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“Then it’s like you never existed at all,” he said gently. “The red keys tomorrow,” I said abruptly. “They play to the death, do they not? That means if I don’t win and remain alive with memento, then Cal and Tarani will forget I ever existed?”

Walter nodded somberly. “Which is exactly why you need to go get this itch out of your system before tomorrow. You need a clear head if you are going to be playing a game like that the second day you’re here.” He scowled. “We’ll go over the rules tomorrow morning. I’ve played.”

“And won?” I questioned.

“You either kill everyone else and are rewarded their memento, or you die. The red keys only has one winner, so yes, I won my games.”

Shit.

I tossed back the final swig of my drink and stood from the bar.

“I’m going to find Eletha. Go to room number three and tie your girl up.

” He smirked. “Don’t even think about leaving that room until you’ve put an ice cube up her ass or vice versa.

” I grimaced as I turned and left the shifter.

His peals of laughter echoed over the crowd behind me.

I made my way to the hall I’d watched the women disappear into.

My heart beat faster with every step. Was she Unseelie?

Seelie? Oddly, I couldn’t tell. I knew she wasn’t a royal from either realm, so what exactly had she done that was so bad to get here?

She had to be Seelie, I decided. There was no possible way someone that looked as sweet and kind as her could be Unseelie.

Once outside the room with an iron number three nailed to the door, I paused.

My cock pulsed just at the thought of touching her.

Fuck. I knocked twice before eagerly opening the door.

The room was empty aside from me. I let out a deep breath.

This was so stupid. I must be drunk, because it was impossible to feel what I felt from one look at a woman.

I never chased women. What was I doing? Was this what I really wanted?

Some random one-night stand with a prostitute?

How many other men had been inside of her?

Was she with someone else right now and I was just waiting for second shift?

The thought of her being with another man made my head hurt.

“Fuck.” I breathed out my new favorite word and practically ran to the small drink tray in the corner of the room and poured myself an ice water.

This wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing here.

I was not here to meet women, no matter how beautiful they were.

I was supposed to be here to save a child, dammit.

The ice cube swirled in my mouth and Walter’s words came back to me.

“Don’t leave that room until you’ve put an ice cube up her ass. ”

I gagged on the ice and spit the cold rectangle back into the cup I held. This wasn’t what I needed to be doing right now. I tried again to talk some sense into my horny mind.

Although…if I did end up vanishing tomorrow in the red keys, then this is definitely what I wanted as a last memory. “No. Fuck me,” I grumbled, running my free hand over my face roughly.

“That’s, umm, what I’m here for.” Someone cleared their throat.

Her voice was like lavender and lilacs wrapped in velvet— and then kissed by puppies.

Soft and gentle with a hint of mischief.

The kind of voice that sang in the forest and made the birds envious.

I spun to face her, accidentally spitting the ice cube onto the floor in front of her feet instead of into my glass.

I caught sight of her just as her eyes slowly moved up my body, taking me in.

She was even more beautiful this close. Her large blue eyes met mine and a rosy blush that almost matched the light-pink pieces in her hair crept across the apples of her cheeks.

She laughed softly and nervously nibbled her lower lip as I gawked at her.

She was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen, but it wasn’t just that—she was graceful and delicate.

I could actually feel the goodness radiating off of her like the sun and I wanted to bask in it.

A few fuzzy pink-and-gold rosy maple moths floated in around her as she fumbled to close the door behind her, and I realized I must be making her uncomfortable by standing like a fool, ogling her.

I urged my brain to form a charming sentence, but when she turned back to me and took a step closer, I physically lost the ability to think.

It was wild. This was the kind of attraction you heard of with bonds, not a strange woman I caught a glimpse of in the pits of the Underworld.

“Hi.” That voice again. “I’m Anna. What can I help you with?” Another flush crept over her neck and chest, teasing me. I didn’t know if I wanted to pray at her feet or taste every part of her that blushed—maybe both.

“I have scabies…and, no. I have ice, for your holes. No.”

FUCK. I quickly set the cup of ice I held down, shaking my head.

Come the fuck on, be charming! “My friend wants to tie you up. Me to tie it. You.” I gave up and turned to the nearest wall and hit my head on it a few times, slowly, before turning back.

To my surprise, she hadn’t run from the room but was covering her mouth giggling.

It was the most magical sound. “Sorry, that all came out wrong. You are so beautiful though. I’m sure you’re used to that by now.

” I wiped the condensation that had beaded on my palm from my drink on my shirt, stretched out my hand to her, and gave her my most charming smile.

“I’m Aurelius. I have the Tartarus itch, not scabies or any other venereal disease for that matter, you’ll be happy to know. ” Ohmysuns, stop talking.

She was grinning from ear to ear when she reached out and took my hand. We both gasped at the jolt of electricity that sparked when our palms touched. I should have predicted it. It was like all the swirling thunder and lightning in the world was in the room with us. “Hi, Auryanus.”

“Oh no,” I laughed. “Orr-el-ee-us. Aurelius, free of all anuses. Call me Eli, it’s much simpler.

” I grinned. The way she couldn’t pronounce my name reminded me of Cal.

She was one of the only other people to ever call me Eli.

Something about this girl reminded me of the old Cal, the one I thought was sweet and gentle.

They even had the similar big blue eyes.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Eli. I’m Anna.

It’s quite boring though and no one has any trouble with it.

” She stepped closer, and I swear I could feel the air crackle the closer she got.

I gained a bit of confidence when I saw she felt it too.

Her eyes were locked on my lips as she moved closer.

“Anna,” I whispered and she stopped a few feet in front of me. We were both completely lost to the moment. This was something special, something the Fates had aligned. The idea that it wasn’t just me, that she was feeling it too, had my head spinning.

“Yes?” she whispered.

“I wanted to see what your name felt like on my tongue, ”

I responded, tightening my hands into loose fists to keep them from flying off my arms to feel her body.

She cleared her throat and began to unbutton her white top, slowly revealing small hints of smooth skin. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought she was being bashful with how earnestly she was undressing.

“You don’t have to,” I said when I saw her hands shaking. “I’m happy to just talk with you.” I’d have been happy just to stare at her.

Her laugh held the sound of embarrassment and it was the cutest sound my ears had ever been graced with. There was no possible way she was really this innocent. “Will you do it for me then?” she asked coyly.

Oh my scabies.

I was in front of her so fast, I made a small breeze that pushed the hair off of her cheeks.

I reached out and touched the button just below her cleavage.

I looked at her face, carefully breathing in every hungry look she gave me as my fingertips skated over the button and onto the silky soft skin of her chest. I wasn’t ready to undress her yet.

I wasn’t sure I could handle it. I’d had women stripped naked in front of me, moaning my name, who hadn’t had me a fraction as infatuated as I was in this moment with her fully dressed.

I wanted to savor every second of whatever was happening.

Something told me I would remember it forever.

It felt like I’d been searching through a thousand keys to find the right one and then I found it and it fit as perfectly as I’d hoped.

Her eyes fluttered shut as my greedy fingertips grazed her collarbone and then the side of her neck, her skin still warm from her hair.

With closed eyes, she let out the softest sigh and leaned her cheek into my open palm.

Something in the action felt sublimely intimate, like she trusted me.

Softly and slowly, savoring every movement, I lowered my lips to hers and gently parted them, pulling in her bottom lip until it was between mine.

She softened even more as she pushed her body against me .