He leaned back against the bathroom windowsill, gripping it with white knuckles. I undid his belt and his pants button and, outside of his pants, rubbed my hand over his already swollen part. He groaned. One of his hands dug into my scalp, twisting his fingers in my hair.
I freed him from his pants and tried not to blush. Last night, he’d been inside me, but it was different to look right atit. I was pleased but not surprised to find that his body’s perfection continued to every inch of him. Hard and rigid in my hand, he would have been an impressive specimen in any species.
I teased him with a soft kiss on the tip of his cock. His hand squeezed into a fist in my hair. “Willow.”
“Is this the type ofconnectionyou wanted toexplore?” I asked coyly. I ran my tongue along his tip, tasting his salty skin, lapping up his lust. He groaned as his body twitched, demanding more.
I swirled my tongue around his tip, then ran it up and down his length, finally taking the end in my mouth. He thrust into me on instinct. I took him the best I could, sucking and licking, using my hand and my mouth together to give him pleasure.
He buried his other hand in my hair, taking control of my head. “Yes,” he hissed. “Take it. And you’d better fucking like it.” His words were so shockingly dirty. In the bedroom—or in this case, bakery bathroom—Severn wasn’t formal and regal like he was in public. His movements were primal, and Ididlike it.
He groaned and thrust again. I felt him harden and then release. His body shuddered as I accepted him and then collapsed back, breathing hard, wiping my mouth with a paper towel. He cleaned himself up and buttoned his pants. Then, he pulled me to my feet and kissed me. I knew I must taste like him, salty and sinful, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Why didn’t you come inside me last night?” I whispered. He had certainly been eager enough to fill me just now.
He ran an appraising finger down the side of my face like I was a priceless jewel. “Fae and humans can reproduce. It isn’t common, but it’s possible. I didn’t think you would want to take the chance. It isn’t something we had discussed.”
I nodded. I was on birth control, and it hadn’t even occurred to me to worry about it, but this opened up all kinds of fresh questions about the fae. It reinforced that I was getting into uncharted territory.
“Well, next time, you don’t have to worry.” I told him about my pills.
He gripped my head and pressed a long kiss to my forehead. “Fuck. Willow. You shouldn’t have told me that, because now all I’m going to think about is filling you to the brim.”
When we finally stumbled out of the bathroom, I was surprised to see a server waiting outside the door. Her eyes widened to see both of us stumble out. I had to laugh to myself. Weeks ago,I’dbeen that girl. Reeling from a professor’s sloppy come-on and not knowing where I was going to live, envying the couple making out in a public bathroom.
Severn made a show of holding my hand as we stepped out of the bakery. One of the shop’s employees must have called the press, because a photographer was already there, snapping away.
“Mr. and Mrs. Wilde! Over here! Are you finally admitting you’re married?”
“No,” Severn growled as he stalked toward the photographer, who suddenly looked stricken and scrambled behind a mailbox. “ButMiss O’Dellis my girlfriend, so you can print that whenever you like.”
Girlfriend?
The photographer started snapping away, capturing my very surprised face, which I knew would soon be all over the magazines.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Over the next few weeks, I was back to wearing sunglasses and a ball cap, but this time for a different reason. Not because of false marriage rumors…because ofrealdating rumors. Ever since Severn had held my hand outside of the bakery and called me his girlfriend, the press had gone wild.
Severn had been photographed with many women over the years—mostly statuesque foreign models and beautiful socialites—and the press had speculated about prior relationships, but none had ever been verified. Now, I knew most of those women were actually members of his fae court simply working with him, like Briar and Bramble. Hehadslept with some of them but, as he’d explained to me many times with a perfectly straight face, felt no desire for anything besides sex.
But now the most eligible bachelor in the city—and certainly the most private one—had publicly declared his affection for his wards’ new nanny, a mysterious young artist, and you could imagine the headlines.
I slunk down in my chair in Stardust Coffee, pulling the brim of my hat lower as a barista walked by. Zara only laughed. She was back in town while her director boss was visiting his kids for a long weekend, and she was greatly enjoying torturing me over the press coverage.
“You’re going to have to get a wig,” she said. “A fake nose. That’s what celebrities do.”
“I’m not wearing a fake nose.”
She leaned forward over her steaming latte as her expression grew serious. She had texted me urgently the night before, telling me she had some information she needed to give me and would only do it in person.
“Listen, can I be serious for a minute, Willow? I’m worried about you. Being Severn’s girlfriend puts more of a target on your back than being one of his employees.”
I motioned to the next table over, where Kell ate a croissant while wearing dark shades. “My hired muscle knows what he’s doing.”
“I’m being serious. I told you there’s a powerful coven in LA, right? They’re literati witches, which means they can manipulate and intercept words. They were able to uncover some alarming messages about a new force rising in the Rockies. Denver or Jackson Hole, they aren’t sure. They think it’s the Werewolf King’s attempts to set up a court.”
I glanced at Kell out of the corner of my eye. He and the other werewolves working at Wilde Tower were part of the Central Park pack. They were adamant aboutnotofficially swearing fealty to Severn. They considered themselves independent contractors, separate from the fae’s New Court and thus not beholden to Severn’s rule, and Severn respected that. I think Kell would have sooner been eaten by demons than swear loyalty to any king.
