Chapter 53
Fifty-Three
I lift the rabbit meat to my lips. It’s covered in the sticky nectar, which drips down my fingers.
A pungent floral smell tickles my nose as I take a generous bite, and a flavorful explosion of sweetness and spice explodes into my mouth.
Even in Alexandria Castle, I don’t recall ever having anything quite so delicious.
My eyes light up as I give Rett an approving nod.
He gives me an odd stare, and I assume I must have some on my face.
He devours his food with a few quick bites while I savor the rest of mine, slowly consuming it until nothing remains and I’m licking my lips and fingers after the meal.
Rett’s orange gaze lingers on me.
My cheeks flush with warmth.
I recognize that look.
It’s the same one he had on coronation night—the night we go to great lengths not to mention or repeat.
“Compliments from an orc prince must be the last thing on your mind tonight, but I want you to know how beautiful you are, surrounded by nature, laughing, just being you. Don’t get me wrong—you’re always gorgeous—but right now you look so happy, and that is infinitely more precious than a beauty that fades. ”
I rarely receive praise in the way he’s giving it.
The people of Alexandria care very little about whether Lady Courtesans are content with their lot in life.
We’re there to entertain. And a smile is a smile, whether it’s empty or not.
My throat constricts with an emotion I fight to bury. I swallow and whisper, “Thank you.”
“I’ve also wanted to apologize to you for a while now,” he admits.
“For what?”
“Your coronation night. You’d been drinking, and it seems that I may have taken advantage of you.” He runs a hand over the under-shaven part of his hair, a nervous habit I’ve noticed when he’s uncomfortable.
I burst into laughter. “If I remember correctly, I’m the person who did the advantage-taking—not the other way around, especially since you were the one who told me no.”
“Wait a minute—how did you take advantage of me?”
“Well, you were in my kingdom, and I was the queen,” I loftily explain. “Power imbalance and all...”
His eyes dance. “So you planned to steal my virtue that night?” he asks, placing a mock hand on his chest.
“I didn’t plan anything.” I stop talking for a second, narrowly scrutinizing him. “Are you saying you’re a virgin?”
It’s his turn to burst into laughter. “Oh, fuck no.”
“So you admit to being a philanderer then?” I ask, not caring that I’m prying into his personal information. “That’s what Princess Klara labeled you as.” My heart clamps as I mention her.
Choking, he peers over the fire. “I am a man who isn’t inexperienced.”
“You should go into politics with a line like that.”
“No, thank you,” he counters. “Royalty is already political, and the stakes are much higher.”
“Why is that?”
“Because family is involved.”
Damn, he’s right.
He passes me the water pouch, and I drink until bursting. We fill up as much as we want, making multiple trips to the spring next to us.
Rett peers over the fire at the wooded horizon before turning around to face me.
For a split second, reality alters, and Ashland looks over the campfire at me with his concerned silver eyes, the same expression he wore when he woke me from my nightmare. His raven hair blows in the breeze above his concerned brow.
What’s wrong with me?
My stomach lurches with a strange emptiness. Then a warmth blooms over my belly, and I wonder if something I ate isn’t sitting well. I swallow the lump forming in my throat.
“You okay? You’re just staring at that fire,” Rett asks. He empties the water pouch over himself, a long stream rolling down his neck and over his chiseled muscles.
“Oh, I’m fine,” I say, snapping out of it, blinking a few times. “Just hot again, now that I’ve dried.”
Rett grins as he cocks his head toward the pool that is sparkling like topazes and rubies now that the sunset is battering us through the foliage above. “I can help you with that—if you need.”
“I refuse to sleep in a wet shift.” I give him a pointed look.
“Swim without one.”
I scoff.
He stands and stretches his arms. “It’s okay. I get it,” he teases. “You don’t want to fight the temptation, because if you undress, you know I’ll join you.” His thighs squeeze, defining the outline of his muscular legs. “It wouldn’t be chivalrous of me to stay clothed, now would it?”
“Prince Everett Delamere.” I list his full name in warning.
“Is it working?”
“I’m not going swimming. One dip is plenty for today, and I don’t like that it’s about to be dark.” I stand up—but a bit too fast. Stumbling for a moment, I shake my head to regain my bearings.
“The only way you’ll get used to the heat is if you do things to cool off. Acclimation takes time and patience,” he says as he sweeps my hair off my shoulder and skims the bare skin down the curve of my arm.
