Corrupted: An Epic Dragons and Immortals Romantic Fantasy (Fallen Emrys Chronicles Book 1) E.E. Everly (best biographies to read .TXT) 📖

sick of nights on the road?” He took a long swig from a mug before jiggling it at me. “Warms the blood. Would you like a sip? Cian makes a throat-burning brew.”

I shook my head. “I’m plenty warm.”

“You’re always warm.” He set his mug on a stump and studied my unadorned tunic, neither thick for protection during combat nor quilted to retain heat. Kelyn wore a padded long-sleeved jerkin under his wool surcoat, but he still shivered on cold evenings.

“It’s my light,” I said dreamily, watching my puffy breath, imagining it sailing on the breeze to a sunny place.

“What does it feel like?” He brushed a wisp of hair away from my face, and his fingers lingered along my jawline.

I closed my eyes while my mouth relaxed open. My shoulders dropped, and the tension from the day’s ride slipped away. “Like warm water coursing through my body, soaking through every pore, under my skin and into my bones. It’s like lying in the sun, cocooned in a black blanket on a frigid winter day. The blanket absorbs the sun’s rays until I’m toasty enough to melt, but instead, I drift off into a blissful slumber.”

“Show me,” he whispered near my ear.

My eyes popped open at his request, and his mouth descended over mine before I could respond. I reveled in his gleaming eyes for the briefest second before they closed.

A whimper wrenched through me as the plumpness of his lips smoothed over mine, swallowing the eager participants who were soft and pliable to his touch.

Kelyn. Kelyn.

I gripped his arms and pressed harder into the kiss, daring my tongue to trace the swell of his upper lip.

This was not like me.

I had never kissed Aneirin, and here I was, kissing a prince.

A mortal prince.

My heat grew as I was caught up in the sensation. Fire started in my heart-center and flared out to my fingertips and into my lips. Kelyn. He wanted to know what my light felt like. I gave him a taste.

My mind flashed to ages ago, to the man in the village who’d planted a hungry kiss on his woman.

My heart skipped a beat.

I was acting human with my kiss.

But I couldn’t stop.

My energy diffused into Kelyn’s skin. I envisioned my light dripping into him like honey drenching a sponge cake.

Kelyn groaned. His hands cradled my neck, and he angled my head back so he could drink more deeply from the light I so generously shared. He whispered my name over and over between his breaths.

I felt wonderful. I felt euphoric. I was soaring over oceans and mountains. Canyons and waterfalls.

Take my light. Need my light. Want my light—want me.

Oh, Deian… My conduct was reprehensible. Dirty. Immoral. With a little whine, I pulled away, knowing these feelings caused trouble. They were trouble.

Corruption, my conscience whispered. How was kissing Kelyn and feeling this way wrong?

“Kelyn…” A pain ripped through me. He tasted too good. I shouldn’t have been so fervid in the bestowal of my light or of my affections, but I wanted to be loved by him, by someone.

My earlier feelings of peace slipped away. The unrest that Kelyn inspired coiled through me. The familiar sensation of the bomb waiting to explode returned.

Wickedness.

I wrapped my arms around my torso, telling myself this behavior couldn’t be disgraceful, but Kelyn brought every desperate want to the surface, plucking the cords of my heart.

I wasn’t ready for these feelings.

Not after Aneirin.

“You’re absolutely right,” Kelyn muttered. “By the stars, is this what being with perfection is like?”

My brow crinkled. “I’m not perfect. You’re mistaken.”

“I’m right. You’re perfect in every way. Can’t you see it? Those things you call imperfections are what I love about you.”

“Stop.” I stepped back. “Don’t say it.”

He stepped closer, determination bolstering him. “Don’t say what?”

“Don’t say it!” I clapped my hands over my ears. Master of Light, don’t let him say it. The mortals’ ways—they just belted things out. They expressed how they felt in insignificant words, not realizing they couldn’t possibly describe what lay in the heart. But what did my heart feel as he kissed me?

Kelyn couldn’t read into my soul as I read into Aneirin’s, but Kelyn would say words without a guarantee of reciprocation, so carelessly.

No. No! I could promise nothing.

He laughed and pulled my hands off my ears. “You don’t need to fear my love, Niawen.” He gathered me in his arms. “Love is never anything to fear.”

“I fear it. You wouldn’t understand.” Love hurt. It scraped. It gouged.

“Let me love you, Niawen. I’ll give you my whole heart.”

“Kelyn, you don’t know what giving me your whole heart means.” He couldn’t. Could a mortal bond with an immortal? I didn’t know. It was too soon to find out.

I’ve known him for only a few weeks!

He buried his face in my hair. “I have an idea. If it’s anything like the past few minutes, my Niawen, then I know all too well.”

My breath caught. My Niawen. He was claiming me—for his own, as if I could be his.

I felt light-headed.

Shutting my eyes, I allowed my head to spin as I nuzzled deeper into Kelyn’s chest. I loved the attention I received from him. Being loved was wonderful, but giving love… so much harder.

I studied my heart-center. Tell me what I should do?

Nothing. Do nothing, my soul murmured. Now is not the time for decision.

Before I could argue with my intuition, I was distracted by the nearby village’s lights. They started moving—fast. Scrambling, scattering. I reached for them with my light.

Alarm. Confusion. Chaos.

The village was in danger.

I pulled away from Kelyn as I caught the smell of smoke. Fire.

Seren’s sight encroached on mine. She was arriving at camp, bringing messages from