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Chapter twenty-six

Brandon

T he guard who’d flirted with me burst into my room and thrust a set of clothes at me.

“Here. Dress in these.” She spun away.

“What for?”

“A party.” She giggled. “Save me a dance.”

As if I’d dance with her. There was no other woman I wanted to dance with other than Roisin. I rushed into the bathroom, washed, and dressed. Roisin wanted me. I recognized she did. I just had to wait for her mind and heart to agree.

Before too long, a different demon guard returned and was already waiting for me with the door open. Loud music echoed up the stairs. Whatever party the demons had going on sounded like a good one. We walked down the staircase. I couldn’t get there fast enough to see Roisin again. We reached the bottom floor and double doors stood open to a grand ballroom.

The guard placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “Don’t do anything foolish. ”

“What can I possibly do?” I asked. “The only thing I understand that can hurt you is back in the bedroom that you locked.”

“Keep it that way.” He nodded, then strode into the party.

I was alone. Without a guard? I glanced left and then right. There were demons everywhere. I guess I didn’t need a guard when anyone here could kill me when I wasn’t armed with a sword to protect myself. I skirted around the edge of the ballroom. Twinkling lights fluttered along the ceiling as though a thousand magical butterfly wings were flapping in unison to the beats of the music. Demons danced in the center of the ballroom dressed in the finest garments with decadent details to rival the best of the designers back on Earth. Servers strode around the room with trays of food and drinks. Demons snatched items from the trays as they passed by. There wasn’t much delicacy to these demons, but the party appeared to be entertaining.

I searched the room for Roisin, but she was nowhere to be seen. Disappointment sat heavy in my stomach. The demon guard who’d flirted with me strutted toward me in a skin-tight dress.

“Hey.” She batted her eyelashes. “Let’s dance.”

She tugged me onto the dance floor as though I didn’t have a choice. I glanced to my left, then right, wondering if I asked for help, would any of the demons step in or would they laugh? Probably the latter. I decided I’d destroy my manly image if I acted like a wimp now after beating so many in training. What was one dance?

One dance too many.

Roisin glided into the room with her royal air and the power of the Fae running through her. Even demons stopped talking to stare at her beauty. The woman I was dancing with spun me around, but I spun back so I could stare at Roisin. She wore a revealing dress that dipped down at the front to her belly button. I longed to trace the line with my tongue. The dress was a deep blue, like the sky before sunset. Which I hadn’t seen for some time, but I recalled it vividly. Her gaze found mine, her lips tugged into a smile, and then her eyes landed on my dance partner. The smile fell from her lips, and she turned away from me and talked to the hulking demon beside her. I didn’t know who he was, but I wanted to rip the horns from his head.

A woman in glimmering gold stepped next to the large demon, and he turned his attention to her. The look on his face was pure adulation. I sighed with relief that a demon wasn’t wooing Roisin, but who was I to complain when I was getting courted myself?

The song ended and, as luck would have it, a demon pushed me aside and took the woman for the next dance. I wanted to thank him, but I strode toward Roisin. As I reached her, a man with silvery blond hair stepped in front of her. His crown of thorns writhed around his head. Holy shit, the Fae King was here.

“Your Majesty.” I dipped in a bow.

Of all our training, we’d learned of the Fae King. Of the power he had. The air hummed around him as though static with energy. Power, so much power, pulsed from him. The things this King could do should make me tremble in my boots, but he was also the father of the woman I was in love with, so how should I handle that?

“You are the Fellowship member, I presume?” the Fae King asked.

“Brandon O’Cuinn, at your service.” I lifted my head and met his stare.

“Brandon?” he muttered. “Roisin was quite worried about your safety here.”

“Understandable, since I almost died when we arrived.”

“I suppose,” he said. “We’ll return you to your family after the party.”

“Thank you, your Majesty.” I dipped in another bow.

“Niamh, my love, dance with me,” the Fae King said to the beautiful woman beside him who could only be Roisin’s mother as she had a similar striking beauty to her.

The Fae Queen smiled and stepped into the Fae King’s arms. They danced around the ballroom as though made for the place. The giant demon took the stunning woman in the gold dress in his arms without a word and danced them across the floor, rivaling the Fae royalty.

“I don’t suppose?”

“No,” Roisin said.

“It meant nothing.”

