His jaw sets. “Like how you’ve let me help these past few years?”
“That’s different.”
“How?Planes, it’s as if you want to be caught.” I step back, and he takes a breath, his voice softening. “She didn’t die because you failed in some way, Avery. It just happened.”
My eyes burn. “Take the coin. Please.”
“Okay.” He slips the coin into his pocket, then gestures to my chamber door. “You were looking to rest?”
I was, but now adrenaline sparks in my veins. I don’t want to slip inside to a privacy I’ve never known. To hear the ringing silence in my head, feel the supernatural baubles form in my throat. To be haunted by the overwhelming power of the High Fae, the sound of Kassandra’s bones breaking.
“The silver stallions in the stables,” I say instead. “Are the rumors true?”
“Their coats do seem to glow.”
“Are any available for tomorrow? I need one for Kassandra during the coronation.”
He eyes me, brow furrowing. “All of the silver stallions are off with the halflings on guard duty.”
“Then a silver mare will do.”
“I’ve only heard of the stallions.”
“How do you think they make them?” I smirk. “Don’t you know where little faeries come from?”
Jeremee flushes. “I know how breeding works.”
“Breeding!” I exclaim, a hand to my chest. For a moment, the heaviness lifts, laughing with him an addictive, dangerous high after so many lows. “I pray to the planes for the females you bed.”
“Why’s that?”
“They must love the mounting.”
His eyes flash. “They do.”
A familiar vision sparks, one I have never acted on. His long, tattooed fingers sliding through my hair, tugging me into him, his lush mouth descending onto mine. Those hands spinning me around, pinning me to the wall, pulling down his trousers, pulling up my skirts. Something snags in my belly at the image, the gateway into a moment of distraction that could build to other moments in shadowy corners and stone corridors.
The dark hallway is quiet, except for the sound of our breathing. He leans against the opposite wall. I cross my legs, pressing my thighs together. His gaze dips down my body, then back up again.
“You’re thinking of us right now,” he states. “Together.”
“Have you abandoned all manners?”
“Do you want me to?”
How much closer can we crawl, on hands and knees, to the line without crossing it? Who will be the first to break the rules so that we can form new ones?
“Seems you already have,” I answer. “What are you thinking, Jae?”
He quirks a brow. “I’m wondering if you’ve ever been taken from behind before.”
Desire coils low and hot. I can hardly breathe. This is the closest we’ve ever gotten.
“I don’t like to share,” I say. “Only steal.”
“Especially my prospects from the festival. Tell me, are you truly satisfied afterward? Is it ever enough?”
What are we doing?I think.Why now?
