Forty-Three Prince Gluttony
L OVERS SLIPPING AWAY for a midnight tryst in my library wasn’t normally in fashion. House Gluttony was infamous for putting on a show, allowing an audience to feast on their passion.
Which was why I hadn’t worried about getting caught with my lovely rival.
Now my pulse pounded, my cock ached, and the demon part of me wanted to curse it all and finish what Adriana and I had started right then and there.
It would be so easy to slide her silk skirts up, to stroke the soft skin of her thighs above the lace-edged stockings, to take the lobe of her ear between my teeth as my fingers found that secret haven to ensure she was ready before I buried myself deep.
I’d clamp my hand across those full, perfect lips to stifle any errant moans, even knowing no one would hear us. Just to play into her fantasy of being caught.
The magic bond between us sizzled, only too happy to fuel the flames of our desire.
When I remembered my hidden exit, I praised every power that be that it hadn’t been far from where we’d been sitting. I followed her into the small corridor, closing the bookcase door behind us. No light seeped under the door. No sound or interruptions.
Magic I used to ward it from intruders meant it remained as silent as a crypt.
We were once again blessedly alone. I placed a palm at the small of her back, guiding her deeper into the passage. We’d only gone a few paces when she stopped.
I felt her attention shift to me as she pressed closer to the wall.
When she spoke, she barely made a sound. “Can they hear us?”
“Magic keeps all sound from entering or leaving.”
Saints curse me. I sensed her emotions shift back to arousal now that she knew we were alone and wouldn’t be heard. She took a small step backward, bracing herself against the wall and the curve of her lips let me know it was by design.
Adriana wanted me . There was no glamour this time, no masks, no excuses to hide behind. It thrilled me enough to spark my power.
I moved until I stood in front of her, then leaned in. This close, there was no hiding how much I still desired her too.
Gently, quietly, I pulled her hips against me, ensuring I hit all the right places, even hindered by our clothing. Her quiet gasp encouraged me to repeat the motion.
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked.
She hesitated, then shook her head. “No.”
That same dark thrill filled me again, feeding my magic. I still couldn’t quite believe she was knowingly in my arms, just as attracted and wanting.
Ten years . I’d hungered for this moment for an entire decade.
I slid my palm down the front of her bodice, teasing her stomach before dropping lower. I wanted to take my time, to indulge in every sensation, savor it. From the feel of the smooth silk of her dress to the rasp of her breath—it was decadence and I wanted to commit it all to memory.
I slowly stroked upward, skimming her ribs, moving until I caressed the underside of her breast. Her chest rose and fell against mine. For once, Adriana Saint Lucent had no critique.
The moment felt fragile. Tender. Like one wrong move could destroy it all.
Our conflicting confessions about the All-Sinners Ball had my emotions spiraling.
My thumb brushed across her nipple, the taut bud already hard from her arousal.
I shouldn’t be touching her, craving her when I had research to do. But I couldn’t bring myself to stop. She was a feast I couldn’t help but sample from—her mind, her body, the way she made me feel a hundred emotions at once.
I cupped her breast, noting the way she gripped me tighter, her breath hitching slightly.
I finally reached down, slipping one hand under her skirt then dragged the material up, tracing little patterns as my fingers drifted higher.
Her skin was smooth and warm, and I wanted to strip us both down and spend hours tasting every inch. I quickly realized she wasn’t wearing undergarments.
I swallowed hard, my attention fixated on that glorious detail.
If I didn’t have a competition, if there weren’t two sinners already making use of my library, I would take her back and make her come against the shelves. She was here. She was safe. And I wanted to keep her where I could ensure Silvanus didn’t find her.
Adriana had been so adamant about the All-Sinners Ball, about us getting intimate in the garden. She didn’t know I dreamed about it, that it was something I’d desired since that first meeting. That no lover had ever sated me, no matter how wonderful they were on their own.
That I’d eventually given up taking anyone to my bed, abstaining for years because all I wanted was her.
There was no way in any of the hells that I’d forget making Adriana mine that night.
Not when it haunted me. Now, with her in my arms, arching into me, willing and aroused in our own private chamber, it felt like the worst sort of punishment to end our evening early.
“Gabriel.”
It was close enough to my true name that my sin ignited.
I wanted to indulge her every desire.
“Please. Touch me.”
I finally stopped teasing and slipped two fingers inside her. She released a breath as I slowly withdrew them, then thrust back in, fucking her softly with them.
