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Azrael’s lip curled in a smirk as he pulled his hand back, slowly dragging it possessively down her torso before coming to the buttons on her pants. “What will it be, your Majesty?” he purred, flicking open the first one. “Will you let me distract you properly?”

Talwyn glared back at him, clenching her teeth. “You better make this worth my while,” she snarled at him.

He arched a brow at her. “Have I ever disappointed you?” When she just gave him an unimpressed glare, he leaned in close once more, speaking directly into her ear, his low, rough voice sending heat through her veins. “We both know I know exactly how to make this worth your while, Talwyn.” He tugged on her wrists that he still gripped in his hand forcing her to arch into him even more and a frustrated growl escaped her throat. “The sounds I draw from you tell me all I need to know,” he continued, his other hand flicking open the next button on her pants.

She snarled at him once more, but her body relaxed into him, letting go of all the tension coiling in her limbs. He chuckled darkly as he released the final button of her pants before scooping her up and tossing her roughly onto the center of his bed.

“Shirt off,” he ordered, pulling his own over his head. Talwyn quickly shucked off her tunic, taking in the corded muscles of Azrael’s chest and arms. “Keep going,” he said with a nod at the band around her breasts, his gaze roving over her.

Talwyn grumbled as she unwound the band, her breasts immediately tightening as the cool air brushed over them, the tips hardening.

Azrael stalked toward her, his eyes dark with predatory intent. He slowly crawled onto the bed, coming over top of her and forcing her down onto her back. “Hands up,” he commanded, his voice dark and full of a promise that he would indeed make this worth her while.

Despite her best attempts to maintain some form of control, her breathing was shallow as she slowly raised her hands above her head. She felt his magic wrapping around her, vines coiling around her wrists and yanking them higher, securing them in place. She snarled softly at him, baring her teeth. “Do not get used to this, Luan,” she growled.

“Mhmm,” he hummed darkly. “I think you say the same thing every time.”

She opened her mouth to snark a reply, but his fingertips were skating up her sides, over her ribs, and instead a gasp escaped her. His palms skimmed back down the path his fingers had just taken, his callouses rough against her skin, and when they reached the band of her pants he sat back, pulling them down her legs along with her undergarments. He looked down at her, his eyes glazed and pupils dilated.

“I am not here to beyourdistraction,” she snarled at him, and he dragged his eyes to hers, a wicked smile pulling at his lips.

“Of course not, your Majesty,” he mocked, his hands gripping her knees and pulling them roughly apart. He bent down, kissing and biting up the inside of her thighs as he made his way higher. And her thoughts scattered as the only thing she could focus on was his lips, his tongue, getting closer to that bundle of nerves. And he was taking his sweet fucking time getting there. By the time he made it to her center, she was panting and writhing beneath him, damn near close to begging him.

“You seem very distracted now,” he taunted, his breath brushing over her aching core.

“Azrael,” she ground out, arching her hips off the bed, trying to get closer to his mouth.

“Stop moving,” he purred, and she felt vines snake around her middle, pulling her down into the bed. His fingers squeezed her inner thighs once more as he pushed her legs wider, before he brought his mouth down onto her, and she moaned in pleasure when he finally,finally, raked his tongue over those nerves. He sucked and nipped, his hands holding her open for him.

When he slipped his tongue inside her, one hand slid up, his thumb continuing to move in delicious circles. She jerked against the restraints at her wrists, tried to buck her hips, but the vines just tightened. She wouldn’t have been able to focus enough to use her own magic to break the binds if she had wanted to. Every nerve was firing in her body as he brought her closer and closer to the edge. She was panting when two fingers replaced his tongue, and he looked up at her, the look in his eyes saying he knew exactly how close she was. With a wicked grin against her flesh, his tongue found that bundle of nerves one more time, and she shattered around his fingers, crying out his name and arching off the bed.

Before she had even come down from her high, the vines around her middle were gone, and he was flipping her onto her stomach. She snarled as her wrists and arms twisted in their holds to accommodate the new position.

“Ass up, my queen,” he crooned, his hands grasping her hips and hoisting her up onto her knees, not giving her time to carry out the command on her own. His palm dragged down her spine, and she felt him press against her from behind. When he had removed his own pants, she had no idea. He leaned forward once more, reaching around her to grip her breasts in his palms, and she moaned, pressing her face into the crook of her arm and her ass back into him.

One hand toyed with her nipple, rolling it between his fingers and tugging, as his other drifted south, his long digits once again finding that bundle of nerves at her center. She felt her magic rolling off of her, and she tried to find some semblance of control over it. Some way to shape it so she could torture Azrael as much as he was torturing her,but he was right. He knew exactly how to play her body to make her forget her past, her present, her heartache, her responsibilities. The only things that could hold her attention right now were his hands, his mouth, and his hardness pressing against her.

And while she would never admit it out loud to him, she knew that he understood how much she needed this. She needed someone else to take control, to make the decisions. When it was just her and the Earth Prince, no one was looking at her to lead an entire race of people, entire bloodlines. No one was expecting her to have all the answers or know the secrets of the gods and Fates. When he convinced her to give up control, even just for a few hours, she relished the freedom. She craved it, and Azrael gave her the only safe place she had to enjoy such a luxury that she was rarely afforded.

So she gave in to him when he gripped her hips once more and slammed into her in one hard movement. She let herself get lost in the pleasure he was giving her with each thrust he made, each cry he wrung from her lips. And when she came a second time, and he found his own release a few moments later, she let him gently roll her onto her back, the vines around her wrists vanishing. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, his tongue gently caressing hers, as his hand cupped the nape of her neck.

“Sleep, Talwyn,” he ordered softly when he pulled back from her. He reached down and pulled the blankets up over them, draping his arm around her waist and resting his hand on her hip as she settled back against him. Sated and thoroughly distracted, she was asleep in minutes.

CHAPTER 52

SCARLETT

The council room had fallen silent when Talwyn had left, and it remained so now. Scarlett was struggling to breathe at the words Talwyn had flung at her before she left. Nausea roiled in her gut, and she willed herself not to vomit.

Maybe she was being selfish. Maybe someone else should go and get Cassius, but she didn’t know if she could bear it. Someone else telling him who he was, who his mother was. She saw Sorin reaching for her hand, but she snatched it back, placing them on the arms of her chair and gripping tightly. Her shadows were prowling beneath her skin, and she was struggling to control them.

“You are at a crossroads, Queen Scarlett,” came Ashtine’s voice from down the table. There was nothing accusatory or implied in her tone. She was just stating a fact. “Talwyn made some good points. I trust you have some of equal value.”

“Aside from the Maraan Lords? I am the only one who can find the keys,” Scarlett answered, somehow finding her voice. It was low and quiet, but authoritative.

“And you know how to locate them?” Ashtine asked, tilting her head to the side in that peculiar way of hers.

“No, I am still working on that,” Scarlett answered slowly.