121. Summer #2
“Well, I was apprehended,” I say, not looking at him in the mirror. “So I had to take matters into my own hands.”
“Apprehended?” he asks, putting the brush back down and starting to towel-dry my hair.
I grumble under my breath.
He yanks my hair a little, and I moan in response.
“I didn’t realize there was a citywide curfew,” I say when he waits.
“So I was ushered into this empty tavern, and the guy knew I wasn’t who I was saying I was.
” I glance at him sheepishly in the mirror, embarrassed that my rune hadn’t worked, or if it had, it hadn’t worked well enough for what I needed.
“So I had to resort to more?.?.?. colorful methods to gain the information I needed.”
He frowns, and I watch through the mirror as he turns and goes back into the bathroom. He returns, carrying the sheath and inspecting my dagger. “A sunlight rune,” he says, glancing at me. “Creative.”
“Well, it was until he stabbed himself in the heart with it. Fucking asshole,” I grumble, and then I turn in the chair to look at him. “Something is going on, Stranger. There were no signs of mourning. Not one.”
“You think it’s a trap?” he asks, spinning the dagger through his fingers.
I nod and stand up, pulling the towel a little tighter around me as I walk toward him.
Stopping in front of him, I take the sheath from his other hand and pull the piece of paper from where I tucked it away.
“I also found this,” I say, handing him the flyer, which is now crumpled and smeared with blood.
“A bounty for Alice?” He frowns, studying the flyer. “Princess, has she had any assassination attempts?”
“Recently?”
He nods. “The print date is less than two weeks ago,” he says, showing me the small date beneath her image.
“No, nothing has happened, at least nothing we have noticed,” I say, shaking my head.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Absolutely,” I say. Like I wouldn’t have noticed an assassination attempt on my best friend.
He sighs and puts the flyer down on my dresser. Lifting me against him, he carries me to bed and sits down, arranging me in his lap.
“Stranger?”
“Yes?”
“What is it?” I can practically hear his brain churning.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I sigh. “It was just recon.”
“And I would have come with you,” he says, cupping my cheek.
“Well, I’m going back tomorrow,” I say, and this time, I will make sure it’s not after curfew.
“I will come with you.”
“Okay. Are you still angry with me?”
“Yes, but it’s slowly dwindling.”
My lips twitch, and I kiss his jaw before sliding off his lap.
I pad into my closet, adding a little extra sway to my hips.
I leave the door open a little, giving him a peek as I change.
Heat warms my core, my body responding as it does every time his eyes are on me, and I’m growing to crave the feeling.
I drop my towel and bend to step into my sleep shorts, wiggling my ass as I pull them up and over my hips. Turning to face the door, I slip the cropped cami over my head, slowly tugging it down over my breasts.
“Is this a tactic to get me to forgive you faster, little fae?” he asks.
“Is it working?” I ask with a small, flirty smile.
“Yes. ”
It’s times like these that I regret making our pact. What I wouldn’t do to suck his cock or even to let him fuck my fist, but I know we need to slow things down for now. I leave the closet and walk back to him, standing between his legs. His hands brush up the backs of my thighs.
“Really working to expedite my forgiveness, aren’t we?”
I wrap my arms around his neck, and he cups my ass, squeezing.
Fuck . . . we need to stop this.
“I still think you need to be disciplined,” he growls, kneading the curves filling his hands. I moan at the bittersweet pain of his grip and slide my fingers into his hair.
“Maybe I should put you over my lap and turn your ass red so you remember not to leave the realm without telling me.”
“Stranger . . .” I moan. “We can’t.”
“Why not?” he growls possessively.
“You know why. It won’t end there.”
He groans and presses his face into my stomach in frustration.
“Besides, I want you to feel me too and I can’t. Not until I know who you are.” I need to stand firm on this. I need to hold this boundary not only for myself but also for him.
“Promise me you won’t do it again, princess,” he says, his fingers still digging into my ass.
“Promise,” I moan.
“You’re going to be a good girl for me now, aren’t you?” he says, pulling back to look up at me before nipping at the curve of my breast.
I bite my lip and moan, my core heating for him.
“When you’re mine officially I’ll punish you for all the times you’ve disobeyed me.”
I dig my teeth harder into my lip.
“You will know who owns you. Who owns your pleasure. Who controls it,” he says, his voice dark. “Understand, princess?”
I shiver and nod slowly. He pulls me against him and lies back, turning us so we are facing each other.
“You’re not sleeping over,” I say, though my voice is filled with desire.
“You want me to go?” he asks, trailing his fingers up my waist.
“Maybe five more minutes,” I say, moaning softly.
He chuckles, and I can feel his smug energy. I huff and roll over onto my other side, giving him my back. “Bye. I’m leaving at five thirty tomorrow morning. I will leave without you if you’re not here.”
He slams his palm down onto my ass, making it sting deliciously. “Say goodbye to me. Properly.”
I glance at him over my shoulder, trying not to let on how the heat of that spank has gone straight to my pussy. “Goodnight, Stranger.”
He massages my ass. “Goodnight, princess,” he says before disappearing and leaving me in an empty bed with a stinging ass cheek and intensely sexually frustrated.