The Hunter #2
She suppressed a shiver, leaning her head against me with a low moan. “Blood and ice, I love the sound of your voice.”
I frowned. Even when drunk, fae still had to tell the truth. Did this still apply with the strange brew Eira had consumed?
“If you… come with me,” I said hesitantly, feeling completely idiotic, “I can speak like this some more.”
What the bloody hell was I doing?
To my surprise, Eira turned to face me, her eyes dark with desire. “Promise you’ll growl in that low, deep voice of yours?”
My mouth twisted in disgust, but I tried to arrange my features into something neutral. “Um. Yes. I promise.”
Surely, I could just growl a string of curses to fulfill this bargain later. But for now, I needed to extract her from this crowd as subtly as possible.
Eira squealed and clapped her hands together, then tugged on my arm to pull me away from the crowd.
Thank the gods.
I hurried by her side, trying to ignore the way her fingernails dug into my bicep, as if she was trying to feel her way around my muscle.
“So strong,” she murmured, massaging my arm.
I recoiled but allowed her to keep hold of my arm, if only because it got us out of the crowd more quickly.
I found Frisk right where I’d left him. His lips spread, baring his teeth in what looked like a smug grin.
“How could you let her drink that brew?” I demanded.
Frisk barked a laugh. “How could I not? I certainly wouldn’t be the one to get in the way of these pixies sharing their merriment with her.”
“What did Snow drink?” Kendra asked, her white snout stained pink from the berries she’d eaten.
Ignoring her, I said to Frisk, “She’s part human! You have no idea what it could do to her! She was sullying herself with that crowd of pixies.”
Frisk’s eyebrows lifted. “Sullying herself?” His dark gaze roved over Eira with interest. “Get ahold of yourself, hunter. She’s still dressed, isn’t she? She was only dancing.”
Eira wriggled against me, pressing her chest to mine. I gave Frisk a pointed look. “I think there’s a bit more than dancing on her mind.”
Frisk chittered with delight.
“This isn’t funny!” I snapped, trying to ignore the way Eira’s breasts were pushing up against me. Gods, this was driving me mad.
“It’s a bit funny,” Frisk argued. At the sight of my glare, he rolled his eyes. “She’ll be fine, hunter. It wears off eventually.”
“Whisper some naughty things in my ear,” Eira breathed, grinding against me.
I bit back a loud curse as Frisk laughed. Grabbing Eira’s hand again, I steered her back toward the cave where I’d woken up.
Mauro was fast asleep right outside the entrance. “Useless fae beast,” I muttered before practically shoving Eira inside.
She took one look around the messy cave, then proceeded to undo her corset strings.
“Shit!” I snatched her hands. My face was on fire. “What the hell are you doing?”
She blinked at me, her eyes wide and innocent. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Why else would you want me alone?” She worked one hand free and slid it under my tunic, her fingertips exploring the planes of my chest. Her touch was feather-light, and a jolt of electricity shot through me.
I took a step back and groaned. “Eira. This isn’t you. You need to wake up before you do something you’ll regret.” I could only imagine her horror and disgust. She would be appalled at what she was doing right now.
“Blood and ice, you’re so handsome when you’re angry.” She was shifting her tunic down her shoulders. Her corset slid, revealing a generous amount of cleavage.
I fixed my gaze just above her hairline, determined not to stare. “Eira. You have a bargain to uphold, remember? We need to get to the Winter Palace.”
“Surely we have a few minutes, don’t we?” She was drawing closer to me. I tried pulling away from her, but a wall of hard rock met my back. “Look at me, Theron.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the command or the usage of my name, but I couldn’t stop my eyes from meeting hers. My breath caught at the spark of energy dancing around her irises. She stood on her toes, pressing her breasts against me. Her full lips parted slightly.
“Tell me you don’t want me,” she murmured.
“I—” My mouth clamped shut, because damn, I did want her. She looked positively radiant right now, her hair wild, her tunic partially undone. She was gorgeous; I couldn’t deny it.
But this was a mistake. Regardless of how attractive I found her, she was still loathsome.
“I don’t want to do this,” I said, my voice ragged. “Not right now. Not like this.”
All truth. If, in some bizarre, parallel universe, Eira and I were ever to tangle romantically, I would want her to be completely lucid. Dallying with women who weren’t of sound mind wasn’t something that appealed to me.
“Eira…” I broke off with a sigh as she angled her face up to meet mine.
Just one more inch, and I would be able to taste her soft lips.
My eyes closed as I tried to focus on speaking, instead of the straining hardness in my trousers.