Adriana arched into me, giving me leave to tease her breast with my other hand, wanting to ignite all her passions. While I obliged, she rocked against my hand, seeking her own friction.
I would never get over how good she felt, how right. I could spend decades exploring her body, discovering what she liked most, what drove her feral.
I settled on giving her all I could now, wringing as much pleasure from her as possible.
“Don’t stop.” She tossed her head back, panting as I continued to pleasure her in slow, taunting strokes. In this moment, in our own secret hiding place, it didn’t feel like she hated me.
It felt like she craved my touch as much as I craved hers.
I took her mouth in a punishing kiss, my fingers working her faster and harder until she finally shattered in my arms, her body submitting to my ministrations.
I closed my eyes, allowing the moment to stretch.
I wanted to take her to my bedchamber, tie her wrists to my bedposts, and pretend the world wasn’t in chaos as we lost ourselves in each other.
I was contemplating doing just that when she straightened and pushed herself off the wall.
“Oh, my gods.”
“It’s a little late to be praising them, darling. But I’ll accept your compliments.”
“Not you, rake.” She playfully slapped my chest. “I think I know exactly what’s going on.”
Everything in me stilled. “Regarding?”
Adriana adjusted her gown and stepped away, biting her lower lip as if to keep from answering before she thought her response through.
She’d put more than physical distance between us. I felt the emotional wall slam into place, keeping her innermost thoughts and feelings from me once again.
“Nothing,” she said, taking another step from me. “I don’t know why I said that. It’s late, and I haven’t been sleeping all that well. I really should get back to my chambers before anyone notices I’m gone.”
“You do realize I sense when you lie, correct?”
She ran her gaze over me, a furrow forming between her brows.
“You gave me an orgasm, Axton. Did I somehow miss the part where I now owe you my innermost thoughts in return?”
“I should like to think we made some breakthrough here tonight. You clearly harbor anger about the All-Sinners Ball—we’ve proven that false. We can start over, call a truce.”
“One conversation doesn’t erase a decade of our past.”
“And the intimacy we’ve shared? That doesn’t count for a bit of honesty between us?”
She looked at me like I was some curious specimen from a distant realm.
“Tell me what happened with Jackson.”
Of all the cursed questions I thought she’d ask, that was the last one I expected. “You honestly wish to discuss that after what just passed between us?”
She shook her head. “If you aren’t willing to share your secrets with me, how can you possibly expect me to open myself up to you?”
“You have spent the last decade trying to ruin my court in the press. I would be a fool to share classified information.”
“Proving my point wonderfully,” she said, not unkindly. “The past can’t simply be forgotten because you declare it should be.”
I balled my hands into fists. No matter what passed between us, Adriana and I were destined to never trust each other, it seemed.
I offered her my arm and contemplated how the hells we could ever find peace if neither one of us took that first, vulnerable step into the unknown.
Dawn came much too soon, and with it more headaches.
Once I’d escorted Adriana back to her rooms and secretly placed guards on the ground floor below her chambers to avoid detection, I’d returned to the library. Thankfully it had been empty. Unfortunately, that was where my luck ended.
I hadn’t found a single bit of useful information on what would break a dragon’s fixation on someone. I sent a missive to House Wrath in the predawn hours requesting his help.
Adriana and I had shared intimacy, but just as she couldn’t confide whatever she’d sorted out last night in me, I couldn’t tell her about the dragons. At least not until it was necessary. For now, I’d have to hope my guards were enough to keep her safe.
Tension radiated around me as I climbed the stairs and entered the war room tower.
Val was waiting with Wrath. Their mugs of steaming coffee sat untouched, the breakfast trays still covered.
“No sign of Silvanus, I take it?”
Wrath indicated a negation with a shake of his head. “There are signs of where they passed through—mostly bones and viscera. I also spoke with a few solitary demons who claimed to have seen the pack tearing into each other before they escaped a massacre.”
I paced in front of the arched window, my gaze scanning the mountains in the distance. I wanted to put my leathers on and take to the skies, tracking the dragons. But duty called.
“The suitors were scheduled to take part in a sword fight in an hour but will be showing off their cooking skills today,” I said. “I don’t want anyone lingering outside the castle if it can be helped. We’re spinning it in the press as sharing their favorite indulgence for House Gluttony in honor of my sin. I want extra hunters stationed around the grounds. Get Lust and Envy here but keep them hidden. I want them skyward at the barest hint of a dragon.”
I pivoted to face my second and my brother.
