You can do this,she told herself.Just a few more steps. Hand him the drink.
Pinning her smile in place was an exercise in self-restraint, but when she finally made it to Khayrivven’s golden chair, she held out one glass to him, sticking out her leg on the slitted side of the dress, and turned her grin on the beauty on his lap, who eyed her like she was about to bite her head off.
“So, are you going to get off his lap anytime soon, or do you believe he’s embarrassed about his erect cock?”
A flash of amusement brightened Khayrivven’s features, but he took the drink from Lory’s hand, almost throwing the woman off his lap as he got to his feet, leaning in and whispering into Lory’s ear. “You think I’m that easily excited by a harmless flirt, Gutter Gem? If I’m hard, it is because of that little dress you’re wearing, but I guess you’ll need to come see for yourself.”
Lory’s core turned molten as his fingers wrapped around her wrist, and he tugged her along as he fell back into his chair, Lory landing on his thigh. His muscles flexed, and her back clashed with his firm chest, one arm wrapping around her waist in a possessive way she hadn’t expected but made her want to arch against him as his fingers stroked the side of her waist, right next to the brooch.
She barely heard the woman complaining that she’d stolen her patron or the grunt of the man hoisting one of the girls into his arms and carrying her toward the stairs. All she could do was feel—feel the blood pound in her veins, the heat well up in her core, the stroke of Khayrivven’s fingertips along the edge of her waist, so familiar… so all-consuming despite the fact she wanted to forget that this wasn’t real. This was him playing a customer at Lu’Shen’s while she was supposed to extract a secret from a stranger.
Well… Since he’d said she should pretend she didn’t know him, she would make it her mission to draw a secret from him.
“Tell me, Sapphire,” he said loud enough for the dark beauty stalking toward the bar to hear him, “what’s that dirty little secret Chiri hasn’t spilled.”
Lory almost chuckled as he tried to get her to tell a secret both of them knew didn’t exist, so she scooted sideways on his thigh, sitting closer to his knee and bracing her hand on the backrest of the chair as she swung her legs over the armrest, watching the slit in her dress cleave open.
She needed some distance from the heat radiating off of him like he was about to burst into flames, or she’d say or do something she’d regret.
He’d told her he wanted her, multiple times, and showed her in every way how much, but when it came to his heart, Lory was flying blind, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to learn that particular truth.
Putting on a mischievous grin, she let Khayrivven’s eyes rove over the length of her legs, along the curve of her hips and tight waist, where they stopped on the golden brooch.
“Tell me yours, and I’ll tell you mine,” she whispered, leaning in just enough to inhale his leather and sage scent, and she could have sworn he shuddered when her breath touched his ear.
Heart hammering against her ribs, Lory pondered the merits of mimicking the other girls and simply kissing him.His flushed cheeks and lips certainly made her want to, but nerves left her the moment Khayrivven started turning his head, tipping it back, and leaning it against the backrest in silent invitation to take what she wanted.
“All the things I want to do to you, Gutter Gem…” He murmured, barely audible above the carpet of background noise. “They should be secrets. All the ways I want to touch you.”
Heat lanced up Lory’s spine as he shifted, and she felt something hard against the side of her hip that was definitely not his thigh.
“All the ways I want to make you moan…” His fingers brushed along her thigh, sliding to her knees in a luxurious, idle stroke that could have been an act, the patron examining his chosen goods while he could still return them, but when he met her gaze, the fire dancing in his eyes told a different story.
“Tell me how.” Lory’s voice was a murmur, so low she was convinced he couldn’t hear her, but his fingers slipped on her thigh as if he hadn’t expected her to play along. “Tell me everything, Khayrivven.”
Her mouth hovered too close to his, but like a bee drawn to nectar, she couldn’t seem to help herself. Just one kiss. Just one touch. But it wouldn’t be enough. It was never enough with him.
Not like this.The thought brushed her like a distant memory. The edge of her vision turned dark, and she grasped the chair hard enough to break a fingernail as she tried to convince her mind to focus, but Khayrivven had alreadydragged her into the sort of trance-like state where she could barely tell dream from reality.
She was still sitting on his lap, but instead of bracing herself on the backrest, she was leaning against his chest the way he’d pulled her onto him earlier. She hadn’t dared look down in reality, but in this half-dream, his obvious arousal was pushing against her backside, and Khayrivven’s hand wandered down her stomach to her hip, caressing the exposed skin beneath her hipbone.
His touch was like fire and lightning, surroundings fading away. On her neck, his breath was like the kiss of flames, sending shivers down her back, and her entire body became hyper-aware of every place they touched.
“You want to know a secret, Lory?” Had she thought the feel of his breath on her skin was like fire? Now that his lips were skating up the side of her neck, her body became an inferno of need.
As if on its own volition, her chin dipped in confirmation, but if she were honest, it was to give him better access, and Guardians, did he know how to use it.
With one hand, he pulled her tighter, the drink he’d been holding vanishing into thin air, while the other stroked the inside of her thigh, right where the fabric gaped open, an invitation to explore. His body curved around hers, bending her further as he licked up the back of her neck, hips rolling against her backside. He was solid behind her—andhuge—part of her wanted to reach between them to free that impressive length, but Khayrivven didn’t give her an inch of space, his fingers skirting the wetness pooling between herlegs as he slid up the length of her thigh. Whether he could feel it through the golden lace Lu’Shen had provided, she couldn’t tell.
With a shift of her weight, she turned her head just enough to get a good look at his glazed expression. “Is this a dream, or am I making a fool out of myself in front of the entire establishment?”
The corners of his mouth tilted up, and his hand slid further up, brushing up against her slick center, and his groan of approval reverberated through her entire body. “If anyone is making a fool of himself, it’s me.” His fingers slipped under the edge of the fabric, teasing and stroking just out of reach of where she wanted him. “I want you enough to pull both of us into a trance in front of a full room, risking exposure of what I am just so I can touch you like this.”
The hand on her stomach glided over her breast, tugging lightly on a strap of satin, and Lory arched into his touch, legs falling open. Where music, laughter, and chatter had dominated the room, silence had replaced them, the gold and blue of the background fading into calming darkness.
A dream?—
“I’d willingly break any rule for even a moment like this.” His finger circled her clit, beneath the lace, while he kissed his way along her shoulder and the inside of her arm now reaching behind his head.