Rett stares for a second longer than appropriate. It makes my heart take off as my chest heaves under the constraint of my stays. Suddenly, I’m very interested in soft touches.
Rett bends over, whispering in my ear. “Get undressed…” He leans back. “Or you’ll be sleeping in wet everything because I’m not carrying you out of the forest half-dead with heat fever.”
I gaze into his eyes, my neck tilting at the height difference. My head buzzes as though I’ve drunk too much ale.
“I am not ashamed of what I want,” he says, lowering his face, burgundy curls falling forward. “Are you?”
Need growls in my belly, hungry for something more—
—flirting, touching, sex.
Right now, I’m simply Tabitha, alone in the woods with Rett, who listens to me. Understands me. Wants me.
He lavishes a smoldering stare on me, melting whatever excuse I still cling to.
If I’m being honest, I want nothing more than to be in this hazy place, between our different worlds, enjoying this moment we’ve stolen together.
Warmth spreads through my body, tingling through my fingers and toes, making the trees blurry and my mind dizzy.
“Are you going to make me undress you?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I whisper.
He plucks at the string connecting the two sides of my front-lacing stays. “Would you rather have heat fever instead?”
I might already have it.
He pulls until it loosens.
Rett hesitates. “Would you like me to stop?”
The air grows utterly still, even the chirping bugs and birds becoming quiet.
Something propels me to shake my head—a force of need greater than myself.
Rett yanks the final strings in my stays.
It hangs limply on my shoulders until he peels it off and throws it onto the closest bedroll.
Dressed in only my thin, cotton shift, I feel a shiver run up my spine despite the temperature not changing.
“Are we going to jump in now?” I ask, swallowing nervously.
“When I’m finished.” Rett’s eyes greedily lap up my appearance. His gaze lingers on my breasts, belly, and the space between my thighs, all of which are clearly outlined under the nearly sheer fabric. He groans so profoundly that it turns into a growl.
My fingers fumble for the fastening at the top of his pants, but I can’t figure out the buttons. Everything grows confusing with lust. My vision falters, and blackened shadows creep around my eyesight before returning to normal.
I freeze as he bends a finger and unfastens his pants, unleashing his oversized cock, dripping a pearly white substance. I gasp in shock.
“Tell me you’ll marry me, and it’ll be yours forever.”
My mouth goes dry, and I pause.
Rett’s face inches closer and closer. “You won’t struggle when you’re with me.
I’ll take care of your needs—all of them.
” I’m not sure if the dusk of the newly fallen night is lowering my inhibitions, but everything he’s saying sounds too good to be true.
His silver—no, orange—eyes glimmer with heat.
His mouth crashes down on mine, tasting and biting my lower lip until I cry out. I moan as the pain subsides. “Weren’t we about to swim?” I ask, pulling away.
“Oh, we will, but I have to test a certain wetness first,” he says before kissing down my collarbone and pushing me down on the bedroll. His palm finds the back of my neck, holding me tightly under the control of his grip. He looms over me, ready to devour.
But then he waits. I know what he wants, but I can’t give it to him.
“Tell me you’ll marry me,” he insists.
I’m unable to form words as the tip of his cock nuzzles into the soft curls of my sex. Weakly, I wonder if it’ll even fit. He pulls back and then pushes until he meets my tender flesh, seeking the entrance, but stopping. His breath lingers on my body. “Say yes, and you’ll have everything.”
The air alters with a rippling wave, and Ashland is above me, saying these things. I squeeze my eyes shut, sure I’m going mad, but I nod my head, the chaos of overwhelming emotions claiming me, not letting me go.
Running his hand through my hair, Rett whispers, “You are just as good as I imagined. When we arrive in the Beast Realm, I—” His fingers get caught in my circlet before he lets out a resounding scream.
Something yanks him from me.
My eyes fly open.
A slimy green vine drags him toward the pool of water.
Shock and horror fill Rett’s contorted face as he goes over the embankment and slips in with a splash and gurgle.
I watch from my knees in a frozen stupor before snapping out of it.
Grass and sticks poke my body under my shift as I crawl to the edge, but I find nothing but a calm surface.
Something.
Something took him.
Too terrified to follow him into the water, I try to form a different plan. But what do I do?
I need magic.
However, if I’m to use it, I must control it.
The seconds tick by.