Page 23 of Hers to Rule

When his lips finally broke from hers, she was panting for breath. He lowered his mouth to her neck, sucking gently before baring his teeth and biting her. She gasped at the pain from the sharp nip. He straightened and touched the mark that Rio had left, which was still slightly tender. “I also knew he’d fucked you because I saw the bite.”

She grinned up at him. “Guilty.”

“From what I just felt, it doesn’t seem like it helped much. Do I need to punish him for not letting you finish first?”

“I did. Twice.” Mari shook her head. “It didn’t help at all. Only made the craving worse.”

“So quickies only rile your power more.” His smile showed the tips of his fangs. “Good to know.”

“If only I could figure out what to do with it aside from releasing it when I get off.”

“I certainly don’t mind that usage of it at all.” He leaned to kiss her forehead, closing his hands around her hips. The points of his sharp talons barely scraped her bare skin where her shirt and skirt didn’t quite meet. “And we’ll figure it out.”

Mari nodded. “Okay. Well, if you want me to look at the wards right now, we’re going the wrong way.”

“Nice try.” He turned to lead her toward the solarium again. “You have an appointment with some needles.”

“Oh. I thought you said we weren’t doing the piercings anymore.”

His grin was sly. “I didn’t say that at all.” He opened the door and held it for her.

Mari passed into the solarium in front of him. The clean, slightly humid air within instantly set her on edge. The tropical plants housed in her father’s solarium were as perfectly tended as they had always been. These plants were perhaps the only things her father had ever loved. Mari held no illusions that he had ever cared for her mother one bit. Her mother was just a means to an end, discarded as soon as she accomplished her task.

Mari herself was also only a means to an end, the control he asserted over all of Las Vegas for providing the magic that protected the entire city. She had only rarely been allowed in the solarium with his precious plants.

It smelled pleasant, though, despite all her bad associations with it. And the waterfall in the far corner burbled pleasantly. Down one of the walkways, someone had set up a padded table with one side inclined. Next to the table, a woman with a shock of pink hair stood, dressed in a midnight black tube top and skintight jeans. The woman turned and aimed a lopsided grin their way when she heard them. “Hey, Cisco. Miss Reyes.”

Mari didn’t know the woman, but her manners remained as perfect as the day her father had beaten them into her. She extended her hand and smiled. “Mariana, please. It’s so very nice to meet you.”

“Mariana,” the woman corrected and shook her hand, all business. “I’m Greta. I work at your”—she hesitated for a moment but recovered quickly—“at your club.”

Mari nodded. “Of course.”

Cisco stepped forward to take Greta’s hand. “Thanks for coming out on such short notice, Greta.”

“No problem at all.” She grinned again, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve never worked on royalty before.”

“Did you have any trouble getting away?” Cisco asked.

“Argento has locked everything down with no explanation as to why, but everyone knows what happened.” Greta bit her lip. “He asked me where I thought I was going, and when I said I was coming here at your request, he kind of glared but didn’t say anything else and didn’t try to stop me.”

Cisco grumbled. “We’re going to have to deal with him sooner than I’d hoped.” When Mari turned to him, looking for more explanation, he waved her off. “Later.”

Greta nodded. “He’s been sketchier than usual since we got the news.”

“Greta is a life witch,” Cisco offered by way of changing the subject. “She’s the best body modder at the club.”

“Body…” Mari began and looked between them.

“Piercings, tattoos, implants,” Greta filled in enthusiastically. “That sort of thing.”

“Oh,” Mari said. “Right.” Nerves fluttered in her belly. “I’ve never had one before.”

Greta looked at Cisco with a question in her expression.

“Exactly as we discussed,” said Cisco in response.

“Four piercings and one tattoo.” Greta turned away to look in the wheeled case she had set up next to the table.

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