Page 18 of Enchantra (Wicked Games #2)

17

SCANDALOUS AFFAIRS

There was not an ounce of resistance from Genevieve as Rowin led them into the shadows of a hidden nook beneath the grand staircase. When he pressed her back against the wall, there was no protest ready on her lips, only a whimpering moan as her bare skin ached for his touch.

His answering groan filled her with desperate want, making her nipples harden painfully beneath her corset as his hands began roaming down her arms, tugging away her gloves and discarding them to the floor before moving on to brush over the curves of her hips. His fingertips explored up her bodice until the pads of his thumbs brushed deliciously across the material covering the taut buds aching for his attention. Her hips shifted forward involuntarily, grinding against him and eliciting a low rumble of pleasure from his throat.

A moment later something else began to caress her skin, tangling in her hair. Something cool and light as a feather that was vibrating with power. His shadows.

Her eyes squeezed shut as one of the tendrils gently circled her throat while his warm lips pressed to the underside of her jaw, sending a shiver down her spine.

Yes, yes, yes. This is what I’ve been missing. Pleasure. Passion. Sex.

Her own hands were nothing compared to the heat of his, the strength of them, the way they?—

—suddenly disappeared.

Genevieve groaned in protest as she opened her eyes to see his shadows dissolving around them as he readjusted his mask over his eyes. Both of their chests were heaving with labored breaths from holding back.

“Why did you stop?” she complained, her lust-filled voice unrecognizable. “I don’t care if people see.”

“We are not going to play his game,” he snarled as he began to back away.

“What do you mean? I thought that’s exactly what we have to?—”

“Not the Hunt. This. He drugged us. The passion fruit. If we give in, it could be hours before the magic would let us stop,” he told her darkly.

Genevieve knew that he had not meant for the idea of being wrapped up passionately in each other for so long to sound as appealing as it did.

“Are you really trying to claim that you can last for hours?” she mused.

“For fuck’s sake,” Rowin gritted out as he rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, as if he was invoking a higher power to give him the willpower she obviously did not possess. When he looked back at her, he commanded, “Stay away from Knox and the drinks. And do not follow me. ”

A blink later he melted away into the shadows and entirely out of sight. If she thought the thread of desire tethering her to him would thin as soon as he disappeared, she was sorely mistaken. In fact, it only seemed to get worse . The need to find him intensifying until she felt like she might unravel entirely in his absence.

Righting her dress, she plunged back out into the party. In the few moments they’d been distracted, the heat of the ball had intensified. And by heat she meant the sounds of pleasure coming from behind the wispy curtains of the beds and the grinding couples on the dance floor. All of it only adding to the torture of her own unfulfilled lust.

As she scanned the crowd for Rowin, she spotted several of his siblings in compromising positions. Covin was lying back on one of the beds, the curtains left wide open, as two women bent over his waist, pleasuring him in tandem. Elsewhere, she almost didn’t recognize Wells, whose face was practically being consumed by a man with bright blue hair while a woman kneeling between them attended to both of them at once. Ellin was straddling a man’s lap as he fed her a strawberry.

“He went upstairs.”

Genevieve whipped her head to the right to see Sevin leaning against the wall next to the foot of the stairs, sipping from a glass of thick red liquid.

Blood.

“Is the honeymoon already over?” He tilted his head at her with a crooked smile.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Genevieve mumbled under her breath. But to Sevin, she questioned, “Aren’t you going to partake in the…festivities? This seems like your kind of party.”

“My ex is here. So I’m pining,” he responded.

Genevieve raised her brows. Of all of Rowin’s siblings, Sevin had the most charm. Not to mention his looks , and it surprised her greatly that he would be a wallflower at such an event. She meant to say as much, except Sevin’s eyes had gone glassy, the same way Barrington’s did when his mind had slipped back into the past. She was happy to leave him lost in his thoughts.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she found an entirely different array of scandalous affairs on the second-floor landing.

Vampires.

Everywhere Genevieve looked were clusters of the fanged paranormal beings lapping at each other’s necks, thighs, breasts. Stains of crimson dripped from puncture marks pocking their skin, and Genevieve watched as they switched between drinking from their partners’ wounds and from between their legs.

I may be in a little over my head , she thought as her gaze snagged on a nearby couple.

One of the women was swirling a familiar-looking lollipop around the peaks of her partner’s breasts before bending forward to lick away the sticky, red trail of sugar it left behind. Except…Genevieve was pretty sure that the suckers were not made of sugar at all.

“Pretty little rabbit,” the woman crooned as she caught Genevieve’s eye, her partner continuing to tend to her breasts. “Do you want a taste? We have plenty more suckers if you’re interested.”

