“I know you’re not a spy,” his tortured lilt hits my ear. My head moves involuntarily to the right, giving him access to my exposed throat. His lips graze the corner of my lobe as he continues, “Tell me what you need, Princess. Nothing has changed for me. Will you have me?”
I hear a slight warble at the end. His vulnerability breaks me, but I don’t want to give in to him that easily. There’s a part of me that still wants to see Rivern grovel at my feet.
My body leans firmly back into his, his hands snaking around my waist to pull my body against him. “Do you feel what you do to me, Princess?” His hard length is a surprising but not unwelcome presence at my back. I let out an involuntary moan. “You have every part of me. My heart, my body and my soul.”
This man. This fae prince.Every time we are together, it’s utter consumption. I almost forget we aren’t alone in this room.
Almost.
Gideon clears his throat, a hardened shadow before us showcasing his height advantage on Rivern, making me shudder for a whole new reason. I shake away the insidious thoughts worming their way into my head, almost expecting Fury to make some snide remark. Thankfully, only silence greets me where he is concerned.
The tugging inside my chest pushes me back into Rivern.
Gideon addresses us. “I think you forget your surroundings, fae.”
He stares down at us with almost full-blown black eyes. His anger at our disregard for the situation is apparent.
Rivern ignores the imposing force in front of us, turning me around to face him. I give out a little yelp of surprise, which is quickly replaced by a languid moan. My prince nibbles at my earlobe before speaking softly, “This is not over, Dove. I can smell your sweetness, and I will have my fill.”
I gulp, this new information still a lingering force within me. My rage is a heady simmer at the idea of Rivern marrying someone who is not me—wildly presumptuous, considering I never thought I’d get married. However, the fae before me is now the exception.
Grasping onto his tunic, I pull myself up onto my toes, whispering, “I’m still angry at you.”
Lowering his head to mine so we are forehead to forehead, my eyes lock onto brilliant violet orbs as Rivern replies, “If I need to grovel at your feet, I will. I’m sorry for causing you pain. Tell me what you need.”
The bond is sharp, keening. It hates that I still hold animosity towards Rivern. “Declare yourself as mine before these people,” I demand, the rage—Argus’s simmering fumes—only willing to acquiesce at his total surrender.
Rivern’s eyes never leave mine as he sinks to the hard floor on two knees. The space between the table and the cushions is barely enough room for him to fit between. Taking my hand, he holds it adoringly within his grasp.
“You are everything to me. When we were separated, I saw that. I was foolish to think you were a spy.” He taps at his chest with his free hand, his warm breath whispering over my skin, sending tingles over my arm. “I’m more sorry than you will ever know for putting you in this position.” I do know, though; the bond is a constant reminder of his feelings.
My prince’s soft lips land on the back of my palm before he rises, taking me by surprise with his hands landing on either side of my face. “I am yours, and I never want you to doubt that, my queen.”
His lips descend on mine before Moyrie. Before the older Silver Sands male. Before Gideon and the servers. Rivern marks me as his, his deep groan undeniable. Our tongues dance together. My body melts into his.
Too soon, he is pulling away, his strong hands still cupping my face gently like I am his most treasured possession. My rage is now pushed down into an urgent, fiery need in my core.
Rivern grasps me around the waist, a wide, dimpled smile on his lips. He leads me to sit back down. On wobbly legs, I fall into the pillows, surrounded by the scent of pine meadows on a warm summer’s day.
Damnable fae prince.
He is my weakness. Now he knows it. It’s more than the bond. It’s more than the Goddess connecting our hearts. It’s his soul. It’s his body. It’s the way his eyes gleam and his dimples crinkle when he looks at me like no one else.
My scent is no doubt perfuming the air around us with my arousal, slickness running down my inner thighs—all from him. Thanks to his complete takeover of my senses.Can the others smell me, too?My heartskips a beat, my human senses most likely the only ones in the room at a disadvantage.
Rivern’s hand moves to rest on my thigh, sending tingles shooting through my leg. I instinctively look up, coming face to face with a wicked smile on an interesting, sort of beautiful, iridescent face. Slitted eyes watch me, and I steel myself to not lose eye contact with the woman who was supposedly meant to marry my bonded.
Not anymore.
A forked tongue makes an appearance again from her mouth, swatting the air as if she is tasting it. I squirm under our shared eye contact. Rivern grips my thigh harder. Slippery, slithered words leave her lips, directing the servers to pour more of the green liquid.
My glass is half full, but after the shiny creature refills my cup, it’s full to the brim. I hear a slight chuckle inside my mind.
“What?”I press the God watching me from afar.
“I’ll give you only one reminder, Pet. Heed the prince’s warning. Unless you want to be flat on your back all evening.”The remark catches me off guard. I bring the swirling mixture to my lips, taking a small sip.
Flat on my back?
