Lord of the Abyss & Desert Warrior by Nalini Singh Page A

commanded.
    He knelt behind her, anticipation humming in his belly at the chance to touch this woman who spoke to him in ways no one else ever had, and who seemed to see something in him even he couldn’t see.
    “Once upon a time,” she began as he poured Jissa’s pretty-making lotion onto his palm, “there were three princelings and one princess. They were named Nicolai—”
    A kick of his heart, his mind burning as his hands worked the lotion into Liliana’s tangled locks, the sharp points of his armor having retracted themselves.
    “—Dayn, Breena and—”
    “—Micah,” he found himself saying, his hands fisting in her hair. “The third prince must be called Micah. You will do this.”
    Liliana went motionless. “Yes.” A whisper. “His name was Micah and he was the youngest prince of them all.”
    One of his hands brushed Liliana’s nape as he unclenched them, and she shivered. He didn’t jerk back his hand, though it was obviously too cold for her. He liked the feel of her skin. It was different from his own, more delicate and smooth. “Where did they live?” he asked to distract her so he could continue to explore.
    “In a kingdom,” she said, her voice husky. “With their father and mother, the land’s beloved king and queen. But this is not their tale. This is the tale of how the four siblings once summoned a unicorn prince, proud and dignified.”
    Wonder blazed through him, along with a tugging sense of knowledge. “There is a watch in the room where I would sleep,” he said, sharing a secret with her because she was his prisoner and would tell no one, “if I needed sleep.”
    “A watch?”
    Made of opals, emeralds and precious metals, it was his oldest treasure. “It has a unicorn on the face.” A noble creature, as regal as any ruler.
    Liliana sucked in a breath. “May I see it?”
    “If I’m pleased with you,” he said, because she was even softer now, her muscles no longer stiff. It made him wonder if he could coax her into lying naked for him as he stroked his hands along her skin, if she would go loose and limber all over, her thighs falling open to the caress of his fingers. His body grew hard, engorged.
    “The watch is beautiful but broken,” he said, scheming how he would make her naked even as he lulled her into softening even further. “The hands move so slow, Ican never catch the motion, and they have ever tried to reach midnight.” An extraordinary watch, that showed dawn, noon, evening and midnight, each quarter marked by a green gemstone.
    “There aren’t many minutes left, are there?” Liliana asked, turning to look at him over her shoulder, those eyes of no particular color suddenly piercing. “Before midnight?”
    “No.” With his finger, he traced a pattern on the skin of her nape, massaging his other hand through her hair as he did so. “Tell me this tale.”
    She shivered again. “My lord—”
    “There is soap there,” he murmured. “I’m just clearing it away.” Not a lie. Of course, he’d put the soap there.
    “One day,” she began, and he was certain she arched a fraction into his touch, “when Micah was very young and his siblings full-grown, his brothers were teasing him as older brothers do, by saying that they could summon a unicorn and it was a pity he was so small and likely to be scared of such a magnificent being, or they’d show him.
    “His sister, who was his champion, said for him to ignore his brothers, but Micah demanded they prove their boast, and so the four of them set off for the Stone Circle, a point of great power within the land.”
    “I bet they didn’t expect Micah to hold them to their stories.” The name flowed off his tongue so smooth and easy that he wanted to claim it.
    “No.” Liliana sighed. “Shall I duck my head under the water?”
    He looked at the bubbles in her hair. “Yes, then I will untangle your hair further.”
    When she ducked under and rose back up, all slick and sweet smelling, he knew