Genevieve wasn’t sure which sort of suckers the woman was talking about, but she decided she should keep moving before she found out. The landing curved like a crescent moon, its railed balcony giving her a perfect view of the party below. She moved further into the expansive corridor where she’d first met Ellin and Sevin. Each side was lined with five rooms, and at the very end was a closed-off set of double doors.

In the first room, she found a couple shredding the sheets of a bed that hadn’t been in the room when she’d explored the day before but was an exact match to the beds Knox had procured downstairs. Behind the second door, she found a full-blown orgy, and a sweat broke out at her temples.

The third room was surprisingly empty, and in the fourth she found…

Rowin.

And he was absolutely not alone.

He was lying against the headboard of a bed. His suit jacket had been discarded on the floor, along with his fox mask. His shirt was halfway unbuttoned and exposing more of the swirling ink of his tattoos over the defined muscles of his abdomen and pectorals. There was a woman standing to his left and she was…tying his wrist to a bedpost.

Genevieve’s face flamed.

Even next to the sight of Rowin being tied to the bed , the woman herself was a sight to behold. Her fingertips were adorned with what Genevieve could only describe as talons, and the ends of her long raven hair were made of dancing orange flames . Flames were also burning in the centers of her dark irises, flickering between orange and blue.

And her face . Her mask had either been discarded, too, or she hadn’t bothered to wear one in the first place, which Genevieve couldn’t blame her for. Not when she possessed the sort of beauty men started wars over.

A queen of Hell.

Genevieve felt a pang of unjust jealousy as the woman stepped back from her work and asked Rowin, “Tight enough?”

Genevieve cleared her throat now.

Rowin’s gaze snapped in her direction.

“ Genevieve ,” he snarled.

“Honey, I’m home,” Genevieve said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.

The woman glanced between the two of them curiously before recognition seemed to register on her expression. “You’re the wife.”

“For now,” Genevieve said at the same time that Rowin stated, “Yes.”

The woman threw her head back in a disarming laugh.

“ Leave ,” Rowin seethed. But he wasn’t talking to Genevieve.

The woman smirked now. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he grunted, like the word was painful for him to say. “I can handle her.”

“Thanks for rescuing me from Sevin,” she told him, and as she stepped past Genevieve, she whispered, “Give him Hell.”

“No worries there,” Rowin said, glowering as the door shut behind her. “Didn’t I tell you not to follow me?”

“Did you think tonight was going to be the night I started behaving for you?” she retorted.

His mouth pressed into a tight line.

“But I think the more pressing question here is, what’s wrong with me ?” she continued.

He reached over with his free hand and began to pull at the knot. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

She scowled. “You left me to come up here with someone else for whatever sexual game I just walked in on?—”

“Who said we were doing anything sexual ?” Rowin huffed a laugh. “That’s the passion fruit clouding your mind. Which is exactly why I left you downstairs.”

What did he mean, it wasn’t sexual? He was just being tied to a bedpost by the most beautiful woman Genevieve had ever seen.

“Gwen was only trying to help me stay away from you,” Rowin claimed as he finished undoing the knot and standing from the bed. “I should have known you’d come looking for me, given that I specifically told you not to.”

As he stepped closer, his gaze dropped down and lingered a little too long on her lips, and warmth shot through her core once again, making her entirely forget her ire and whatever point either of them had been trying to make. Now, all she was wondering was what it would feel like to kiss him again. To have his shadows wrapped around her as she traced the tattoos running over his chest and stomach with her tongue.

“I couldn’t help it,” she whispered as she took a step closer to him. “I want this.”

He stayed rooted in place, a labored heave of his chest the only indication that her proximity had any sort of effect on him. “Want what ? Again, be more specific. There’s no one watching us in here, so please don’t hold back.”

Heat instantly bloomed on her cheeks. She’d had plenty of lovers, but none who had ever asked her to tell them what she wanted.

“I want to know what it’s like to kiss you when it isn’t just for show,” she told him.

“A kiss, how innocent,” he taunted as he ran his gaze over her blushing cheeks. “But innocence is not what I’d be looking for tonight. Go back to the party.”

She scoffed. “I am not innocent . I have plenty of experience.”

He raised a skeptical brow. “Trouble, I suspect the only thing you have experience with is sweet . That’s never what I’d be.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Stop calling me trouble .”

“Stop causing it.”

“Or you could just join me in causing it,” she crooned.

She saw the moment his resolve finally snapped, and before she could blink, he was in front of her, the tendrils of his shadows pushing her gently back into the wall.

“Hypothetically, if we were to do this, it would be nothing more than fucking ,” he told her, his amber eyes practically glowing with desire.

