Page 19

Chapter Seventeen

B riony

Dray staggers to his feet, that usual grin spread across his face along with a lot of my mess. His entire body shakes like a dog’s, and then he licks at his lips and wipes at his chin with his sleeve.

He shakes again.

“Woah, Kitten! That was …” His eyes roll around in their sockets. “I feel like I just snorted ten tons of elixir dust.”

I close my eyes and catch my breath. My head is still spinning from what he did to my body and what I think I just discovered.

“A pussy never tasted so good.”

I open my eyes and look at him.

“You’ve eaten a lot of pussies?” I ask.

His smile turns wicked, and he grabs my hand and tugs me towards him again. Up close, I can smell myself on his skin and it isn’t … unpleasant. It has my core spinning again. He may be a powerful shadow weaver – deadly, dangerous – but I reduced him to his knees and made a mess of his face.

“Are you jealous, Kitten?”

I shake my head. Then tilt it. “When was the last pussy you ate?”

“Other than the delicious one I just ate?” he says. I nod. “Hmmm, probably … about … a month ago. Night before I left for the academy.”

That piece of news has me frowning. Funny, but I don’t like to think of that mouth on anyone else. Am I becoming possessive? I frown even harder.

“Hey,” he says, “be fair! I haven’t eaten any other pussies since we picked you out as our thrall.” Now he frowns. His voice becomes possessive – dangerous like it sometimes does. “When was the last time someone licked you out, Kitten?”

“They haven’t,” I say. “I’ve never done that before.”

“You mean Beaufort didn’t …”

I shake my head.

“Motherfucker, what the fuck was he thinking?”

I bite my lip. “I don’t have any complaints. Not about the time we spent together in that way anyhow. It’s just a shame that whenever he opens his mouth, he says something obnoxious.”

“Maybe it would be better if his mouth was locked to your pussy, then,” Dray teases. “How about we go back to our tower right now and I’ll lick out your back hole while he licks out your pussy.”

“My back hole!” I gasp.

I’m not na?ve like Clare. I know people do things like that but I’d never given it thought myself. I have no idea if I’d like that. If I’d want to try it.

“You like the sound–”

“Hang on,” I say, realizing once again the man has distracted me with his bouncing thoughts.

“You really haven’t been down on another girl since you’ve been at the academy?

” He shakes his head. I lift an eyebrow.

“But they’ve been down on you?” He shakes his head again. “But you’ve slept with some?”

“Nope.”

“Fingered them?”

“Nope.”

“Let them jack you off?”

“Kitten. Why do you think I’ve been going half-crazed? I’ve practically been celibate waiting for you to let me touch you.”

“Seriously?” I say with suspicion. Dray Eros is crazy. He’s also a massive flirt. Hell, I’ve seen him flirt with Madame Bardin. I’ve seen girls draping themselves all over him and he hasn’t exactly been batting them away.

“Okay,” he confesses and my stomach drops. For a minute, I believed him. “I’ve done a bit of, you know, dirty dancing. Got up and personal. Let them grind their fat asses against me. I’m only human.” He laughs. “Half human. But that’s it. Nothing more. Not even any making out.”

“Oh,” I say, astounded. “Why?”

“I told you. Your scent is driving me wild.” He leans in and growls in my ear: “It’s all I can think about. Do you know how many times I’ve jerked off with your scent in my nose?”

“It really smells that good?”

“Best damn thing I’ve ever smelled.” He winks at me and then for about the millionth time this evening he’s pulling me along behind him.

“Where have you been?” Beaufort asks, when we find him at the edge of the dance floor talking to a couple of shadow weavers. He takes in my flushed cheeks and Dray’s disheveled hair. “Actually, forget it. I don’t want to know.”

“He does,” Dray whispers in my ear, “don’t believe him. He’s a dirty fucking bastard and is dying to hear every sordid detail. In fact …” He pushes me gently in Beaufort’s direction. “I thought you might want to dance with our thrall,” he says more loudly.

“Actually,” I say, “I’m going to find my friends and dance with them.”

Beaufort looks unhappy about that idea but I scurry off before he can stop me. I need a chance to catch my breath. Being with these men is dizzying and terrifying, intoxicating and disorientating all at once. Plus I need a chance to sit with the information I’ve just gained.

I spy Fly dancing with some guy in the center of the dance floor.

He waves at me, then shakes his head as I start towards him, making it clear he doesn’t want me to interrupt.

