“I believe we established that I am allowed to play,” he said, not unkindly. At least, he didn’t mean it to be unkind. “Is that a draw then, Miss Blair?” He used the proper endearment to rile her and also to spare her. The last time he had called her ‘Seraphina’ the scent of her arousal hit him square in the face. He could not have endured that at the moment.
He needed to end this Game. Now.
“And,” he added, “I believe there were meant to be rules.”
Rules? The only ‘rule’ required was a total forfeit on both ends. But she was still pressed against him, still breathing heavily, the want and need still warred in her eyes. His pathetic echo from earlier teased and taunted like he’d not only abstained from fun, he forgot it entirely.
“Fine. What sort of rules?” She asked, drawing him back to the conversation.
He should say, ‘the rule is that we stop this before it gets out of hand.’ But for the last ten minutes he had thought of nothing outside this room. Nothing outside of her and the feel of her skin and all the ways he wished he could touch her. For the last ten minutes he was blessedly and completely distracted.
What he said was, “No sex.”
Sera’s mouth fell open.
He might as well commit. “This will not go further than teasing. No clothing removed.”
She set a finger on his chest. “What about touch?”
He fought to keep his pulse steady, warring with a rush of impulses that he refused to entertain. “I would say not below the belt, but I suspect you’d argue the matter.”
“You are correct,” she purred.
“Then no more out in the open—”
She scoffed. “The entire point is to rattle you when you least expect it. It’s hardly an exercise in control if we’re secluded where you could easily give in, should you wish to.” The sweep of her eyes over his face suggested that she wished hewouldlose control. For half a heartbeat, he wondered why he didn’t.
“I have to work here, Sera. If we are caught there will be consequences to my life. This is non-negotiable.”
“Fine. Not in public.”
He drew further away. The room felt much colder, a different cold than simple air temperature. He adjusted his clothes, smoothing everywhere her wandering hands had ravaged. “Now, I have a meeting in an hour. If I don’t eat, I won’t get the chance. No more detours.”
She left him in peace, mercifully, until he reached the end of the day and it was time to return home. Hours of monotonous meetings and his little escapade with Sera had reduced his reasoning to mere reaction. She had asked something about going into some shops, perhaps in the South Market district that they passed to get home. If he wasn’t completely done with the day and not at all ready for more of Sera’s singular company just then, he may have offered to escort her. Instead, he’d agreed to whatever she requested. He had enough presence of mind to offer her fare and some ‘wages’ so that she would not wind up stranded, but then he had intended to return home and turn his brain off for a few hours.
But, alas, peace forever eluded him. He absently watched Sera hail a cab and climb inside. While he waited for his personal carriage to be brought around, he did another cursory check of the shadow trailing her. But as she stepped up into the carriage, the translucent form solidified, grew, and took on a vaguely monstrous shape.
This is why he did not indulge pleasures or dalliance. He could not afford to let his attention slip for a single moment or lives were at risk.
He watched the cab depart with detached resignation.
It was not going to be a night of rest after all.
Chapter Five
Thehackneycabrolledalong well tended cobbled streets and Sera marveled at how clean the city was this close to the inner Ring. The whole of Unity was circular in design with humans and guardians in the Garrison and the inner most Ring reserved for nobility and politicians. Unity had started as a human city, with the other races branching off to add their own boroughs—but the Fells had always existed. The melting pot of castaways and impoverished. Sera grew up in the Fells before trading one slum for another in Demon Row.
She was determined to enjoy the luxury while it lasted. Enjoy fresh air and clean streets that didn’t leave her hems black by the time she returned home. And she wouldn’t think too hard about failing to get a reaction out of North…
Not even a hitch in his breath? It was infuriating. The limitations of her race left her at a disadvantage. She couldn’t detect minute changes the way he could, with his dumb fae senses. She thought she noted his pulse racing, but with her focus on winning, she couldn’t be sure. The Game was becomingmore than manipulation. Beauty was her only strength, losing would be a major hit to her ego, but… she also really wanted to see what happened when she won. Her skin still tingled with the anticipation of when his guard finally dropped.
But then he went and turned the tables on her? Got her hot and flustered when it was supposed to behim? The nerve.
He kept throwing her own moves back at her, while she had yet to make him so much as flinch. It was frustrating and… a bit exciting. He could refuse to play, but he hadn’t. North didn’t strike her as the sort to allow games he wanted no part in, which meant he was interested. Playing was the only leverage she had over him and she didn’t know when she might need to use it to get Seth and run. So far, he’d not triggered any of her alarms, no warnings blaring in her head telling her to be cautious, but it was only a matter of time. If she kept him playing, perhaps wore him down, then she’d feel less unsteady about living in his home.
And his tells were starting to slip through.
His silence, for one. He went quiet when she hit a nerve, when he was rattled. Like she had scrambled his carefully arranged thoughts and he refused to speak until they were back in order.
