Chapter 24
Hugging Thain had been a nightmare, and he could consider himself lucky that I was too drunk to wield even the tiniest bit of magic.
Otherwise, the temptation to stab him in the back would have been too hard to resist. And now I carried his stank all over me, plus if I had to endure his impish grin for a second longer, I’d take a spoon and carve his heart out, Regicide or not.
In the end, what was a party without a little murder?
But his assignment for me? Easy.
I took another gracious sip from my glass, and I was definitely more than just a little tipsy. “I accept the task, of course.”
There was no question about who I was going to pick. After all, a delicious tiny human was already sprawled on my lap. Nayana squirmed as if she tried to get away, but I wouldn’t let her. Not now, not ever.
Shifting my weight, I grabbed her waist and spun her around. My action coaxed a delectable squeal from her. “I choose you, needless to say.” My voice was a deep purr, and with fascination, I watched how her cheeks reddened. Ah, she had an inkling where this was heading.
“Your time starts now.”
Not pausing one second, I tangled one of my hands in her blonde locks and hauled her flush against my chest. Pouncing, I attacked her lips with mine.
Her small gasp was expected, and she yielded almost in an instant, meeting my kiss without hesitation.
As her eyelids fluttered shut, I felt like a true king.
I ignored the hoots and hollers of our audience as I kissed the tiny female who had me completely obsessed. She was melting into my embrace, and my lips became more commanding.
She instantly obeyed when my tongue demanded entry, and I ambushed her even more ferociously.
Drunk as I was, admitting to myself how she had me bewitched was much easier, and I’d already forgotten about the idiots gawking at us.
Nayana’s hair was so soft, and so were her lips, and I was close to combusting, just by a few seconds of kissing alone.
But it wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough.
Mine.
That was what she was.
Our lips separated, but I wasn’t done with her by far.
Kissing along her jawline, down her sensitive neck, to the spot that drove her crazy every time.
I sucked on her skin before scraping my canines over the exact same area.
The most delicious gasp escaped her as her heart drummed in overdrive, and she panted and melted in my arms.
My cock was rock hard, and since I’d shifted her so she was straddling my lap, my erection pressed right against her core. Why was there so much clothing between us?
“We’re—not alone.”
“It’s a fae party.”
Her breathy protest had been born from propriety and didn’t reflect the desire threatening to pull us both under.
Every action told me the truth, from how she buried her hands in my hair, how she arched her neck, and, of course, how her hips moved, searching for the friction I needed just as much as she did.
I bit down harder, cautious not to break her skin—not without her consent—but the urge to leave a temporary mark on her neck was overpowering. Fuck caution, fuck Galanta. We’d deal with such trivialities tomorrow. Tonight, she’d wear my claim on her skin, showing everyone that she was mine.
Tightening my arms, I spun us around, taking care she wouldn’t get hurt as I trapped her under me on the couch, with no chance of escaping. And I might have been drunk, but still, I’d given her a few moments to protest against this position—but there was none.
Another of those breathy sounds escaped her, followed by a whimper as I nipped her neck again and ground my needy hips into hers.
Her scent perfumed the air, overpowering and intoxicating.
Even though the senses of my fellow soldiers were less developed than mine, they wouldn’t miss her arousal wafting through the room, and there was only one reason I allowed them to witness all of this.
Although this display was born from a party game, in the end, I was staking my claim in front of everyone.
They needed to understand in every way possible how off-limits Nayana was for anyone but me.
An idea crossed my mind, and for a fraction of a second, I glanced at her friend—the female one, of course. “You, take her wrists.”
Nayana made the most confused noise, and her glazed eyes sought mine, disoriented yet full of desire.
She yielded without resistance as I collected her hands and arranged her arms over her head. Rewani had followed my order and grabbed her wrists. From the grin the other woman wore, it was clear she enjoyed the sight very much.
Once Nayana was safely handled, I shifted my weight. My knee slid between her legs, only inches away from her center, and as her legs fell open, I dove for her neck again. Since her choker was hiding much of her skin, I had to be extra thorough so my mark would show.
And the reason why I was involving her friend?
Easy. I wanted to test the waters to find out how she reacted to being restrained.
When the topic had come up a few days ago, she’d shown more than a spark of curiosity despite her terrible experiences. With someone she trusted in the mix, what could be safer? And given her reactions, I learned she didn’t mind at all, at least not at this moment.
No, quite on the contrary. Her back arched, and her hips met mine with enthusiasm.
“You like that, don’t you?” Letting her feel how hard she made me, I ground against her core and, just in time, covered her lips with my hand, stifling her moan. While I couldn’t avoid that everyone was smelling her desire, her most intimate sounds were mine alone.
“I promise you, this is nothing. You have no idea to what heights I could bring you.”
Fuck, if I didn’t slow down, I’d be in danger of finishing inside my pants like a faeling, only from the noises she composed against my hand, and from her body arching into mine, the taste of her skin, sweet and salty, like her. I couldn’t get enough.
“Dion—”
Instead of an answer to her muffled plea, I scraped my canines over the sensitive spot of her neck again. Together with her repeating my name, she brought me to the edge of control.
Naya strained at her friend binding her wrists, pushed even further because of her being repressed.
