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‘Oh, dear,’ he said primly – how in the world did he manage to lookprim, sitting stark naked on a tousled bed with his cock well on its way to a bludgeon-like state? ‘Do you have to put it like that? Rather vulgar, Thenessa.’

I huffed. ‘But am Iwrong?’

‘Depends.’ He flicked his tongue along his lips, gaze dropping to my neck. ‘The condition I was about to suggest is that you get back here as soon as you’re done and take a break before you throw yourself headfirst into the next task. How you spend that free time …’ A chaste flutter of his lashes. ‘Well, that is entirely up to you, of course.’

I tried to swallow. My mouth had abruptly gone dry.

His smile was pure seduction, dripping with sin.

‘Bastard,’ I managed to get out, crossing the three steps to where he was sitting. ‘As if I can’t—'

With inhuman speed, his hand shot out, locked around my wrist, and dragged me closer. I half tumbled, half jumped into his lap, straddling him; the warm, silky steel of his cock prodded my thigh, and I forgot how to breathe or think for one blissful eternity.

His lips came down on mine, hot and so impossibly soft I couldn’t help but whimper.

It happened too fast for me to react with anything but greedy instinct. His fingers tensed around my nape. My mouth opened to his, and he made his claim with savage intensity, tongue taking possession of me, drinking in the next moan that escaped me. I found his lean shoulders under my fingers and held on with all that I had – not enough, not nearly enough, to soften the painful need for his skin against mine …

The next moment, he pulled away.

I was left flustered and panting in his lap. Lips aching. Skin burning. A throbbing fire licking slowly through my veins. He pressed a torturously tender kiss to my jaw, then sentme a saintly smile that somehow made me feel all the more debauched – the innocent curl of his lips an agonising contrast to the lust unfurling beneath my skin.

‘Made my point?’ he murmured sweetly.

‘You certainly madeapoint.’ The breathless quality of my words said all I wasn’t willing to admit. My thoughts were slowly caving in to the easy way again – how bad could it really be to stay here and hide a little longer? It couldn’t dothatmuch harm, could it, if I allowed myself to drown in this world of pleasure and oblivion for a while, before I ventured back into the world of never-ending obligations …

But already I could feel it tugging at my consciousness again – the heavy awareness of work to be done. Knowing us, we could waste half a day fucking our brains out. With the Mother bound to strike any moment, could I afford it?

‘Go do one thing, cactus,’ Creon said softly, demon eyes reading every line on my face. ‘Just one. Enough to not feel lazy and useless at the end of the day. Then get back here and let me fuck you senseless. You deserve it.’

Gods help me. My body was easy prey to that low purr in his voice; the sound strummed across every hidden part of me, heating the blood in my veins, turning my knees to wobbly mush. In a last desperate attempt to regain my dignity, I pushed myself a few inches away from him and managed a stiff, ‘I’ll … consider the invitation.’

‘Oh, I strongly suggest you do.’ His smile was more animal than fae. ‘I’ll find you if you don’t.’

It truly was a miracle I didn’t drop to my knees the moment I crawled off him, my legs unsteady with need. I had to keep my gaze trained on his face as I smoothed my dress; if I strayed down for as much as a glimpse, I wasn’t quite sure I’d ever leave the room again.

‘I’ll try to be quick,’ I managed.

‘Good.’ The satisfaction in that rough drawl alone could have had me climaxing on the spot. ‘Because I definitely won’t be.’

I turned and fled. If I’d stayed a heartbeat longer, a night of self-reproach would have started to look like a pretty reasonable price for just one more taste of his lips.

Chapter 16

The Underground was nolonger as fidgety as it had been after the evacuation of the Golden Court, that restless atmosphere of an anthill under attack. Instead, an eerie calm now permeated the air. Alves and nymphs and vampires moved with grim resolve wherever I looked, few of them paying attention to anything but their own duties; some were running around with letters or books, others dragging baskets of food or weapons from here to there. Every now and then, I passed a small centre of coordination, where tired-looking individuals were counting resources or doling out tasks. ‘Two more pounds of willow bark,’ I heard a nymph mutter to herself as she inspected a pile of baskets others had brought in, ‘and clove extract …’

Willow bark. Cloves. Herbs for pain relief.

Already the guilt was rearing its ugly head again.

But Zera had trustedme, not whatever ruthless creature I might one day become; I clung to that thought as I walked on, clenching my fingers around the key in my pocket. I wasn’t leaving them to fend for themselves. I had written my letter to the White City, and I would be taking care of Thysandra, too. Just not with the bloody mind magic.

Anythingbut the bloody mind magic.

Guilt, arousal, and relief made for an odd brew of emotions all at once.

Most of the people I passed ignored me, and those who didn’t seemed determined to avoid me. As a consequence, it took a while before I found a nymph willing to pause and tell me where to find Naxi’s home. The place turned out to be located on the far side of Zera’s quarter, so I spent ten more minutes weaving through the maze of narrow corridors before I finally found the door that had been described to me: golden oakwood, gnarled handle, a bushel of dried lavender hanging from the frame.

I knocked and received no answer.