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Damnit, where is Temper when you need her? She’d have a whole commentary on what’s going down.

But instead of Temper, I get the Green Man. He sidles up next to me, and I suppress a groan.

Not him.

He follows my gaze to Mara and her harem. “You get used to it,” he says.

I take a healthy swig of my drink.

Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, am I glad I can drink again. Fairies, I’m quickly learning, are best dealt with while buzzed.

“Flora fae are not usually monogamous—not even mates,” he continues.

Don’t care and don’t really want to know. “Huh,” I say.

“The past kings of the Night realm have not been either. Not even your mate’s father.”

The Green Man stands a little too close, and my hand twitches with the need to push him away a few feet.

“I know.”

Drop the subject, Green Man. Please, for the love of baby angels, drop the subject.

“I would think that, as future queen of the Kingdom of Night, you would be open to…hedonistic pursuits.”

I don’t know if he’s propositioning me or just feeling me out, but ugh, this guy is creepy.

I grimace. “I’m not.”

Mara grabs one of the men nearest to her, kissing him deeply on the dance floor while another man squeezes her breast.

And her mate stands at my side, watching the entire thing go down.

The ick factor of this situation is off the charts.

“Once you get past the unusual nature of it, I think you’ll find it can be very liberating. I’ve had many, many lovers—though never a human woman.”

All right, that wasdefinitelya proposition.

I down my wine, and when that doesn’t make the situation immediately better (it was worth a try), I push the Green Man back several steps. “You need to back up, buddy.”

And I need more wine. I needallthe wine.

“So what does the King of the Night intend to do with you, a mortal?” he asks, smirking at me, his chest still pressed against my hand.

I look at the Green Man, really look at him. “Excuse me?” What kind question is that? I’m Des’smate, not some new hire.

“Producing heirs,” the Green Man muses aloud, “that would be at the top of his mind, especially given his age and your fertility…”

Producing heirs?

Producing—heirs?

I feel like I’m pressing the fast-forward button on my brain, my thoughts racing by at warp speed until they stop on one very poignant realization.

Des and I have been having unprotected sex.

Des and I have been having unprotected sex.