Callum dragged the stubble on his chin down the inside of my thigh, pressing a light kiss to the skin that almost seemed possessive.
He sat down on his ass and stared at me. His gaze moved over me slowly, as if he was committing the image to memory.
After a few moments, he picked my panties up off the ground and slid them carefully up my thighs. The man went so far as to lift me up so he could get them back into place, as if I couldn’t do it myself.
Then did the same with my skirt.
I watched in shock as he stood up and straightened his coat.
His thick erection was impossible to hide under the straining fabric of his dark pants. The slickness of my pleasure glistened on his mouth and chin as I looked up at him, sweaty, dazed, and utterly boneless.
"Do you want me to—" I started, but he cut me off.
"No."
I blinked.
Was this actually happening?
Had any of it actually happened?
The glittering mark of our bargain that now stretched the length of my arm said it had.
Callum stepped back.
My eyes followed him to the bathroom, where he stopped for a moment. When he stepped out, his face was clean of my pleasure.
I shouldn’t have been disappointed by that, but was.
"There’s a guard at the front doors. He’ll see you to your car," Callum said, then strode out of the room.
I watched the door as it closed behind him.
I'd just sold my soul to the worst of the four fae royals in the city.
Then let him fuck me with his fingers and mouth for literal hours.
Sable was right. I was out of my mind.
two
KAT—ALMOST EXACTLY FIVE YEARS LATER
A cinnamon rollslid across the table on a moon-shaped napkin, stopping right beside my laptop.
"Thanks," I said without looking up from the screen.Sable was snoozing, so focus came easy at the moment.
My curls were a wreck, like always. They seriously needed a cut, but I settled with tying them up in a bun every day because I just didn’t have time. My stretchy yoga shorts and loose, cropped t-shirt, paired with coffee-colored Crocs, were basically my uniform.
After my deal with Callum, my business had exploded a littletoowell, because I was absolutely swamped.
Constantly.
Jonah took the seat across from mine and folded his arms over his chest. I hoped the coffee cup in his hand was for me too.
"Have you seen the news?" he asked me.
I barely heard the question.