Her breath quickened, and I smiled into her neck as I realized I’d been correct—she indeed found a liking in this, no matter her trauma.
Of course, if we were ever to explore that road, it would be with caution and care.
Grinding against her, I claimed her lips once more, hungry and insatiable.
Fuck it.
I wanted to sweep her up and carry her next door—which wouldn’t have been very party of me—as the unpleasant voice I hated even on the best of days floated through the air and destroyed my bliss.
“Your five minutes are up.”
I lifted my head and growled at Thain, who’d delivered this godscursed message, and who looked much too smug for my liking.
Only reluctantly did I raise and arrange Nayana on my lap again. Both of us needed to catch some breath, although she was panting harder than I was, and her face was deliciously flushed.
Smoothing down her hair, I examined the mark I’d given her with a lot of male satisfaction. To cover the spot up the next day would be mandatory, but that was tomorrow Dion’s problem. Now, I was just preening.
This tiny woman had me in a chokehold, and if someone else tried to touch her during this game—or any other time—that fool would better think twice.
I’d definitely indebt myself to anyone if it meant that no one could get their paws on her—and afterward kill everybody who’d considered succumbing to the temptation she posed.
Her friend had returned to her own seat, and she was still grinning widely. The fact that she gave the impression she approved of me when it came to her best friend was softening me to the idea of her being a continued fixture in Naya’s and my lives.
Not that I’d care if she weren’t, but it was easier this way. Due to some unknown reason, Naya was attached to her—and sadly also to the boy. Humans could be strange.
My woman had grabbed her glass and drank a deep sip, most likely to combat the embarrassment painting her face red. Smiling, I reached out and played with her hair, fascinated by the silkiness of her tresses.
“A bit tame for a fae celebration, but I’ll accept it. Task fulfilled, my King.”
“Tame? Are you for real, Thain?”
“Yes, Nayana. You’re still wearing all of your clothes.”
A growl escaped me, and I bared my teeth to Thain. “If this was a ploy to see her naked, I and you can go outside and discuss this out.” And by discussing, I meant me killing him.
The fucking Courtling laughed with mirth and handed me another glass of Cintro, which I accepted with a huff.
“Three hundred ninety-six.”
The boy had been the last one to direct his order to me, and since he was lame, he’d only asked for my age.
“Shit.”
“Don’t you dare to make me feel old, tiny woman.”
“But you’re ancient. I am twenty-four.”
“No one frowns about age gaps in Galanta. My mother was around five hundred winters older than my father when they fell for each other, and it took another three centuries before I was born.”
What was her problem? The aging process of fae was very different from the one of humans, and when looking at the big picture, one could say the winters between us were the least of our worries.
She shouldn’t give a fuck and instead admit she desired me as much as I was obsessed with her. Not able to withstand the temptation, I feasted on her earlobe again, which made her squeal as usual.
“Well, I finished all of your missives. It’s time y’all pay up. What will you offer to me?”
“A full canteen of Cintro. Moonshined, of course.” Thain’s suggestion wasn’t actually bad, even though I didn’t want to know how much of that stuff he kept hidden in his room in the army barracks in Alaiann or where he was brewing the drink. Even less where he’d procured the Raga from.
“Two embarrassing stories of Nayana when she was in her teen winters.”
“Rewi. Don’t you dare.”
“Good proposal, Rewani,” I chuckled as Nayana pouted.
“I’ll grant you a blank pass to stay in a place of your choosing for a few hours, not longer, where you store me without arguing.”
“Sad as this makes me, that means I won’t make you a queen today, Nayana.
” But one day, I would. If I should ever be cursed to ascend to the Eternal Throne, I’d put a crown on her head and fall to my knees in front of her, worshiping her in the only way she deserved.
For a moment, the lack of ambition to become High King battled with the tempting idea of seeing Nayana on a throne.
My drunken self saw informing her of my intention as his duty, and I lost an annoyed growl as the boy interrupted me before I could do so.
“I’ll keep silent about three days ago.”
“What happened three days ago?”
Well—ugh, that was nothing Nayana was ever allowed to find out.
Even though she was intoxicated, she wouldn’t take the notion well that I’d been the culprit, not the servants, who had misplaced her underthings.
And misplacing might be the wrong choice of word because I intentionally placed them. Into my pocket.
Until today, I still didn’t know why the boy had visited our suite, but there he’d been, catching me red-handed, and both of us had exchanged fierce warnings.
He’d threatened to tattle to her about me being a perverted thief—which I’d objected to the fiercest—and I’d promised to murder him.
The following stare-down had ended with an impasse, and her underthings still in my possession—next to the other trinkets I was…
safekeeping for her. So, everything considered, his offer to keep quiet sounded tempting, allowed him to live, and thus wouldn’t upset Nayana—neither about his death nor about her vanished underthings.
In the end, I picked my uncle. His proposition was shit—why should I want to be brought up to speed with Galantan court gossip?—and also, I was still angry with him about the forged letter he’d left for my grandfather in my name. Yes, I was a spiteful bastard with a grudge, what could I say?
Satisfied and with a successful reign under my belt, I nursed my glass as I held on tight to the tiny female on my lap. Anyone intending to separate us would have to pry her out of my cold, dead hands. She was mine, and I’d never let her go again.