Read Smoldering Hunger for Free Online Page A

exasperated him. And he’d been determined to do something about it.
    Balladyn got his justice. He caught Rhi. And how he tortured her. The Dark King, Taraeth, had been ecstatic, believing he would have two former Queen’s Guards with him.
    Except Balladyn pushed Rhi too hard too quickly. She destroyed his fortress, and in the process showed him the sheer amount of power within her.
    Being near her once more also revealed something else—he still loved her.
    Deeply.
    Balladyn proceeded to chase her all around the world. Not to turn her Dark, but to be near her. His heart had leapt when he’d found her at Pompeii and she placed her hand in his.
    He hadn’t known what to do after that. Rhi was no longer running, but she still wasn’t his. Balladyn knew then he would have to tread slowly with her. Their first kiss had rocked him to the pit of his black soul.
    The more he was with Rhi, even for mere seconds, the more he felt himself changing. She consumed his thoughts day and night, asleep or awake.
    He’d waited thousands of years for her. He didn’t want to wait any longer.
    Then she’d come to him, asking for help. She had touched him, kissed him. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she felt something between them. There was no denying it, not the way she returned his kiss.
    In order for them to be together, Balladyn had to figure out how they could both escape Usaeil and Taraeth or take them both down. He’d watched Rhi in action recently as she, along with Con and Thorn, attacked Mikkel’s manor to save a human.
    All was going well until Rhi had been struck with Dark magic. Reliving that moment still made him feel powerless and so damn angry.
    Balladyn rubbed his chest where his heart should be and teleported to the desert. It was the place they’d shared their first kiss, the place they returned to time and again.
    He sat in the hot sand, letting the tiny grains burn his hands as he buried them. The sun baked him, but he didn’t feel any of it. He kept seeing Rhi thrown back by the blast of magic at the manor and then lie unmoving.
    Balladyn had attempted to go to her, but Ulrik stopped him. It was Constantine who took Rhi to Dreagan. All Balladyn could hope for was that the King of Kings used his power to heal her.
    It was not knowing how Rhi fared that was slowly killing Balladyn. He hadn’t heard from or seen Rhi in weeks. Each day that went by without word from her was its own special kind of torture.
    He called to her repeatedly. She either didn’t answer because she couldn’t, or she didn’t want to. With Rhi, it could be either option.
    Rhi was loyal to a fault. She had a good heart that he soured during his torture of her. She was amazing with a sword, and someone you knew you could trust explicitly.
    She wasn’t without her faults. She loved to meddle, and had a penchant for shopping daily. Her fingernail polish collection was unrivaled, as was her affinity for having her nails painted.
    The fact that she couldn’t lie without feeling extreme pain was a boon for anyone close to her. Rhi always told the truth, no matter how painful it might be. There were no lies or deception with her. Just honesty and laughter.
    That laughter had been missing from her eyes ever since she’d broken free from the Chains of Mordare while in his dungeon. He’d done that to her. He’d nearly snuffed out her light.
    How could he have done that if he loved her?
    He loved the Rhi that ran laughing through a field of flowers with her black hair loose and her arms out.
    He loved the Rhi whose silver eyes shone with mischief whenever she played a prank.
    He loved the Rhi who would bounce up and down with excitement anytime she had a surprise for someone.
    He loved the Rhi who would close her eyes and lift her face to the sun as if seeking its warmth.
    All that had drawn him to Rhi. And he’d crushed it. It was the darkness within her that allowed him to find her. It was that which called to him.
    He’d hated her for