Trick (Foolish Kingdoms, #1)

by Natalia Jaster

My name is Poet. What is yours? Hush. Let me guess. Now allow me to list my attributes. I can flip across a floor like liquid, mock behind your back, and steal your moans with a touch. I speak with the silver tongue of a trickster. If you ask nicely, I’ll delight you with a rhyme, a few lines of verse spun for your pleasure. If you ask even nicer, I might grace you with that rhyme in private—as you like. I’m a trinket, an accessory of the Crown. I’m a riddle, a brilliant whore, a hidden agenda.

For only a clever man knows how to play the fool. Yet none of these skills can deceive a strong will. Recently, I’ve learned that lesson well. I had seen her. I’d been watching her. Soon, I would have her. Yet even sooner, I would lose myself in her. So let me tell you how I picked a sinful battle against a powerful opponent. Not a king. Nor a queen. Nay. I chose their daughter.

“Where are you going?” she demanded. “Who are you? And none of this ’tis a secret, ’tis a riddle rubbish.” “Whatever you assume, give it up. I’m no traitor. I’ve no time in my busy schedule for treason.” “You are a wordsmith, therefore a liar. I know what your tongue is capable of.” And I knew an opportunity when I heard it. I prowled forward, lowered my voice, and let the words drizzle down her skin. “Now, now,” I husked. “You haven’t begun to learn what my tongue can do.”

Aye, Your Highness. Take what your jester gives you.

Neither would it beget much of a tale if I’d regretted having a taste of her, since remorse would have made life simple. For then I could have walked away with bruised lips, but with the divine trinity intact—my conscience, my cunning, and my cock. Instead, I self-destructed. Mind, body, and black soul …

“I see you. I see your resilience and strength of will. I see your determination and tenacity. I see your desire for control and your longing to dance. I see your integrity and daring, even when every other fool in a packed room fails to. I see it all, and I want it all, for you’ve bewitched me out of my wicked fucking mind.”

“Would you like to know how you taste?” When she shivered, I pressed her harder into the bookshelf, my chest flush with hers. “I still feel your beautiful pussy on my tongue, slick and tart as the rest of you. I still feel your pleasure throbbing on my lips. I still feel your release like it’s my own pulse.” As Briar’s breathing stuttered, I pulled back enough to relish her slack features. “Princess, I never wanted to kneel before a ruler so badly in my life. My mouth has been parched for you. It’s never been that way with anyone.”