but I wanted him before this moment. His gift's response to mine only intensifies the desire I've fought to disregard since the moment I laid eyes on him. I tried to reason my feelings, pretend they didn't exist, but I'm tired of denying what I feel toward him.

"Yes, it's sexual," I admit.

Kyron places his hands on either side of my neck and glides his fingers along my jaw. My lips part at the sensual feel of the shadows flowing from him and the caress of his callused fingertips. His thumb brushes the corner of my mouth, and I tilt my head to kiss it, fighting the urge to taste his skin. I clutch the front of his shirt to steady myself as the world spins around me.

Kyron leans in and high-charged energy sizzles between us. My hands heat, tingling to feel his fire. I'm invincible when I have him this close and his power at my command. His flames lick at my skin, and I pull it forward to intertwine with the caress of the shadows. Kyron hisses and grasps my wrists, pulling them away from him, and I lose my hold on his gifts.

I franticly try to call them back to me, but the darkness recedes in gray coils, allowing the sunlight to beam down on us. My entire being feels cold and empty without his power. It's like I'm going into shock and need him to breathe life into me again.

Kyron runs his fingers over the angry red skin peeking above the neckline of his tunic, and a new emotion overwhelms me—panic.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry."

He pulls me closer by my wrists, which he still holds in one hand, and brushes his lips against mine. "I'm not."

Fear has me moving my face to the side, pressing my cheek to his. I dread hurting him again and am even more terrified of opening myself up to whatever this is between us. "We can't, I'm promised to another," I say. The words sit heavy on my chest and are gritty like sand in my mouth.

He sucks his lips between his teeth and releases me. "I didn't realize things between you and Leif were so serious."

"He's going to be my husband. We've already taken our oath before the Statera."

"I just thought—"

"That because he fucks around I would do the same?"

"That's not what I said, Raelle."

I step to the next rock, putting some space between us, and a sullen chuckle escapes me. "Could you imagine the scandal that would surround us if people found out I cheated on him?"

"With a Stigian."

I spin around to face him. "With anyone. I have to live up to the great love story of Micah and Borin—the prince and the pauper, a perfect love which defied their stations, a loyal union."

"Even if your betrothal wasn't promised before the Statera, you would marry Leif out of pure duty?"

"Yes. Duty holds me to many things, and Lucent comes first."

"That's bullshit."

"That is the weight of a crown," I snap.

Every fiber of my being is integrated with the words rolling off my tongue. I hate them; I always have. They devalue my wants compared to those of my people, binding me with a jeweled shackle which sits beautifully upon my head. And the person I can't stop desiring, the crown pushes him just outside my reach.