“That’s sacrilegious,” she tuts, teasingly. “Incense is holy.”
I grunt as I grip her ankles, wrenching her legs closer to me, and purr against her belly, “Then let the gods punish me. Starting with you.”
I dive back in to devour her. I flick my tongue over her glistening clit, and when she gives the sweetest little buck in response, my muscles tighten in pride. I close my mouth over her hot center and suck gently, then reach around from behind and press a thumb into her core, teasing the outer folds while punishing her with my mouth.
“Basten,” she gasps. “Oh, fuck. Don’t stop.”
I come up for air just long enough to murmur, “I had to get you to myself. All those damn diplomats vying for your attention, thinking they deserved a goddess?—”
A muffled cough from the fireplace cuts off my words.
I freeze.
What. The.Fuck.
I whip my head around, my pulse suddenly pounding like a war hammer, brows pinned together.
I stare at the enormous fireplace; the ancient hearth with “VIRTUE” carved in the stone, the flames churning out a thin line of smoke.
Sabine sits up, sensing my alert, and blinks fast. “What is it?”
She didn’t hear the cough.
I keep staring at the fireplace. Fuck, am I losing my mind? Or did I really hear a?—
Hmph-kff!
It comes again. Undeniable this time. Something—or someone—shifts position in the fireplace, trying hard to be silent, but my huntsman instincts snap into place with razor-sharp precision.
“Don’t move,” I growl to Sabine.
I roll off the bed, bare-ass naked, reaching for the closest weapon I can lay a hand on—a wine bottle resting on the table. I grip it by the neck, ready to slam it into whatever person or animal has crawled in the fireplace.
My mind reels.
Could Kendan have double-crossed us, sent an assassin?
One of Rian’s ever-loyal Golden Sentinels?
Or Vale?
“Basten.” Sabine leans forward, a strange glow to her eyes. Once, she might have shied away from the hint of danger, pulled the cover up over her thin shift. But that girl has evolved. Now, she’s the guardian of nature. More comfortable in her naked, natural body than in the most elegant gown. “What do you hear?”
I approach the fireplace in slow, measured steps. I hold a finger to my mouth, signaling for her to be quiet.
Yeah, it feels a bit ridiculous to be brandishing a bottle when she could burn our intruder with brimfire with a snap of her fingers—but blue ashes might be hard to explain to the maids.
I cock my head as I take another step closer. There’s a rustle of fabric. Yep—something is in there. Hiding in the huge chimney. When I lit the fire, the smoke must have flushed it out.
I could wait for it to suffocate—but let’s be real, patience isn’t my greatest virtue.
I drop to my knees, reach into the fireplace, and latch my hand onto…a boot.
I give a sharp tug.
“Ow!” someone howls as they lose their grip on the inside chimney bricks and crash down. They fall in a jumble into the massive hearth, half in the fire and half out, a tangle of soot-stained clothes and flailing limbs.
I immediately grab them by wherever I can—the shoulder and thigh—and haul them bodily into the room.
