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“Who said anything about fifteen minutes? You know I like to take my time when I’m enjoying myself.”
“Saeris, if I knew I could buy your time, I’d be bankrupt, and you would be a very rich woman. You’d have spent the past three months on your back, begging for me to ride you harder, and—” “One more word and I’ll relieve you of your fucking balls, thief,” I snarled.
“You’re going to fix it?” Carrion’s pale blue eyes drilled into me as I stepped away from the booth. “I’m going to fix it,” I snarled back. “Good. Oh, and, Saeris?” The guy just didn’t know when to quit. I spun around, scowling at him. “What!” “Even filthy and tired, you’re still beautiful.” “Gods and martyrs,” I whispered.
And now I fought like hell’s own fury made flesh.
“Just hang me already and be done with it,” I snapped. “If you don’t hurry up and get on with it, you’re gonna miss your opportunity.” He arched an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t bother trying to escape.” I rolled my eyes. “I meant that I was dying of boredom in here.”
Death had come for me, with wavy black hair and wicked green eyes.
“I don’t care about Yvelian history. I don’t give a shit about etiquette, either.” “Clearly,” Rusarius sputtered.
The three Fae were passing one of the many sets of alcoves occupied by statues of the gods. Everlayne bowed and touched her head to them as she hurried by. Ren grumbled, giving them a cursory nod. Kingfisher stuck out a hand and flipped all seven of them off as he stormed by.
I risked a sidelong glance at Kingfisher out of the corner of my eye. “Should we, uh… knock?” An arrogant smile curled up at the corner of his mouth. “Sure,” he said, as if this was a charming suggestion made by a single-brain-celled idiot. A second later, he slammed the sole of his boot against the wood, and then the door was on the ground in pieces. “Knock knock.” He stepped to one side, holding his hand out in a mockery of manners, gesturing for me to go ahead of him. “I don’t think anyone’s home.”
And it was warm. All day, I’d been freezing, my teeth chattering while I’d cleaned and picked up with numb fingers, and now it was warm? I spun, searching for something to hurl at Kingfisher.
“Elroy swears that a man will lie about the size of his cock every time a woman asks him.” Kingfisher stilled. “Are you asking me how big my cock is, Osha?” “I don’t care how big it is. I care about the way you answer.” A slow, terrifying smirk spread across his face. “It’s big enough to make you scream and then some.”
When I opened my eyes, he was looking at the solid bead of matte, inert metal in my hands, a look of wry amusement on his irritatingly handsome face. “I have to say, I was expecting that to go differently,” he mused. And then I punched him square in the mouth.
“You’re lucky he didn’t react any worse than he did,” she said. “Oh?” I scoffed. “I thought his reaction was a little over the top.” Everlayne had been waiting for me when I returned to my room yesterday. She hadn’t banked on Kingfisher kicking in my bedroom door, me thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and wailing like a banshee. Nor had she expected his ultra-foul temper, his split bottom lip, or the thin line of blood trickling down his chin. She’d squawked when he’d thrown me unceremoniously down onto my bed and snarled, “Bad human,” at me.
“Admittedly, I do enjoy when a female kneels for me, but in this particular case…”
His tongue darted out between his lips, his blood staining the very tip of it, and I found myself being flashed by a pair of wickedly sharp canines. The sight of them sent a thrill of panic-tinged intrigue through me. Heat rose up from the pit of my stomach, my blood rushing to my cheeks. Kingfisher’s gaze snapped up, singling in on mine. “Careful, human. We Fae have an excellent sense of smell. You’d be amazed what we can scent floating on the air.”
I breathed in sharply, inhaling cheese. Choking and spluttering, I tried desperately to get rid of it, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Kingfisher leaned forward, his tongue running over his teeth again. He smiled suggestively as he said, “Swallow.”
I jerked when he snapped his fingers in front of my face. “You could at least say hello before you start eye-fucking me.”
“It’s Saeris. My name. Call me that or nothing at all.” He cast an amused look over his shoulder, his lips parted a fraction, exposing the briefest glimpse of teeth. “Nothing at all? I like the sound of that. Come here and look at this, Nothing At All.”
“It’s going to bite you,” Kingfisher said. “No, it won’t. It—” It bit me.
“And a pair of boots with really good soles. Do you have any idea what those boots cost me?” “Let me guess. Your virginity.” “Fuck you, Fisher.” “Sure.” He smirked. “But I’m afraid I don’t have any new boots to trade you for your time.”
had grown up in a pit of misery, where people died more often than they lived. I hadn’t seen many beautiful things in my short life. But, of all the beautiful things I had seen, Fisher was the most beautiful of all.
“If you want it, come here and touch it,” he rumbled.
He took the pendant, lifting it, placing the metal between his teeth, holding it out of the way as he moved my hand to the center of his chest. “Feel that?” he asked, his bottom lip pressing against the pendant as he spoke with it still clamped between his teeth. The tips of his canines also pressed into the swell of his bottom lip. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them.
He allowed the pendant to drop from between his teeth, the corner of his mouth kicking up as he tugged me closer to him. His other hand moved from my chest, sliding down, around my waist, settling in the small of my back. His thighs drew together, pinning me by the hips between them. Panic. Panic, panic, panic!
“I don’t hate your kind. I’m just disappointed by how breakable you are. If I held you down and fucked you the way I’m imagining fucking you right now, I doubt that you’d survive it.”
