Free Lord of the Abyss & Desert Warrior by Nalini Singh

unacceptable.”
    Turning, he stared at her with eyes as curious as a cat’s—and once more as green. “Why?”
    “Well—” He confused her, this man with his intelligence and his darkness and his wild innocence. “I can’t tell a tale naked!” she said at last.
    He shrugged those shoulders covered by armor that had become living skin. “The water will protect you.” With that, he walked into the bathing chamber.
    By the time she managed to break out of her stunned shock and follow, steam was rising from the surface of the huge bath, the Lord of the Black Castle standing there with a small, pleased smile on his face.
    She found her own lips curving. “I can’t wait to bathe properly.” Her entire body tingled in anticipation.
    When the big, deadly man beside her didn’t move, she folded her arms. “I will tell you a tale, but I won’t disrobe in front of you.”
    A short, taut silence before his expression changed, the smile whispering away to be replaced by something hotter, not the least bit innocent. All of a sudden, he was no longer the dread lord, but simply a man, one who was looking at her in a way no man had ever before done.
    It closed up her throat, caused butterflies to awaken in her stomach, made her blood run hot, then cold…but though her father often called her such, Liliana wasn’t stupid. She knew she wasn’t a woman men desired. However, the sorcerers who coveted her father’s patronage had tried to make her believe they saw her that way, though they were revolted by her all the while.
    She’d seen the shivers of disgust they couldn’t hide, the smirks when they thought her back was turned. But those men hadn’t hurt her. Her heart had already been so bruised by then that it felt little of their insults. Nothing they could do would ever compare to her father’s cruelty.
    “Perhaps you are my curse.” Laughing as he made her stand in front of him, a young, fragile-hearted girl of twelve. “I lay with the most beautiful woman in the kingdoms and sired the ugliest creature ever born. Yes, perhaps you are the punishment for my sins.”
    Another day, another year.
    “Come, daughter, you’re not afraid to help your father?”
    “Father, no, I—”
    “Are you scared the magic will damage your face?”
    “The acid—” Screaming, because he’d reached out and broken her nose with a single twist.
    “There,” he said with a nasty smile while she tried to staunch the blood using her apron. “It will heal back asugly as always, but now you don’t have to worry about the threat of pain.”
    “Liliana.”
    A deep male voice, not her father’s, not hurting and vicious and—
    “Liliana.” Impatience colored her name this time, breaking through the haze of memory.
    Snapping up her head, she looked into winter-green eyes that said they’d very much like to see her naked. Heat seared her veins, but she dampened the simmering burn with cold practicality. This man wasn’t like the others, didn’t intend to humiliate her—but, given his life in the Black Castle, he was unlikely to have come into contact with many women. It was unsurprising that even the ugliest girl in all the kingdoms had managed to capture his attention.
    “I said I won’t disrobe in front of you.” She kept her arms crossed, hiding the tight points of her nipples, mortified by her reaction.
    His scowl covered his face as he mirrored her action. “I am the Lord of the Black Castle. You are my servant.” A raised eyebrow. “Though you are also my prisoner.”
    “Does Bard bathe naked in front of you?”
    “I don’t wish Bard to bathe naked in front of me.”
    She glared, knowing if she gave in now, it was all over. To return him to Elden, she had to challenge him, awaken him. “No tale.”
    “You’ll tell me a tale or you’ll starve in the dungeons.”
    “Fine.”
    A growl. An actual growl, one that scraped over every inch of her skin. Then he turned on his heel and gave her his back. “Two