Page 28 of Dark Witch: Entangled Fates

Jasmine pushed the plate aside and leaned her elbows on the table. "So, it was love at first sight?"

"Of course." Edgar uncrossed his arms and leaned toward her, so their noses were almost touching. "I tell you that I would rather die than never see you again, but not to worry. I am an accomplished thief, and I won't get caught."

Jasmine smiled and picked up the storyline. "I wait for you every night, yearning for you to come but also dreading it. But as the nights pass and you don't show up, I start to worry that something has happened to you. I tell my handmaiden to bring me a commoner's cloak so I can slip away from the palace again, and just as she leaves to get it, I hear a knock on the terrace doors." She extended her hand, motioning for him to continue.

"Your room's balcony overlooks an inaccessible and therefore unguarded cliff, but I have a magic carpet that I got from the genie, and I use it to fly onto your terrace." Edgar's voice dropped an octave, taking on a seductive edge. "You open the doors for me and fall into my arms, sobbing with happiness. As I lift you into my arms and carry you to your enormous circular bed, you pepper my face with kisses."

Jasmine canted her head. "Why would a princess need a huge round bed?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's my fantasy, so let me tell it."

"Fine." She waved a hand. "Please, continue."

"You are draped in silks and a sheer gown that leaves very little to the imagination, and as I lay you down on the bed, your eyes darken with a hunger that matches my own."

Jasmine swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "And then what happens?"

Edgar's breath ghosted over her cheek. "My hands roam over your lush curves, caressing you through the thin fabric until you're trembling with need and begging me to undress you."

A soft moan escaped Jasmine's throat as his words conjured up vivid images in her mind. Tangled limbs, sweat-slicked skin, her pleasure coiling tighter and tighter.

"I tell you to have patience while I worship your body with my mouth and hands, and you are moaning my name. You tell me to lock the door so your handmaiden won't be able to come in, and when I do, you take off your clothing and wait for me naked, so magnificent that I'm frozen in place for a moment."

"I call your name," Jasmine said. "And I cup my breasts, teasing my nipples. I tell you to get rid of your clothes and join me in bed."

As Edgar's breathing became labored, he reached for her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. "I do as you command, and when you see me naked, you lick your lush lips and tell me that I'm a dream come true. I climb onto the bed and dip my head between your spread thighs, asking your permission to taste you."

Jasmine clenched her thighs together, her core throbbing insistently as desire pulsed through her veins.

"I grant your wish."

"I pleasure you with my tongue and fingers until you're writhing beneath me and begging me to take you. When I finally slide deep inside you, joining us as one, it's like magic, like flying over an endless diamond sky."

"You paint a vivid picture." Jasmine could practically feel everything he'd described, and she wanted it. She wanted his hands on her, his hard body pressed against hers.

"You're my muse." The words were low and rough, laced with raw desire that made her shiver. "Say the word, Princess, and I'll show you a whole new world."

She lifted her eyes to the surveillance camera mounted near the ceiling, which was pointed right at Edgar's head. "Should we continue the story in a more private setting?" With a smoldering look, she rose to her feet and offered Edgar her hand.

She had no idea if he would be as skilled a lover as his fictional Aladdin, but she couldn't wait to find out. After all, every princess deserved to be thoroughly ravished by her street urchin at least once in her life, and if Edgar's performance was half as good as his imagination, she was in for a wonderful magical ride.

20

PETER

As Peter led Marina inside the grand dining room, the music and laughter seemed oddly distant, a muted backdrop to the storm of emotions raging in his heart.

He had surprised himself when he told Marina that he loved her and couldn't live without her. It was the truth, but he had never intended to voice it, not to himself and not to her.

Now that it was done, though, he felt at least a hundred pounds lighter. Keeping his feelings locked inside had been as bad for him as the guilt Marina had harbored had been bad for her. They had both lied to themselves and to each other, trying to protect their hearts but only hurting themselves more.

Admitting the truth and accepting the consequences was so incredibly liberating, but it was also daunting, because now what?

Hope for a scientific breakthrough that would make Marina immortal?

The notion wasn't as farfetched as it sounded. Perhaps over the next two decades, Kaia and Bridget would uncover the secret of immortality.

They found Jay and Larissa seated at the table and enjoying the wedding dinner. Their heads were bent close together as they talked and laughed, and Peter couldn't help but smile at the sight. They were somehow managing to communicate with her broken English and his rudimentary Russian and were having a good time together.

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