Desire like no other flooded my veins.Heat coiled low in my belly.I moaned in need.A single kiss, and I was already desperate for more.
Karim’s tongue slid between my parted lips to dance with mine.His fingers threaded through my curls, angling my head just right for my mouth’s plunder.
I was breathless, lightheaded, burning all over.I needed him.“More.”
“Temptress,” he whispered reverently over my lips.
“Don’t stop.”I cupped his cheeks to bring him back to my lips.
A shudder coursed through him at my words or touch–I couldn’t tell.And when both his mouth and body descended on mine, I stopped caring.
His hot lips brushing against mine, his thigh between my legs creating delicious friction–it was all too much and not enough at the same time.
“I won’t, my flower,” he nipped the edge of my ear.“Say yes, and I won’t stop until we are both lying spent on the moss.”
The promise in his words and the fiery kisses he began trailing down my sensitive neck made me moan again.The image of us together, our naked bodies intertwined on the moss, appeared in my mind’s eye.My brain conjured it as easily as if us making love were the most natural thing in the world.
And perhaps it was.Maybe we were meant to be together.If magic existed, why couldn’t fated love?
“Yes, Karim.Yes!”
This time when he slanted his mouth over mine, I tangled my fingers in his hair to keep him right there, mine to taste and explore.I felt him smile against my lips, and I smiled back.
Yes, this was right.I couldn’t explain how I knew it, but some things didn’t need an explanation.I simply felt it in my soul.Insane or not, I wanted this, craved it with my whole being, and–
Someone coughed.
Karim and I froze.Then turned simultaneously to where the sound had come from.
At the entrance stood a she-elf, a delicate gold crown adorning her head.
– 18 –
Telenovela
Just like that, all the burning heat in my body was replaced by a chill of fear.I couldn’t even find humor in the fact that, for the third time today, someone had walked in on me in the worst possible moment–as if I were in the middle of a telenovela.Because this time, the shit had truly hit the fan.
The person we were supposed to convince that whatever Katsia might claim was one big misunderstanding was now standing in the center of the room.She was stone-faced as she regarded us in our compromising position.A position that, even as a rumor, was grounds for execution.
Karim moved first.He was off the moss and walking toward the Queen in the blink of an eye.
That jolted me out of my stupor.I scrambled to sit and bowmy head respectfully as fast as my recovering ankle allowed.
With my gaze lowered, I couldn’t see what expression Karim wore on his face, but there was no mistaking the annoyance in his low growl.“Does no one respect my privacy today?”
No greeting, no attempt to placate the Queen–was he trying to get us killed?I could only hope that unlike Deidre’s fake calmness before Katsia, Karim’s behavior was part of an actual strategy.
“Do we need to pass a law on doorbell use to ensure good manners are not disregarded?”
I couldn’t help but look up at those words.Had Karim just told the Queen she had bad manners?And in English, at that?
Head held high, hands resting on his elbows, Karim was giving his half-sister a challenging look.
The Queen, an imposing she-elf with raven-black hair down to her calves, didn’t look impressed.Her black eyes, topped by perfectly shaped, thin brows, met Karim’s head-on.
She stood tall in a floor-length blue dress that hugged her willowy figure like a glove.Tiny crystals decorated the silky fabric, shining like stars under the wall lights.The constellation of gold beads adorning her hair matched her exquisite crown, as well as the gold chain belt around her doll-like waistline.
There was nothing delicate about her features.Though she still looked young, the sharp lines at her eyes and mouth spoke of years of hardship and the weight of responsibilities.