I spin around and find Clare lingering by the food table instead.

Her dress isn’t quite as glamorous as mine, although it’s still pretty, and I feel a twinge of guilt for not offering her this one instead.

Especially when she’s been kind enough to gift me some of her clothes.

Her face lights up when she sees me.

“Did Fly ditch you for some dude?” I say, realizing I’ve done exactly the same thing.

“It’s fine,” she says. “I want him to have fun. He doesn’t need to babysit me.”

“Are you not having fun? ”

She has a half-eaten piece of soggy quiche in one hand and a napkin in the other.

“Lots of fun,” she says not very convincingly.

“Have you done any dancing?”

“Some with Fly until that boy from Granite made a move on him. Have you seen? He’s very cute.”

“And rude for cutting you out of the dancing.”

“You can’t blame him. Everyone seems excessively horny tonight.” I rub at my neck, feeling a bruise where Dray sucked on it. Definitely horny.

“Well, we can dance,” I tell her, grabbing her elbow.

“Won’t the Princes miss you?”

“That’s probably a good thing. I don’t want them to think I’m going to be chained to their sides just because …” I trail off.

“Oh,” Clare says, with a knowing smile.

For such a meek and serious person, Clare turns out to be quite the outrageous dancer.

She throws her entire body into each move, making bold and frankly bizarre shapes with her body – her arms raised above her head one minute and shimmering extended by her sides the next.

Has she had one too many glasses of the sickly smelling punch? Or is this her usual dancing style?

I don’t care. I love it. I’ve always felt self conscious dancing.

Of course, I never used to. Me and Amelia would sing and dance all day if we had the food in our bellies to allow it.

But Muriel put paid to any of that. She didn’t like music or singing or any outward signs of happiness at all.

She wanted everyone to be as miserable as she was.

Dancing with Clare is freeing. I don’t care what people think of me.

I’ve given up trying to be invisible. They’re all whispering and gossiping about me anyway.

May as well give them something pretty innocent to gossip about.

After all, I’d rather they were talking about my slightly insane dance moves than my very scandalous dalliance with Dray at the back of the hall.

Hopefully, no one but Thorne spotted that.

I look for him now as I spin madly round and round with Clare becoming dizzier and dizzier as I do. But I don’t spy him, although I do see Beaufort (looking disapproving) and Dray (clearly amused).

It gives me an idea.

“Has anyone asked you to dance yet?” I shout above the music.

Clare shakes her head. Her glasses are all fogged up from the humidity in the hall so I can’t tell if she’s disappointed by that. I’ve a feeling she is though.

“Come on then.”

I link my arm through hers and lead her to where those two shadow weavers were watching us.

“It’s rude to stare,” I tell them.

“Just keeping an eye on you, Kitten. You have a tendency to end up in trouble.”

“Well, it would be politer if you danced with us. Especially as my friend has no partner to dance with.”

They both stare at me and then Dray jumps forward eagerly.

“I’ll dance with you,” he tells my friend.

I wouldn’t usually consider Clare and Dray’s energy to be on the same level but tonight I think they might be evenly matched.

Dray yanks her into a ballroom grip and starts tangoing her dramatically across the dance floor, people leaping out of their way. I giggle, my cheeks pulling up into a smile.

Am I actually having fun ?

“Has your friend been taking drugs?” Beaufort grunts beside me.

I groan. “No, has yours?”

He leans down to whisper in my ear: “From what I understand he’s been getting high on your pussy.”

“I wouldn’t exactly describe it like that,” I mutter.

“Then you don’t understand much about wolves,” he says.

We watch our two friends as Dray lowers Clare right over backwards and she lifts her leg up into the air.

“So you want to dance?” His arm brushes against mine and even through the fabric of his suit, I feel the heat of his body and the tingle of his magic.

Why, even when this man has said something to annoy me, do I find myself unable to resist him?

But resist him I force myself to do. Besides, it’s kind of pleasant standing by his side and not arguing with him for once.

“Uh uh,” I say, “I’m enjoying just watching the dancing.”

“You call that dancing?”

I giggle. “Yes, I like it.” I turn my head to look up at his face.

Even in profile his face is stunning. Chiseled and perfect.

It probably isn’t so crazy that everyone in this academy hates me.

He’s so good looking. Everyone wants to be with him.

And they resent me because I’m with him instead. “How was your visit home?” I ask him.