Prince of Power by Elisabeth Staab

been long since the last time.
    â€œWhat are you going to do if it’s something more serious with this male than just saving her life? After all, we both know how grateful I was when you saved my life not so long ago.”
    The very memory of Isabel’s gratitude the night he’d saved her from being kidnapped by wizards kicked his body temperature into high gear in a very pleasant way. Thad turned into her embrace. Her lips were warm and soft against his when he claimed her mouth. A trace of his own blood lingered when his tongue swept inside. If only he could kiss her forever, or at least until this whole terrible business with Tyra and that wizard got straightened out.
    â€œJesus, Isabel, I really hope you’re wrong about that. If she is involved with this wizard intimately, it’s even less likely that I can trust her judgment.”
    Isabel pulled away, and for all his power and station, he fidgeted uncomfortably under the intensity of her stare. “When you met me, you didn’t know me. I was a stranger. A prophecy brought you to me. What if someone had told you then that I couldn’t be trusted? That your assessment of me could not be counted on because your belief in the prophecy had clouded your judgment? Or if somebody had suggested that I was an unworthy queen because my best friend was a human?” Her breath caught on a sob. Thad reached to comfort her, but she held up a hand. “Or that I was a danger to our race because I got myself captured by wizards and ended up getting one of your fighters killed in the process?”
    Thad’s heart ached. For Isabel’s pain and guilt, and for his own loss of a good friend and a good soldier. His arms reached for her almost automatically. The flesh on his fingers itched to thread through her soft mane of hair and pull her tight. But he would always wait for Isabel to come to him, like a wild animal that could never be tamed. When she remained a mere arm’s length apart from him, and at the same time worlds away, Thad sighed with his arms akimbo and his head dropped back onto his shoulders.
    â€œOkay, I see what you’re trying to get at, but it’s a very different situation, Isabel. And fair or not, I’m king and Tyra isn’t the one in charge. It still falls to me to make these decisions. If she is wrong about this wizard and his intentions, then our race is in far greater jeopardy than it has ever been. And the blame will lie on my shoulders, not hers.”
    Isabel’s arms crossed over her chest, and her expression changed to one that Thad could not give name to but had quickly learned to recognize. Whatever was about to come out of her mouth would be exceedingly reasonable and would somehow at the same time make him want to put his fist through a wall.
    â€œSo talk to him, Thad. I don’t mean sit him down and interrogate him, I mean talk. You’re a good judge of character, and if you need to get your own warm and fuzzy that Tyra is judging him accurately, then this is the way to do that. And talk to her , while you’re at it. I suspect you’ve done nothing but yell since she’s gotten back. She’s made some mistakes, but she had good reason for them, so find out what they were before you convict your own sister.”
    Thad’s jaw cracked. “Yelling isn’t all I’ve done.”
    The quirk of Isabel’s eyebrow made it exceedingly clear that she didn’t believe that. “Talk to her, Thad.”
    In the midst of letting out the longest breath he could manage, Thad’s jaw cracked painfully again, and loudly enough that even Isabel winced. His gut soured and knotted. His mate was right. Still, his pride could not countenance being told how to handle this situation by her or by anyone else. Wisely, even Lee and Siddoh had refrained from offering their two cents.
    Tension spread throughout his body despite the marathon lovemaking only minutes before. That