“I’m not sure you can consider it only fucking when we’re married ,” she reasoned, her words breathless as whatever magic was in her system reacted to how close his mouth suddenly was to hers.

“Being contractually married and being emotionally attached are two separate things,” he stated. “There cannot be any strings attached between us. The web we’re caught in is too tangled as it is.”

He’s right. And I want release, not another man who will rip my heart out.

“Fair enough,” she said. “To answer your question—as long as you make me come, there won’t be any problem with just fucking.”

The look he gave her now was absolutely sinful . His shadows began unfurling around them just as they had before, and her entire body began to vibrate with anticipation as he undid the cuffs of his shirt, one at a time, before discarding the shredded material to the floor. Next to go was his belt, which he removed with one hand as he nodded to her dress.

“That needs to go. Now.”

Unlike the night before, she readily gave him access to the back of her gown this time. He made quick work of the laces, and within seconds the dress was sliding down her curves and piling onto the floor. Leaving her in just her lacy pink undergarments.

“Fuck,” he cursed as his gaze roamed over her from head to toe.

Her blood began to boil as the lust within her became a frenzy of need . For a moment she thought she might perish if he didn’t start touching her.

He muttered another curse at the sight of her arousal already soaking through her underwear before meeting her eyes and declaring, “You were right.”

“About what in particular?”

“You aren’t anything I’ve ever seen before,” he said gruffly. “You’re spectacular.”

She hummed with satisfaction and watched as his shadows began crawling over her skin, caressing her in a way that made her want to pleasure them .

“Lean back against the wall,” he ordered.

She did as he asked, pressing her shoulders against the cold surface and making her flesh pebble with anticipation. She expected him to step closer, but he stayed planted in place.

“Spread your legs,” he directed next.

“Take off your pants,” she countered.

The corners of his lips twitched. “Patience, trouble. I need to make sure I oblige your only request.”

Her mind was completely blank on what he might be talking about. To be honest, she could hardly remember her own name at the moment.

“Making you come,” he reminded her. “Which is why you’re going to show me how to do it first.”

Her breath hitched.

“You lead, I’ll follow,” he told her.

She began with her breasts, sliding her hands over her camisole to squeeze them until they ached. She watched his lips part in awe as she trapped her nipples between her index and middle fingers, squeezing them through the silky material and sending a shot of pleasure right to her core. She grew even wetter.

Her hands dipped toward her sex then, a finger making slow circles over the outside of her underwear, wringing out a whimper of satisfaction as she finally got the friction she so desperately needed. For a moment she forgot about Rowin entirely, her eyes fluttering shut with ecstasy as she continued her steady, circular rhythm.

She nearly cried as relief started to spread through her body. For a single breath the lustful frenzy in her mind cleared, but the second she opened her eyes and saw the pained look of need on his face, the cloud of desire came back in full force.

“There, I showed you,” she said as she reached for him, the racing beat of her heart from being interrupted only driving her more mad with want. “Now, touch me .”

His shadows snapped out to wrap around her wrists, halting her hands before she could touch him again. “No.”

Her cheeks heated. “You don’t want?—”

“It doesn’t matter what I want. I’m not going to touch you as long as we have this stuff in our system,” he maintained.

“You…you tricked me,” she realized.

He gave her a pointed look. “You got to come, exactly as I promised, didn’t you?”

“It isn’t the same,” she huffed. “You don’t understand, it’s like my entire body is on fire ?—”

“I assure you I fucking understand,” he gritted out.

He might have been good at hiding the emotion on his face, but the unfiltered torment in his voice was undeniable.

“Fine. I’ll go,” she whispered.

She snatched her dress off the ground before either of them lost their resolve, then turned herself invisible as she plunged through the wall and out of the room.

Once she had found somewhere to dress—which was an entire ordeal given she didn’t have Ellin’s help this time—Genevieve spent several hours trying to sweat out the passion fruit in her system by dancing with anyone and everyone downstairs. Her eyes stayed peeled for any sign of Rowin as suitor after suitor twirled her around the dance floor. Half of her hoped he’d show up every time someone else took her in their arms while her other half hoped he was stronger than her and would stay away. When he was out of her sight, it was easier for her to understand how ridiculous she’d been upstairs. How furious she was with him for letting her be so vulnerable when he knew he was going to hold back.

Eventually she was too tired to go on and dragged herself off the dance floor. She slipped into a small powder room on the far end of the second floor’s balcony, to freshen herself up.

At some point, someone knocked on the door, begging to be let in. To Genevieve’s surprise, it was the man whose hand she’d bitten earlier.

“Hello, princess,” he grinned. “Cedric. Remember me?”

The ring on her finger began to heat, and she made to close the door in his face. But he jammed a foot in the gap and forced his way inside. He kicked the door shut and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her. Rowin’s ring was scorching now.

