She’d meant to be all nonchalant, to soften the looming rejection she had to hand him, but apparently her body hadn’t gotten the memo from her brain that they had to be responsible, because her voice came out breathy and her breasts rose and fell with excitement, very nearly brushing his spectacular chest that, in a fair world, she’d get to explore at leisure.But the world was very far from fair.She’d learned that young and shouldn’t be forgetting it now.
He lifted a hand to feather fingertips along her cheekbone, surprising her with the gentleness of the sensual caress, delighting her that he was actually touching her, however chastely.Trailing his fingers along the sensitive skin on the underside of her jaw, he left sparking heat behind that burrowed into her system, frying it like pixie dust, but in a non-dead-soon way.Her heart thrummed like a hummingbird and the pussy sparkle leapt to life so hard she expected glitter to fly from her nethers.
“If I ask,” he murmured, “do you promise to answer honestly?”
No amount of sensual allure could get her to agree to that.“Uh, no.Not until I hear the question.”
Arrested, he stared at her, fingers still against her jaw, lifting her chin ever so slightly.“Seriously?”
“Hey, you just said you wanted honesty.”
“Most women would just promise and then decide.”
“Don’t you mean most people?”
He canted his head, considering, then shook it.“I haven’t had a lot of experience with broad swathes of…people.”
Again, something in the way he said “people” made her think “humans.”Instead of demanding to know just how fae he was, she asked, like a jealous bitch, “Just Lenorae?”
“And others of her…ilk.”
Ilk.Interesting.“It’s probably fair to say that I’m not like most people.”
“No, you’re not.”His fingers tightened on her jaw and he searched her face.“Which I find oddly compelling.”
Hoo boy.The pussy sparkle leapt like fireworks.
“All right then,” he continued, still holding her jaw, hooded eyes drifting to her mouth.“I’m wondering, Arantxa, once this is done, would you consider…” He trailed off, his enticing lips hovering temptingly near.The scent of caramelized sugar and a hint of blueberry wafted around her in seductive tendrils.Not the sharp sweet of new blueberries, but the slow, lingering flavor of sun-warmed juices.
“Yes,” she answered, not needing to hear the question.Her body closed the distance between them without her making a conscious decision, her lips seeking his with sensual hunger, pressing into him with aching need that blazed from smoldering coals to an inferno in the space of a thought.She threaded her hands behind his neck and into that deliciously silky hair, levering herself onto tiptoes to perfect the angle of the kiss.Even as she gloried in the taste of him—sizzling sugar browned hot enough to burn—she realized her mistake.
He’d stiffened in shock, not returning the kiss.How humiliating.She released him, words crowding to her tingling lips to form some kind of apology.
But—hallelujah!—he pulled her back via tightening fingers on her jaw.His other hand settled on her lower back, just above the curve of her ass, pulling her to him.He returned the kiss, as if answering a question she had asked, deepening it, opening his lips to hers and sweeping his tongue within as if tasting her, making a deep melodious sound like a growl.
He kissed her like a starving man, the hand on her hip vising into her flesh, sizzling into her bones, pressing her against his groin where he proved to be truly into her with impressive size and enthusiasm.Meanwhile, his lips on hers worked magic, richly, deeply stirring, slipping against hers with musical dexterity, a kiss like no other.
He felt slightly cool, as if he’d come inside from a winter storm, but the magic in him burned with sparking heat, the dual input frying her senses.She wanted that coolly sheathed heat all along her skin, inside of her, to writhe in wringing pleasure under him as he took her over and over again.Somewhere in the background, her newly minted responsible self shouted and banged its fists against the door of the closet her far more powerful, lustful self had shoved it into.
Katu sawed loudly, announcing that he was done with his meal, and head-butted her leg hard enough to make her stagger sideways, breaking the contact with Azul.Fantastic timing.
Actually, she realized, as she blinked away the sensual fog, seriously questioning all of her life choices—including a load of regret for both kissing Prince Charming and stopping kissing him in equal measures, which didn’t help her mental clarity at all—ithadbeen fantastic timing.Locating that mental closet where her responsible self sulked sullenly in the back of her mind, she unlocked the door and shoved her lustful self inside instead.A bit late and a lot painful, especially as her responsible self lit into an immediate tirade about Cha’s many failings, while her lustful self wailed in frustrated disappointment.
“Both of you, shut up,” she muttered under her breath.She couldn’t win for losing.
“Arantxa?”Making her name into a question, Azul reached for her again and she forced herself to step back instead of climbing him like a tree.His face fell, briefly mirroring her own disappointment, then settled into rigid, brooding lines of his haughty expression that looked ever so slightly mean and turned her on even more.Dammitall.
“Katu’s done,” she said, pointing at the jaguar, in case Azul had forgotten the cat’s name or something.“I hate to say no—only a temporary no,” she hastily added, not that it would make any difference.“If that was the question,” she added, belatedly and abashedly.Heat flooded her face, and not from desire, as he slowly shook his head from side to side.
“It… wasn’t,” he said, sounding like a man having the truth dragged out of him.“It didn’t occur to me that you would—”
“Yes, well,” she broke in, unable to bear it.“That’s me.Impulsive.Man in every port, you know.”She regretted that quip, too, as his expression shuttered.
“I know it doesn’t mean anything to you,” he offered, seeming like he was searching for the right words.“It’s just that—”
“But it did,” she insisted.“Because that was great.Really great!”She searched her arousal-limp brain for a new, different, and better word.“Excellent!”So much for that effort.“I would absolutely be on board to keep going, but we’re so lean on time that we should—”
“No, no.I understand.”Azul interrupted her babbling and put even more distance between him and the crazy person.“Just as well.”