Eira could feel it, too. She began rubbing herself against it, and I suppressed a moan.
“I want you to pin me against this cave wall,” she whispered, her breath tickling my face. “I want you pounding into me so hard I forget my own name.”
A strangled sound escaped me, and I had to close my eyes. “You don’t want that,” I said in a strained voice.
“Why not?” Eira asked, tilting her head at me in curiosity.
I put my hands on her bare shoulders and backed her up a step, my lungs straining to get enough air. “Because,” I forced out, “if I were to take you against this cave wall, you wouldn’t remember it at all.”
Her brows knitted together in confusion.
“If we were to do this, I’d want to make sure you remember every blissful second of it,” I said softly. “I’d want you to remember that it was the brutal assassin who made you cry out and beg for more. Not some stranger you happen to find attractive.”
Eira’s breath hitched, and her cheeks turned pink. “There’s that gloriously husky voice of yours again.” She leaned in, and I turned my face away just before her lips made contact. She ended up kissing my cheek, but I was still utterly consumed by the gentle touch of that mouth on my skin.
Shivering bones, this woman would be the death of me.
“Promise me,” she whispered against my cheek.
“Promise… what?” I grunted.
“Promise you’ll kiss me at another time. A time when I’m myself again.”
I blinked rapidly, unable to clear the foggy haze from my head. What was she asking? Shit. I couldn’t do this…
“I—”
“Yes?” she prompted.
“I promise,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Promise what? Say the words, Theron.”
“I… will kiss you. At some point. In the future.”
She withdrew slightly, a smile curving her lips. “Good. Now help me with this corset.” She turned around, and I froze at the sight of her half-done strings.
“Um. What?”
“If we aren’t doing this right now, I’d prefer to be fully clothed. It’s quite chilly.”
My eyes closed, and I practically slumped against the wall in relief. Thank the gods. She wanted me to tie them. Not undo them. My hands shook as I obliged, pulling on the strings.
“Harder,” she ordered.
I went rigid at the command in her voice, unable to stop myself from imagining a very different scenario in which she would say that word.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, focusing on that point of pain, then tugged on the strings tighter.
She grunted slightly as I continued to tighten them, then tied them off at the end.
“More,” she muttered, her voice slightly slurred.
I frowned. “That’s it. It’s done.”
She murmured a garbled strand of something unintelligible. Before I could ask what the hell she was talking about, she slumped backward against me. I caught her and rolled my eyes. “What now?”
Eira said nothing. Her body was completely limp.
Shit. “Eira? Eira!” I fumbled, turning her around to face me. Her expression was slack, her eyes half closed. I patted her cheek, and she blinked, her eyelids fluttering.
“Wine,” she mumbled, her head lolling. “Sweet berries.”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
She grumbled something else incoherent, her body tilting toward me. I caught her by the shoulders and shook her roughly. “Eira, wake up!”
She drew in a sharp gasp, eyes flaring wide. Squinting in confusion, she rubbed her temples. “Blood and ice. What the hell was in that drink?”
I stilled. “Eira?” I asked hesitantly.
She jumped, then turned her head to look at me with a befuddled expression. “Theron? What—where are we?” She jerked out of my grasp, staring around the cave in confusion. “What did you do to me?” Her eyes narrowed.
I almost laughed. Oddly enough, I preferred to be around the Eira who hated me instead of the Eira who wanted to pin me to the wall and kiss me. My face still heated from the thought.
“You drank some Winterwing Brew,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “One of the pixies gave it to you.”
Eira’s eyes closed, and she rubbed her head again. “Gods, that hurts. How did I even get here?”
“I pulled you from the crowd. I was afraid you’d do something you would regret.”
Eira squinted at me, her brow furrowing. “And… did I?”
I didn’t answer.
Her eyes widened, and she placed a hand on her hip. “Theron, did I?”
I cleared my throat and dropped my gaze. “You… made advances. On me.”
Eira’s face slackened in shock. Then she covered her face with her hands. “Holy gods.”
I chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad. It was only for a few minutes.”
To my surprise, she punched me in the arm. It wasn’t very hard, but it was enough to make me stumble back in surprise.
“Bastard,” she muttered.
“It wasn’t my fault!”
“Right. And I’m sure it was so difficult for you to endure my flirting. You poor thing.” She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the blush creeping into her face.
I said nothing as she turned away from me with a noise of frustration. I couldn’t exactly respond to her.
Not without telling her exactly how difficult it had actually been for me. Or how we had struck another bargain.
No, those words were better left unsaid.