Page 206 of Eternal Ruin

A silent gasp parted her mouth as he deepened his kiss. Her hand reached down, looking for an anchor and he gave her his, threading their fingers.

He breathed fire on her, sending her to the heavens. “This is where I go to serve.”

UXLAY’SHOUSE VOTE

LUROZ HOUSE

23 DRANAICS

LUROZ HOUSE HAS DELIBERATED AND DECIDED BORDER HOUSES SHOULD BE OFFERED THE POSITION OF DEAN. THEY SUPPORT THE IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF ADANE HOUSE FROM THE MIDDLE POSITION.

Declared at the Mot Zebeya Courts on Thursday the 11th.

72.

KIDAN

Kidan woke up in one of the spare bedrooms, tracing soft cotton bedsheets, alone. A lazy smile spread across her lips. Her body was still buzzing from the throne room. The things Susenyos could do with that mouth of his should be illegal. Then they’d come into this beautiful room and talked for hours, about GK, about her mother’s bones, and… lion pets Yos had as a child? She couldn’t remember because he’d started to kiss her again, everywhere but on her mouth until she became nothing but a pool of pleasure. He wouldn’t let her touch him, restraining her hands every time she drifted close.

It was why she couldn’t get rid of this annoying smile, or the heat in her cheeks. She fought off an inward groan, already thinking of when they could be alone again.

Her phone buzzed with an alert, and she rolled over to read.

She swore softly at Luroz House’s vote alert. The gemstone house would always sway to wealth or power so it wasn’t a surprise, but this did mean Umil House was the only one left. It would hold the deciding vote.

It could end in a tie, with six houses evenly split, which was now her best hope like Adjoa had said. Voting would be held again in three years’ time but in the meantime Adane House’s middle position would be safe. Or, if Yusef voted in support of the Border Houses, she’d lose her chance to cast any law before the week ended.

Kidan’s heart pinched, thinking of Yusef. In the end, it really was up to him.

Susenyos bumped into the room, knocking the door closed and falling onto the bed. He was in a new shirt, open down to his navel, and his face glowed, though his eyes couldn’t focus for a moment, which for him, meant one of two things.

“Are you drunk or injured?” Kidan asked, forgetting her phone.

He squinted, finding her in the brightness, and smiled. With startling speed, he reached for her, pulling her to his lap, so they faced one another. She swallowed a gasp and supported herself on his broad chest. The wall-to-wall window allowed morning sun to bounce off their skin, iridescent like gold in water.

“Taj and the others dragged me out last night to celebrate,” he breathed out, the scent of sour fruit clinging to him. “I fear the thousand-year-old wine must have been poisoned.”

After all these decades of being alone in Adane House, dining alone, spending time with trinkets, he more than deserved this.

She smiled, drawing a line along his forehead. “You don’t look like a king.”

“Good, because I’m an emperor. They conquer far more than kings.”

She lifted an amused brow. “Something is missing.”

Reaching beneath her shirt, Kidan unfastened her necklace. She hadn’t taken it off since the day he’d let her chain him to their wine cellar. His irises burned red at her exposed flesh, heating her core. But she willed herself to focus. She took the crown thrones fashioned into a necklace, clasped it, and placed it upon his twisted hair. Sunlight caught the ruby crosses falling against his dark brow, his parted lips and blood-tinged eyes.

“Hmm,” she hummed.

He gave her a smile, admiring her with wonder as well. “Do you know you’re poetry?”

“Poetry?” She laughed. “A drunk confession?”

He held her gaze, burning slow and steady. Her heart skipped a beat. “Soft, exquisite beauty that settles under the heart and captures the mind.”

Kidan brought his forehead to hers, studying his mouth. What if kissing him was dangerous? She didn’t care very much right now. Carefully, she closed the distance between their lips, letting them touch briefly and tingle.

“Kidan,” he warned. “Let’s not play with my control.”