“What didn’t?”

“Me dancing with that woman,” I said. “She didn’t give me much choice. ”

“Whatever you say.” She lifted her chin.

“Roisin, don’t be like that. You’re the only woman in this room, hell, this kingdom, which matters to me.”

“If you say so.” She turned and walked out of the ballroom.

I chased after her. There was no way I’d let her go. Not now. Never. She hurried along the bottom floor of the castle, passing demons milling about in the foyer. She opened a door and disappeared into the room. I followed her, then ground to a halt inside the tiny room and laughed.

“We’re in a cloak cupboard.”

“I realize that now.” She swiped the cloaks out of her face.

I stepped closer to her.

“There’s a party going on that we should be at.”

“I’d rather spend my time in here with you.” I placed my hands on her waist.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth.

“Wouldn’t you rather be dancing with more experienced women?”

“I couldn’t care less about any other woman. Experienced or not, there’s only you for me now.” I stroked my thumbs over her waist.

She shivered. “Brandon, why are you making this so hard?”

“I don’t mean to.”

“We can’t be together.”

“Why not? ”

“I’m a Fae Princess and you’re a human Fellowship member. You’ll be their leader one day.”

“I’ll quit the Fellowship if that’s what’s bothering you. I don’t care about anything but you.”

She laughed once, then covered her mouth as though her laughter would get us caught in here.

“It’s the human part too,” she said through her hand.

“What was that?” I asked, tugging her hand away from her mouth. The urge to kiss her overwhelmed me as I stared at her radiant face. “I didn’t quite catch what you said.”

“I said—”

Before she finished her sentence, I covered her mouth with mine. She moaned and wrapped her arms around my neck. Pressed every inch of her body into mine. I tried to break the kiss to ask her if this was what she wanted, but she kept tugging my mouth back to hers. I gave in to her demands. Traced my finger down the front of the V shape in her dress, feeling her skin pebble in goosebumps. My other hand moved lower and brushed her mound through her dress. Her entire body shook. She was so turned on that I imagined a few strokes of my finger would be all it would take to bring her to release.

Shouldn’t one of us have that tonight?

I inched her dress up with my other hand until I brushed her bare mound with my fingers. She rolled her hips into my touch, chasing the pressure she so desperately needed. If she needed me, then she’ d have me.

I wrenched my mouth away from hers. “Can I please touch you?”

“Aye,” she said, grabbing my wrist and urging me on.

I wanted to watch, but I needed to kiss her even more. My lips found hers once again at the same time as my fingers found her damp entrance. She was dripping with desire. So slick and ready, her hips bucked into my stroking fingers. I didn’t waste time finding what she liked. I rubbed the hard tip of her clitoris until her body trembled, until she was almost at that peak before the freefall of bliss. Then and only then, did I thrust two fingers inside her and made her come so hard her entire body convulsed in rapture. Her body squeezed my fingers tight, and I imagined the way she’d feel with me inside her.

My pants were so tight that each movement chafed.

Each tiny thrust of my fingers sent little aftershocks through her body until she whispered, “Enough.”

I drew my fingers from her and lifted them to my mouth.

Sucking them clean, I said, “Next time I get to taste you directly.”

She dropped her head back against the cloaks. The soft material looked good around her, but I’d never imagined her first orgasm from me would be in a demon cloak cupboard of all places.

I grinned and smoothed her dress back into place.

“How do you feel?”

“Good. Better.” She placed her hands on my shoulders. “It was amazing having you touch me that way, but it’s more than that.” She shook her head. “I can’t explain it.”

“Try.”

“It’s like I’m meant to be with you, yet I realize that’s not true.”

“Why? Because I’m human?”

“Aye. Fae can’t mark a human as their mate because the power will kill them.”

“I’m aware. It’s in our studies.”

“So why do you want to be with me?”

“Because I love everything about you. Can’t that be enough?”

“Perhaps,” she said and pointed at the door. “I should leave first. Mother and Father are probably wondering where I am.”

“Yeah, I probably have demons looking for me, too.”

I kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you in the ballroom and maybe this time you’ll dance with me.”

“Perhaps you might be lucky.” She smiled.

“Luckiest man here.” I winked.

She opened the door and disappeared back to the party. I had no clue what it was celebrating, and I didn’t care. So long as Roisin was out there, I’d be there too.