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Bastien’s gaze meets mine and he sways toward me, as I lean toward him. It’s like we’re locked in a dance. Then it hits me like a sexy freight train…thisright here is a mating dance. Things are about to get freaky, embarrassingly so if Bastien and I remain in this room with an audience.

Bless Pennie, our ever-observant guardian. “Our Lady and her Taran require time together while the meal is prepared.”

“Of course.” The innkeeper bustles across the main room toward the stairs and then up them.

Archie walks with us, while Pennie and my dad pause in the middle of the tavern.

When I look back, Pennie says, “We’ll be here when you come back. Archie will ensure the room is sufficient for your needs.”

My needs… oh, I have a truckload of them. When I wave to my dad, I notice that the feather designs on my skin are shimmering as brightly as Bastien’s entire body.

“This is so cool,” I murmur to him and we hurry to catch up with Archie and the innkeeper.

Chapter42

Bianca

At the top of the stairs, Archie follows the innkeeper into an enormous, round turret room. I can barely observe the space as the song inside me overwhelms all my senses. But it’s clear that this is the nicest room in the place, which is great or will be when Archie and the innkeeper conclude their business and leave Bastien and me to discover exactly what comes next with our powerful, unruly bond.

The innkeeper quickly shows Archie through the room, into the adjoining room, and what I’m guessing is the bathroom. Then they return and Archie directs the innkeeper toward the door, before turning back to me.

Archie studies me, his nostrils flaring, his eyes intense. I see the battle he’s waging with himself and his best intentions. I also observe the moment his generosity and love defeat his feral brand of possessiveness. He approaches me in controlled movements and leans down to kiss my head. Then he pulls Bastien into a hug, kissing his head as well. Without a word, he leaves us, shutting the door behind him.

Butterflies swarm in my belly, as though our pounding song stirred them up and now they are a force to be reckoned with. My arms tingle as the feathers decorating them seem to be calling for Bastien’s actual feathers. Both of us are glowing and swaying, staring at each other, prolonging the tightening need building inside us to mate.

“Oh, Bastien.”

“Mistress,” he says, his voice a breathy whisper that feels like it’s coming from within me.

Every muscle in my body seizes with a need that might kill me if it isn’t sated soon… likenow. “Bastien… oh, Bastien, Ineed…”

Bastien sways closer. “Command me, Mistress. I can’t move if you don’t.”

I raise my eyebrows as I stare at him, realizing he’s literally stuck in place, unable to move until his mistress gives him direction. Sure, great… I’ve got this.

With a husky sultriness that would normally make me giggle, but at the moment feels too real to be a joke, I declare, “Pleasure me now, Bastien. Prove that you are mine, body and soul. Forever.”

My words impact his body, allowing him to break free of his temporarystatue-hood. He lunges toward me, sweeping me into his arms and carrying me to the bed. I’m already arching into him before he even reaches the mattress.

“Now, Bastien, we don’t have all day. We only have as long as it takes for our crazy steeds to align their mojo.”

I moan as he tosses me onto the soft pillows, thrusts my dress up, and buries his face between my legs, making me glad underwear aren’t much of a thing here. Though I’m suddenly wondering whether that’s actually a monster custom or whether Bastien suspected he might be spending some quality time between my legs during our travels. That thought just makes me hotter.

Bastien’s extraordinary tongue swirls around my pulsing nub, while my legs tremble around him. He stops their shaking by gripping hold of them, at the same time intensifying his pressure on my clit. As he squeezes my needy button between his full lips, his feathers tease my flesh everywhere they brush against bare skin.

I grab his head and rock my pelvis into him. “Now, Bastien.Now.”

The effect of my bossiness is deliciously palpable on Bastien, but also on me.Hmm. Do I have an inner dominatrix just waiting to break free of the expected roles I’ve allowed to adopt me instead of intentionally choosing them? Definitely possible. I wonder what Bastien would think of some light spanking.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he murmurs against my sensitive flesh, “butyes, always yes… for you.”

“Oh, Bastien,foreverhas never been this appealing.”

As Bastien’s breath becomes truly ragged and the entire point of his existence is my ecstasy, our song hits a marvelous peak just a second before a light show erupts behind my eyes and warmth floods my body.

I grip his head more fiercely. “Again, Bastien.”

Oh my… Bastien’s tongue—like Pennie’s—has different pleasure settings. As he laps around my clit, my folds, everything engorged and pulsing, I search for words to describe what’s changed. It’s not until he begins to lick my arousal and release that I finally understand.