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Chapter Sixteen

Cohen

T he three of us eat together, and Calyx excuses himself to check in with his contacts. With him not having a phone, he’s a little fanatical about not missing appointments.

Before he heads out the door, he snags my arm and whispers close to my ear. “Try to gain some information about the berserker. If he’s her boss, that’s one thing, but I’m sensing something more. Something she’s maybe afraid to tell us…”

“I-I’ll do my best,” I assure him.

“Good, and spend some time pampering our mate. There’s a lovely tub in her bathroom. Perhaps you could offer to scrub her back?”

I blink at the radiating light of one of his portals being opened, and when I open my eyes, he’s gone.

I take the initiative to run Rogue a bath, but I don’t invite myself in. We’ve barely had any one-on-one time, and it is tempting to take that step, but building trust takes time.

I lounge on the edge of her bed, wondering if I should see myself from the room before she exits the bath.

Probably.

As I prepare to shove myself off the mattress, the blanket unrolls from under me with force.

The next thing I know, it’s pulled up to my neck, and I’m trapped.

There’s a chance I could use my magic to combat the house, but that would probably only piss it off.

My clothing melts away and my shoes disappear.

Although it’s hard to be sure, it feels like I’m left only in a pair of thin sleep pants and my glasses.

“Okay, point taken,” I mutter, struggling to get comfortable with how tightly it’s tucked around me.

“And what point would that be?” Rogue asks, stepping out of the bathroom. A cloud of billowy steam cascades around her lithe shoulders, and she smiles. “The only thing I found when stepping out of the tub was a towel and this.” She gestures to the light pink, silky nightie that she’s clad in.

“I seem to be trapped under the blanket.” I swallow thickly and force my eyes up to hers.

Gods.

The nightgown is incredible, but there’s not a lot of it. It’s a spaghetti-strap style, and with Rogue being tall for a woman, it barely falls a few inches down her thighs.

“Ahh, I see.” She walks to the far side of the bed and easily pulls back the blanket before sliding in.

As soon as she touches it, the compression releases.

“It seems the house wants us snuggled in bed together.” Rolling onto her side, she scoots closer and holds her head up with her palm.

The bedside lamps cut off in unison, and we both jolt. “That is strange.”

“It is, but the bed does seem to have released me.” I clear my throat, shoving up my glasses. “I can go…”

“You could,” she concedes. “Or you could stay. This house is lovely. Truly, it’s incredible.

I’m used to having a television to pass the time, but the radio waves and electricity can also zap my magic.

I still don’t understand what fuels the lights or the refrigerator or stove, but it’s nice not feeling so fatigued.

” She laughs, and her eyes sparkle in the low light provided by the bathroom door that she left open.

“Wait, you were around long before the invention of the television. Probably the radio and telephones, now that I think about it. What did you do to pass the time?”

My heart thunders.

She’s stunning.

I’m not used to having anyone focused on me. When Calyx and Lorcan are around, they capture everyone’s attention. Anders and I have always been able to blend into the background.

“B-Books,” I finally choke out at her expectant look. “I like books.”

My eyes clench closed, and my face heats.

For the love of God. You’re hopeless, man. Seriously?

“Books are good. I enjoy a good read,” the fae princess says, scooting closer.

I’m on my back with my face tilted toward hers. My eyes pop open as her soft hand brushes over my chest. She gets so close that I pull my arm from under the comforter and toss it over the pillow to give her space.

“Television and phones were great inventions, but they created more disconnect between humanity,” I say, sharing my opinion on the matter.

“A few hundred years ago, you interacted with those who lived in your same geographical region. You’d cook together, play games, sit and chat after a meal.

Working outside was more common, as families grew their own food and tended their own livestock.

It wasn’t better. I guess it was just different. ”

“It sounds so foreign.” Rogue scoots until her face rests on my bare chest. “My mother said similar things about Faere. It’s hard to imagine, though.”

I nod and wrap my arm around her back. “I’ll bet.

It’s all you’ve known, so it’s hard to fathom anything else.

We never got the chance to talk about it, not really…

” I frown, trying to find a gentle way to ask about what happened when she stopped by her job earlier.

“What caused you to leave Owen’s in such a rush? ”

“I didn’t get any further insight into what’s up with Delta, but I’m not sure that’s what you meant.” She sighs, and her warm breath fans over my skin. It takes everything in me not to shiver in response.

The peek of her skin and curves that I got before she climbed into bed replays in my mind, and my cock thinks it would be a lovely time to act up.

Perhaps having her delicate scent so close also has a visceral effect on my system, because all I can seem to focus on is the way her lips felt pressed against mine as she kissed me back in the abandoned house.

