Her heart picked up speed. She grabbed Tarian’s pant leg, barely stopping herself from curling her feet under her on the couch cushions.
“Be easy.” Tarian pulled his arm from the back of the couch and ran his fingers under her chin. He applied pressure to bring her face up, looking down into her eyes. “It won’t hurt you if you don’t let it seep in.”
“But ithasseeped in?—”
He shook his head before dropping his lips to hers. “That is the feeling of its touch, but it is just extremities.” His volume was normal. He was allowing people to see her uneasiness. Herdifferentnessas a human. “Don’t open yourself up to it, and that is as far as it will go.”
“How do I stop myself from opening up to it?”
“By ignoring it.” He traced her lips with his thumb. “When you lean into its siren song, when you allow yourself to be hypnotized by its allure, it will seek to embed itself within you. That’s how it will twist your magic. Distract yourself.” His eyes sparked fire, and gold ran a river around his pupils. “Pleasure me, little human.”
She glanced at the ground, wondering how in the world that stuff could feel alluring.
“Maybe it doesn’t affect humans the same way,” Tarian said, his brow pinching as he looked at her. Reading her, more likely.
Or maybe it’s because of the chalice magic?she thought.
He didn’t answer, his gaze sharp despite his obvious desire. He didn’t know.
She ran her hand along his hard length through his trousers, certainly distracted, but not by him. The voices kept slithering around her like the shadow swirling around her legs.
It does not belong here. Kill it!
“That can’t be good,” she murmured, looking around the other seating arrangements, little groupings for the fae of high status and shared circular tables for those lesser. The shadow crawled across the floor there, too, pooling around ankles and reaching as far as waists on the more affected fae. “Why would anyone want to come to court and constantly have this annoying them?”
She freed him from the confines of his pants, and he breathed heavily as she ran her palm against him.
“Suck it,” he murmured, his lids hooded. He didn’t seem to notice the shadows at all. Indeed, a strange light sparked in his eyes, a little off balance, like when he’d come into the prison. Or when he walked the halls. “Suck it down deep, human.”
His fingers curled into the back of her hair before he dragged her closer, forcing a kiss. She opened her mouth to accept it, delighting in the strength and power of his dominance. Needingit to rip her attention away from those horrible shadows, now chanting,Kill it-kill it-kill it!
His other hand wrapped around her neck in a choking hold, pulling her higher onto the couch. She had to pull her legs up to accommodate, getting her knees under her and thankfully out of the shadows. The voices died away and, with them, her uneasiness. Still, she knew they were there. Could feel their presence slinking along the floor under them.
Tarian let go of her neck and forced her down to him. She captured the base of his cock and ran the tip along her lips. She swirled her tongue around it, and he sucked in a breath.
“That’s right.” His voice was louder, commanding. Passing fae would definitely hear him, and likely the clusters seated around them, too. “Good.”
He pushed her down harder, and she acted like she wasn’t sure, bracing against his thighs and resisting. His fingers tightened, and he worked her up and down his shaft, pushing into her throat and growling with need. Her fingers tightened on his thighs. She sucked rhythmically, swirling her tongue at the tip before being shoved down again. She felt her own desire start to climb, enjoying pleasuring him despite the posture of her body. Delighting in his taste and feel despite her tenseness and the act she was putting on for the court.
“That’s it,” he groaned. “Nice and deep. Take it all the way in, human.”
She did, her wetness leaking down her thighs.
He pulled the hem of her dress up over her rear, exposing her. She jolted, but he cooed in her mind.
Focus on me, little dove. Focus on how good it feels. I’ll keep you safe. They will see you—see us—but they will never touch you. I will make sure of it.
With the chalice magic, she felt for the closest person, her vessel not full and wanting to rectify that. That fae had toomuch power, though. Those were always the prickliest. The most prone to notice when she was trying to take some—or so it seemed with theFallen.
She hunted for another and another as Tarian’s fingers ran down her center. He groaned as she repeatedly took him in, and he dipped two fingers into her, stroking just right.
“Hmm,” she purred, liquifying against him. The act of restraint was over. It was too hard to pretend.
“Yes, that’s right.” She took him all the way in, wanting to do this for him in a way she’d never cared to for anyone else. “Please me, human, and I will give you a present.”
She’d hold him to that.
He chuckled within her mind as his fingers worked. She redoubled her efforts against him, wanting him to control her harder. To be rougher.
