CHAPTER 61
Farron
“Be honest. Purple or navy cloak?” Caspian holds them both up to his body.
I look up from my book. I’m reclining on his bed, trying to ignore the Prince of Thorns while he tries on different outfits for the upcoming masquerade party. “They both look nice.”
“But which one is more striking? Which one will draw the most eyes?” Caspian purrs.
“You could show up naked and still somehow be the best dressed.”
He tosses the cloaks to the side. “Thinking of me naked, are you, Farron?”
I slam my book down, but he’s already crawling on the bed toward me. “No, I wasn’t, I—”
“Don’t be embarrassed. I look amazing naked.” He laughs. I’ve heard him laugh before, a smoky, ethereal sound, but I’m not sure he’s ever laughed because of me. A man could get drunk on that laugh.
It draws one out of me too. Caspian must have gotten bored with picking apart his wardrobe because he practically plops down on top of me and reaches for my book. “What are you reading?”
I honestly don’t remember, not with him on top of me. His nose wrinkles as he flips through the book, black hair tossed across his brow.
Then Caspian’s ears twitch, and he’s throwing back the velvety blanket to get beneath them. “Get under the covers, Farron.”
“What?”
“Get under the fucking covers now,” he rasps, a deadly serious expression on his face.
I’m so taken aback that I do what he says, allowing him to grab my hair and put me between his legs. “Oh,” he whispers, just as I hear the door click open. “It would be helpful if you pretended to suck my cock.”
Then he lets out a truly haunting sound, part moan, part growl, as he caresses my hair beneath the sheets. It’s followed by a female’s scoff and a metallic huff.
Immediately, I know who’s in the room with us. The Nightingale and Kairyn.
“Excuse me,” Caspian drawls, the pinnacle of indifference. “I have company.”
“Of course, he languishes while we work to secure the realms for the Green Rule,” Kairyn says.
“This is important, Caspian,” the Nightingale says, voice muffled. She’s probably wearing her signature mask. “Kairyn and I don’t have time to be hunting you down here in Cryptgarden when we’re needed in Hadria. Speak quickly so I don’t have to stay a second longer than I need to. Do you know the location of the Golden Rose?”
“Yes, she’s under these covers, sucking my—”
“This is serious,” the Nightingale snarls.
They still haven’t found Rosie. Caspian told me they’d lost track of her. I’m so far Below, I can barely feel her through our mate bond, but I’m confident I would feelsomethingif she were in danger.
“She’s trapped in an impenetrable underwater prison,” Caspian drawls. “Oh wait, that’s right. A child broke her out.”
“ENOUGH!” Kairyn roars, and something smashes. “Daytonales has abandoned her and enrolled in my games with some sea siren. What’s his plan?”
The mention of Dayton’s name sends a pulse of longing through me. Kairyn’s wrong. Dayton would never abandon Rosalina. It was always the plan for them to enter the games together, with Rosalina in disguise. Could she have adopted the form of a siren?
“Perhaps he’s just an arrogant bastard who can’t resist a challenge.” Caspian gives a long sigh and slaps my cheek. I guess that’s a cue for me to move. My cheek brushes his thigh. Hispants are softest silk, and slowly I mimic the movement he’s looking for. “Isn’t that something you should have figured out, Birdy?”
The Nightingale inhales a shuddering breath. “We can salvage this, Kairyn. Everyone in Summer knows he’s enrolled in the games. If you imprison him, it’ll only enrage the people more. Why make him a martyr when you can humiliate him in his own arena?”
Humiliate the only person who’s never lost in the Sun Colosseum,I think.Unlikely.
Caspian threads his hands into my hair, dragging me dangerously close to his cock, which I can now see the distinct shape of through his loose pants. Holy fuck, is he hard?