She backed away, as much as she could in the tiny room. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s nothing personal,” Cedric told her as he advanced a step. “But you wouldn’t take my bribe.”

“Get out. Immediately.”

“What, are you going to call for your husband again?” He laughed.

He lunged then, shoving her back painfully into the edge of the vanity.

“ Hey ,” she snarled as she turned invisible and passed through him.

He caught himself on the counter before spinning to face her, his face pallid as he suddenly realized that whatever power he thought he’d had to trap her was useless.

“No one mentioned you were a Specter ,” he stammered. “Fuck, I didn’t?—”

The door wrenched open before he could finish his sentence.

Rowin. Heat reignited in her belly.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Cedric looked like he was going to throw up.

“Cedric Wrathblade, is that you?” someone said over Rowin’s shoulder.

It was Sevin. She hadn’t even noticed him.

Rowin’s gaze never left hers as he asked, “Are you alright?”

Genevieve swallowed and dipped her chin in a nod.

“I want to hear you say it, Genevieve,” Rowin implored. “Are you alright?”

“ Yes ,” she promised. “He was just being an asshole.”

Cedric reached up to grasp what looked to be a key hanging around his neck. “If you touch me, the Daemonica?—”

“Say another fucking word and I’ll rip your head off your neck,” Rowin snarled at him, the darkness saturating his tone making her feel almost sorry for Cedric. But not quite.

Cedric went silent. Sevin laughed.

“Listen to me carefully,” Rowin told Genevieve. “You are going to go downstairs, and you are going to wait with whichever of my siblings you see first. Understand?”

She nodded stiffly.

“The Hunt starts in seven minutes. You cannot be even a second late,” he warned her.

She didn’t waste another moment as she bolted out of the room, passing Umbra a few feet from the door. Halfway down the stairs, someone winked in at her side.

Knox.

Just as the enchanted ring had begun to cool down, its magic flared to life once more.

“Enjoying the festivities?” Knox asked her as he matched her pace.

“It’s so lovely to see that all Devils have the same terrible timing,” she huffed at him. “And no. I am absolutely fucking not enjoying this.”

“Pity. I was hoping I’d found the perfect wedding gift,” he confessed.

She stopped on the final step, letting him pass her. Even when she stood two steps above him, he was taller than her.

“Trying to lock me and my husband in a sex-fueled haze, you mean?” she demanded.

“Passion fruit is a delicacy,” he told her. “It makes you crave your deepest desires a hundred times over. I thought that perhaps you and Rowington would enjoy a little extra passion tonight since you won’t be getting a honeymoon anytime soon. If ever. Your presence in the Hunt has brought a lot more spectators ready to empty their coffers, and I wanted to say thank you.”

“You’re a bastard . I thought passion fruit was a flavor ,” she hissed at him.

His smile tightened. “I was trying to be nice.”

“Devils aren’t nice unless it benefits them,” she recited. “With rare exceptions.”

Like Salem. But even then, her sister had technically paid a price to keep the Prince of the Devils—her mortality.

“And what do you know of Devils?” Knox purred.

She fixed him with a hard look. “My sister lives with one. His name is Salemaestrus. Does that mean anything to you?”

At the sound of Salem’s full name, Knox’s face turned ashen, and Genevieve’s lips curled up in a triumphant smile.

“Play all the games you want with me, but you’ll have Salem to deal with when I get out,” Genevieve threatened. “And Salem adores me.”

Salem had never said such a thing in as many words, but Genevieve did not doubt it was a fact.

“I have heard whispers that Salemaestrus had finally returned from his exile,” Knox admitted, words tight. “I’m honored that a friend of the Prince would choose to enter my contest. Let there be no hard feelings. In fact…I might be able to offer you an additional bargain if you win.”

The giggle that bubbled out of her mouth was mocking. “I am not the Grimm sister who makes bargains with Devils.”

Before he could counter, she bounced down the last steps and strutted toward Ellin and Wells, who were waiting in the center of the dance floor. They each gave her an acknowledging nod as she took a place beside them. Barrington and the rest of Rowin’s siblings appeared one by one, and stepped into the circle. Genevieve twisted the ring on her finger as she waited for Rowin.

When a sudden swirl of inky shadows began to manifest next to her, she nearly sighed. But when Rowin stepped out of them, he didn’t even bother to spare her a glance.

The sound of midnight tolled through the ballroom moments later, and the face of the giant clock on the wall began to slowly turn. As the twelfth numeral flashed a glittering gold, Genevieve’s body went heavy as she experienced the loss of her magic for a second time. And she knew exactly what that meant.

The Hunt had begun.