“Something else happened, and I will talk about it. I haven’t really had time to process it yet, but I think you and Calyx should both be present when I go over it.”

“Did someone hurt you?” I ask, my hand tightening on her shoulder.

“No.” She laughs. “God, Cohen, you’re very sweet. And protective. I bet you’ve melted a lot of hearts in your day.”

I barely hold back a scoff. “Hardly.”

Rogue glances up at me, and it seems like she’s trying to determine if I’m lying. Her soothsayer abilities should assure her I’m not.

I’m unsure what’s happening at first, but she shimmies even farther on top of me and settles her hands on my shoulders.

My hand moves from her back to cradle her skull, and she lowers her pretty pink lips to mine. It’s a tentative kiss without any tongue, yet it still steals all the breath from my lungs.

As her soft fingers clutch my jaw, she huffs against my lips. I can’t be sure, but I think she wants me to deepen the kiss, so I do. My tongue brushes her lower lip, and she opens.

Neither of us seems to know what to do, but it doesn’t take away from my enjoyment.

Rogue grinds over my shaft, and it thickens against my lower stomach as she moves.

Gods.

I’m so ill-equipped for this.

She’d be in much better hands if Calyx were here. My cock aches as her tongue teases around mine. My other hand flattens on her lower back and the silky material of her nightgown slides over my skin.

Her scent is everywhere.

Delicate and enticing all at once.

Whatever she’s wearing under the nightie doesn’t seem to offer her pussy much protection from my cock. It strains against the material of my sleep pants, rubbing her sex with every swivel of her hips.

Frantic kisses give way to a slow and sensual meeting of our mouths. I nip at her lower lip, and Rogue sobs.

“Please, I need more.” She breaks our connection and nods, resting her forehead on mine.

There’s basically no way that I don’t embarrass myself here.

“You want to come?” My glasses fog, pushing into my nose uncomfortably due to the position. I ignore the small discomfort and blow a breath of magic to remove the condensation.

“Yeah,” she whispers breathily as her hand trails down my side. “I’m so hot and achy. It came out of nowhere, but I want you.” She bumps my head to the side and grazes her sharp canines down my throat. “My head is all messed up. It’s screaming at me to bite you…”

Her lower lips perfectly frame my shaft on the next grind of her hips, and I groan. She’s more than welcome to sink her teeth in whenever she’d like. I just need to make sure she’s coherent enough to understand it would form a bond.

I’m not sure if she’s being influenced by her upcoming quickening cycle, so it might be better to distract her with orgasms. Tightening my hold on her lower back, I roll us and pin her under me.

My glasses slide down my nose, but I mentally recite the spell to keep them in place until I remove them.

Rogue wraps her legs around mine, trapping me in as I kneel between her thighs. Her cheeks are pink, and her eyes are hooded and glassy. She studies my chest, pulling a hand between us to trace my abs.

I’m skinny as fuck, and I rarely work out, but my body has stayed frozen as it was the day Calyx tied me to him. Hundreds of years ago, I was also skinny but defined from the physical labor it took to exist back then.

“God, you’re sexy,” Rogue whispers, teasing her fingers over the indent above my hip. She follows it until she runs into the material of my pants, and I groan when she sneaks below the waistband.

The house stole my damn boxer briefs when it changed me out of my clothes, and that’s such a random thought, it nearly short-circuits my brain.

No, that’s definitely the way Rogue works her fingertips down my pelvis, brushing through my pubic hair, and stopping at the base of my shaft.

She wraps her hand around my length, jerking as much as she can within the confines of the material.

And I’m frozen.

All I can process is her grip around my cock. The way her chest heaves with every shallow breath. How she swipes her tongue over her lower lip as her brow furrows.

She tugs me closer, using my dick as leverage, and I fall on top of her.

I barely get a hand on the mattress to hold myself up before the naughty fae captures my lips. Her pheromones are everywhere, and while they might not affect my system as heavily as if I was a shifter, I still have the irrational urge to breed her.

Quickenings are supposed to be the fae equivalent of a heat, so that makes sense on some biological level, but I’ve never experienced anything like it.

Moving my free hand from her hip to her breast, I squeeze. She whimpers against my lips, tightening her hold on my cock.

My focus on kissing her falters as she grabs my hand from her chest and relocates it between us. The backs of my fingers brush her sex, and even the material of her panties seems damp.

It would be extremely convenient if just thinking of him could summon Calyx, because I haven’t the first bloody clue what I’m supposed to be doing.

Books have not prepared me for the reality of having a needy fae trapped under me.