“I doubt Lykor hadthislevel of hands-on attention in mind when he formed the personal guard for Jassyn and me,” she managed, voice catching as another knot surrendered.
Claws slipping away, Fenn chuckled as he circled to face her. “Is it really that obvious?”
“You’re not exactly subtle.” Serenna rolled her shoulders before crossing her arms. “If it’s not you trailing me, it’s your sisters. I can’t so much as bathe without one of you jumping out of a shadow with a report.”
“File my fangs,” Fenn muttered. “I’ll have to reassign them. Should’ve known they’d gossip.”
“Speaking of…” Serenna’s voice thinned. “Did they tell you that Koln approached me in the corridor this morning?”
She’d nearly forgotten about that encounter, though something about it still lingered. Fenn’s partner had approachedherand that was hardly her fault.
Fenn stilled, wariness rippling through the bond. “What did he want with you?”
Serenna shrugged, drawing it out. “He asked if I wanted to join him. At the Oasis.”
“Did he now?” Fenn’s irises flared, a flicker of confusion breaking through the fire. “That doesn’t sound like him.”
“He thought you might…appreciate the both of us,” she said, aiming for nonchalance and failing to land it clean. “At–at the same time.”
Koln had been blunt but polite, and he’d made it clear he had no interest in her. She remembered the way he’d said it, flat and unapologetic, drawing his line.I fuck Fenn. Fenn fucks you. Just don’t expect me to mingle with you. Simple.
Fenn snorted. “Of course he did. Still trying to pay off that debt from his first night in Asharyn, when he nearly got himself castrated and I had to drag him out of it.”
Serenna raised her brows. “Do I even want to know?”
Leaning back on the bannister, Fenn chuckled darkly. “He got drunk on nectared wine, stripped, and waded straight into the druids’ sacred pool.” He tipped his chin to the gardens below, waters shimmering in the last dregs of sunlight. “You know, the one with the floating mistpetal blooms? The druids get twitchy if anyone so much assniffsone. Koln ate half a dozen. I had to intervene before the servants got creative with the gardening shears.”
“He…” Serenna stared, shaking her head.
Before she could respond, Fenn’s palms slid to her waist, settling at the flare of her hips. The bond between them stirred, attuned and curious, curling against her desire like smoke hunting for a way in.
Heat rose in her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to let Koln’s offer linger in her thoughts. But it had, heating something low. Not for herself. And certainly not for Koln—his foolishness only made her scoff. But for Fenn.
Unfiltered as it was, Koln’s invitation hadn’t been a dare or a trap, but a rough sort of grace—a way to make room for what she and Fenn had, even if it meant sharing the bed. Some reckless part of her sparked at that, until guilt jolted her back. She hadn’t even unraveled the tangle with Vesryn, and already her mind was weaving more knots.
Fenn’s talons flexed against her, teasing the line between claim and caress. “Are you still in your fertile days?” His grin curved wickedly. “Or have the moons turned? Tell me we’re finally free to be reckless without compromising the integrity of your womb.”
The forwardness caught her off guard, pulse leaping beneath her skin like it wanted to answer him first. She should’ve expected it by now. Wraith humor always straddled that knife-edge between clinical and obscene, and Fenn never veiled what he meant.
She knew the timing, a few days of risk twice a year. The rest left her free to act without consequence.
“Yes,the moons have turned,” Serenna mimicked, rolling her eyes—too flustered to play coy, unable to pretend his question hadn’t already sent desire climbing.
For a heartbeat, Fenn’s gaze dropped to her mouth, his breath catching, discipline held by the thinnest strand. She knew exactly where it would snap if she plucked.
“We still have some time before dinner,” Serenna murmured, sliding her palm up the hard plane of his chest.
His pupils slashed to wild, vertical slits. Fenn opened his mouth, but she interrupted.
“Only there’s one small issue.” Serenna walked her fingers up the centerline of his armor. “This is surely out of line.” Her mouth curved as she lifted her eyes through her lashes. “Since you’re on duty and all.”
Fenn snarled. And then he broke.
He snatched her jaw, restraint shattering under the rupture of need. His mouth crashed into hers, all heat and hunger and molten intent.
Serenna’s body answered before thought could, fingers locking in his hair in a grip that claimed him without needing a word.
Fenn kissed her like he fought—unyielding as steel, relentless as fire. Each drag of his mouth burned her breath away, leaving her aching for more. His fangs traced her lip, a perilous graze that threatened skin without breaking. Serenna gasped, his tongue chasing the sound like it belonged to him.