“I also want someone watching Adriana. Sil may be fixated on her.” And she was certainly up to another scheme. I didn’t point that out, not wanting to create more tension with Val over how to handle Adriana.
Wrath’s gaze narrowed. “What do you mean fixated on her?”
I quickly debriefed my brother on the strange images I’d seen, the feelings associated with them stemming from the dragon himself. I shared my new theory of it somehow being connected to the blood oath we’d sworn. That Sil had somehow sensed it.
Wrath cursed.
“Maybe it’s time to call off the competition,” he said. “Lock down our circles. Come up with an inter-court strategy to hunt and track the dragons.”
He meant hunt to kill. Which would be the last option I’d explore for several reasons.
I glanced at the clock. “Reporters are arriving soon for the next event. We move forward as planned until that’s no longer possible.”
The kitchens had been rearranged into six separate stations for the remaining suitors. Eden practically bounced on the balls of her feet as she checked over her basket of ingredients. Vanity’s table was next to hers and she shot an amused look the other girl’s way.
It was nice to see the suitors getting along.
I stepped into the middle of the chamber, offering each suitor and the reporters lining the wall my most charming smile.
Inside, my emotions churned. I wanted to be on the ground with my hunters or in the sky with Wrath, tracking Silvanus. Outwardly I didn’t give any hint of my inner turmoil.
“Welcome to the next event—your favorite indulgence.” I glanced at the door. Adriana was noticeably absent. Which was for the best. “Today I’ll be sampling your favorite dish. It can be savory, sweet, sour, a combination of all, or a drink you enjoy.”
Erudite set her journal down. She’d been studiously scribbling notes. “What if our favorite indulgence includes food and a beverage?”
“By all means, if you’ve got the ambition to make both, please do. There are no rules for this event. I do want to know the story behind your dishes, though. Something to give me a clearer sense of who you are individually.”
“How long will we have to complete our dish?” Ava of House Greed asked.
“Thirty minutes. We have a clock that will count down your time.”
Omen from House Envy glared at Ava. “If someone is only making a beverage, that hardly seems fair.”
My smile was getting harder to maintain. These would be the longest thirty minutes of my existence. I exhaled, forcing myself to think of the realm. And the reporters who were watching my every reaction much too closely from the sidelines.
Anderson Anders and Julian Wren leaned in, their quills flying across their notepads. No matter how I felt inside, I would need to give another stellar performance. Thankfully Ryleigh Hughes wasn’t in attendance. As Adriana’s friend, she seemed to hold a grudge against me.
I clapped my hands together once, then nodded to Jarvis, who set the clock to begin its countdown. “Your time begins now. I so look forward to tasting your… offerings.”
Deep inside, something uncomfortable knotted in my chest. A Prince of Sin couldn’t lie, but we found clever ways to omit the truth.
My flirtation was expected, but it was getting harder to play pretend.
I hadn’t been thinking of my suitors. If I had, the teasing words never would have left my lips, even if I’d desperately wanted them to.
Do I Secretly Belong to House Envy or Is He Just a Rake?
Special Miss Match from the Royal Suitors
Dear Miss Match,
I started courting someone with a reputation that rivals that of our dear prince. At first, it was all terribly exciting. He had a lover for every day of the week. Initially, I found that somewhat of a thrilling challenge, especially when I successfully captured most of his attention. But now my feelings have gotten the better of me and when he’s not in my bed, I wonder who he’s with instead. I’m not prone to envy, so it’s disconcerting to experience that sin.
What would you do if the person you love loves someone (or several someones!) else?
Yours in scandal,
Uncomfortably Jealous
Dear Jealous:
Dating a rake certainly has its merits. Though I personally prefer to find a reformed playboy, if such a rare creature exists. To answer your question thoroughly, I’ve compiled some quotes from our most popular remaining suitors.
Miss Vanity Raven, House Pride: Have confidence in yourself. You are the most beautiful, interesting, intelligent, of his suitors. No one else compares to you, and if he forgets? Date a smarter rake.
Miss Omen Seagrave, House Envy: Why aren’t you dating all the lovers you want and flaunting it? Try ignoring your lover at the next event and showering someone else you like with attention. Inspiring a bit of envy in a potential mate is fair game.
Miss Eden Everhart, House Gluttony: I believe that true love always finds a way. It might take time, it might take the fear of loss, but if it’s meant to be, it will work out.
There you have it; jealousy is perfectly natural, and the best advice is to focus on you and your needs first. If your lover no longer suits, find a new suitor who does.
Until next time, stay scandalous, sweet sinners.
Miss Match