Page 133 of Taste of Thorns

“She’s got two holes. They’ve got two cocks,” Fly tells her.

Clare blinks several times, then realization dawns over her features. Her cheeks blaze even hotter. “Ohhhh.”

“We haven’t done that yet,” I clarify.

“But you’d like to?” Clare says.

“I guess she’s going to find out,” Fly laughs. “There is no way those dudes will take no for an answer.”

“Actually, they’re being pretty gentlemanly about it. They say I need to be ‘prepared’ first.”

“Wow,” Clare says, tearing apart another pastry. “Why does that sound hot?”

“Because it can be,” Fly tells her.

“Excuse me!” I say, kicking Fly, “I thought you hadn’t done that.”

“Anal sex?” he asks and I nod. “I hadn’t but …” he grins, “things have changed.”

“Oh my stars,” I screech, rolling up onto my knees and bouncing up and down in excitement, “with the redhead?”

“Of course, with the redhead. I’m not a,” he winks at me, “slut.”

“Annnnnd?”

Fly leans back against my bed, a smile on his face, and obliges us by reliving some of the more intimate and outrageous details of his encounters.

“So you would recommend to a friend?” I ask.

“I would most certainly recommend to a friend. But I would also advise said friend to prepare as her gentlemen friends have suggested.”

“What kind of preparation are we talking about?” Clare says innocently.

“A bit of stretching, a bit of lube, a bit of stimulation.” Clare looks puzzled. “He liked eating out your pussy, Clare Bear. He may also like eating out your ass.”

“Or I might want to do that to him,” she points out.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Fly tells her.

“Look at us,” I say, holding up my wine glass, “all sexually satisfied and, more importantly, still alive.”

“For now,” Fly mutters. “If you insist on going through with your suicidal plan, your life status may change dramatically.”

“I’m going through with it,” I say. “I don’t see what choice I have.”

“You do have a choice,” Clare says.

“Exactly, you could just leave things be.”

I sigh. I’ve been over this countless times with my friends, with the Princes and with Fox. Nobody is delighted with the idea that I’m going to go out of my way to lead the Madame on to attack me. Everybody else is convinced there must be a better way. The thing is, whenever I ask what that better way may be, they don’t have an answer for me.

“And just sit back and let her kill someone else?” I say. “Knowing full well that somebody else could be me? At least this way, I’m in control of the situation.”

Fly swirls his wine around his glass. “I don’t like it.”

I lean over and kiss my friend on the cheek. “You don’t have to, Fly. But I’m going to be just fine,” I say with a confidence I’ve probably never felt in my life before, a confidence that’s been steadily building in me since I arrived at the academy. Of course, it does help that I’ve discovered a rare power. One I’m certain will protect me from the Madame. That coupled with Thorne’s promise and Blaze’s existence, I really do think I’m going to be just fine.

“How about we talk about something else?” Fly says, gesturing at me to fill up his glass again.