“That your body is betraying you in other ways. That I can smell you, Little Osha, and I’m thinking about drinking the sweet nectar you’re making for me straight from the fucking cup.”
Lolol that's wild
“I didn’t say I minded. But for next time, that’s where the line is. You want to cross it, I’ll happily join you on the other side. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I fought to shove down the mortified heat that rose up the back of my neck. “There won’t be a next time.” Fisher grinned so hard that a small dimple appeared, forming a deep groove in his cheek.
A tiny cut. The smallest I could manage, but it bled. Kingfisher held out his hand and pulled me to my feet, making a derisive sound when he saw the cut I’d inflicted upon myself. “Baby.”
“I tracked your bloodline. It led me right to him.
“I’ll happily kiss all of your aches and pains better for you once we strike camp. I’ve been told my mouth has healing properties. Especially when administered between a pair of thighs.”
“What about this one, then? Is this one for sale?” The stable hand thumbed a hand in the direction of Carrion. “What’s your best offer?” Fisher asked. “No!”
“I think it’s hilarious,” he countered. “You’ve been a persistent pain in my ass since we met. Now the universe has seen fit to make your ass smart. I’d call that justice.”
He pointed at Fisher. “You see him?” he squeaked. I eyed Fisher. “Unfortunately, yes.”
As he spoke, we passed a nook in the wall, where seven marble busts were mounted on stands, one of which was facing the wall. Kingfisher flipped off the gods as he passed them, not even breaking his stride.
There is no way you can still smell me on him.” “There’s every way,” Fisher rumbled, his eyes darkening. “I’d know the smell of you anywhere. On anyone. I’d know it blind and in the dark. Across a fucking sea. I’d be able to scent you—”
“For the record, I’d never use an injury as an excuse to sneak my way into a bed,” Fisher said. His voice was even closer now. I could almost feel the brush of his lips against the shell of my ear. “I’ve never had a problem securing myself an invite.”
Fuck me. That smile. Slightly open-mouthed, flashing the smallest hint of pointed teeth. I had to be so, so careful around that smile. It would wreck me if I let it. “Mm. You’re right. I don’t think you will invite me. When the time comes, I think you’ll beg—”
“You know what’d really piss him off?” I knew he wasn’t talking about Onyx. “Just don’t, Carrion.” “Revenge fucking on his bed.” I shoved a piece of apple into my mouth. “Oh, yeah, sure. Sounds like a great idea. Idiot. What do you think he’d do to you if you fucked someone in his bed?” Carrion waggled his eyebrows. “I think he’d never know.” I nearly choked on the apple. “Oh, he’d know.”
“Just so I know,” he said, chewing. “Is that a no to fucking in your captor’s bed? Or a no to fucking in general?” “What do you think?” He pointed at me with the corner of his slice of toast. “You could eviscerate a man with that expression. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
“A bath?” “Yes, a bath.” “That’s a weird request.” “I know. Even after being kidnapped, dragged into a different realm, and carted for miles on the back of a horse, I still smelled great. But he was all wound up about not liking the way I smelled, so I figured fuck it.
Carrion’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “I had a vested interest in seeing you in that dress.” “Why?” I shoved open the door to the dining room. “Your phenomenal tits, that’s why. They would have looked great in that dress. And your ass. The material was sheer as hell. Wouldn’t have left much to the imagination. Not that I need to use my imagination when it comes to your body, but—” A sinister growl echoed around the dining room.
And how would it be fair for me to enjoy the pleasure of your company while these two miss out?” Carrion held up a hand. “I’d prefer not to be here, actually.” “Sit the fuck down,” I hissed. “All right. Gods.”
“If I were evil and using your oath for my own purposes, I’d order you onto your knees for me,” he said, cutting me off. “I’d order you to part your legs for me. I’d order you to suck and fuck me until you passed out from exhaustion. Is that what you want, Little Osha?”
“You’re out of your fucking mind,” I whispered. “That’s what they tell me. But I don’t know. Aside from the relentless chatter in my head, personally, I think I’m doing just fine.”
He shook his head emphatically, his eyes begging me not to speak. Quickly, he took hold of my hand and placed it onto his chest, right in the center. Thum, thum, thum, thum, thum, thum.… His heart was racing, the space between beats negligible. Nothing like the slow, steady beat he’d shown me back in the forge at the palace. I tried to pull my hand away, startled by the thundering rhythm, but Fisher held me there tight.
She looked like her head was going to explode. “We have a fucking Alchemist?” “She’s mine,” Fisher said.
“I don’t care what it was. Just stop sharing food with him.” There was a dangerous edge to his voice. One that dared me to challenge this order. If he hadn’t learned by now that I wasn’t one to be told what to do, then perhaps he needed reminding. “Why not?” “Because I fucking said so.”
“That’s an interesting theory.” “I don’t think you hate me at all.” He laughed but took another step forward. “You think very highly of yourself, then, don’t you?” “I know that you want me.” I didn’t step back, even though my body was screaming at me that I should. “I can want to fuck you and still hate you, Little Osha.”
A girl could easily find herself addicted to the expression Fisher was wearing, and what then? I’d be lost forever. Fucking doomed.
Carrion’s grin faltered. “You are extra fucking miserable today. You should really get laid. Might help improve your mood. Tell him, Sunshine.” I choked. Loudly.
