Page 46 of Hers to Rule

Mariana sat at her desk with her eyes unfocused, tracing out the map of the wards her father had built, trying to understand how they connected to her and each other and powered the city. With every day that passed, she worried something catastrophic would happen to the intricate structure that she wouldn’t be able to diagnose or fix. But she didn’t understand the web of magic her father had constructed any more than she had a week ago.

“You’re frowning again,” Rio said from his lounge where he sat with one of the smutty romance books he loved and consumed like candy. “I think you need a break.”

She smiled. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to how consistently and capably Rio took care of her. “You’re very sweet, but I’m okay.”

Out of her periphery, she saw him put down the book and cross the room toward her. He took up a position behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “What I meant to say is: you’re taking a break.”

“Okay. You’re right. I’m starting to get a headache.”

“Uh huh.” He rubbed her shoulders lightly. “You want me to ask Giselle to bring in some tea?”

“That would be lovely.”

“I’m headed out soon for dinner with Willow, but I can stop by the kitchen on the way.”

“Ooh. Anything fun or salacious planned?”

His hands trailed down to squeeze her arms. “You have such a dirty mind. Not everyone thinks about sex all day.”

“You were sitting across the room reading porn just a minute ago.”

“Porn with a plot,” he corrected primly.

“Sure.” She laughed.

“Anyway, it’s sort of a working dinner. They want to talk about some ideas they have for submissives at the club when Esmé takes over tomorrow.”

Mari looked up at him. “That sounds like a worthwhile way to spend an evening.”

He leaned to drop a kiss on her cheek. “Do me a favor and go climb in his lap once he’s off the phone. He looks like he needs a break too.” He lifted his chin toward Cisco’s office.

She looked through the French doors to where Cisco sat at his desk on the phone glaring out the window. “You could go on your way out.”

“If I go in there right now, I’m going to be late.” Rio sighed. “I can tell he’s irritated by something, and that usually ends with my lips wrapped around his dick.”

“You are very skilled at making him feel better with your mouth.” She leaned back a bit and tilted her chin up.

He smiled down at her before moving to kiss her, his mouth warm and unhurried over hers. His hand moved to cup her chin and hold her still as he increased the intensity of his kiss. Her magic unfurled in her belly, reaching delicate fingers out into the rest of her body.

When he finally pulled away, the tendrils of her power were straining for him. “We’ll finish that later,” he said, his voice low. Rio dropped one more brief kiss on her upturned mouth before leaving the room. She watched him go, barely quelling the urge to call him back.

Giselle delivered her tray a few minutes later, and Mari sipped rosehip tea from the cup, watching Cisco. He’d switched from glaring out the window to glaring at his computer. He wasn’t shouting, though she wouldn’t have heard him in any case because the doors between their offices were spelled to be soundproof when they were closed. But he seemed exasperated by whatever was happening on the phone.

Mari closed her eyes and inhaled the delicately floral scent of her tea. She focused on the way Rio had made her feel right before he left, like she was precious. Desired.

The simmering awareness of her arousal rose from her pelvis, spreading up and out through her entire body. She reached for the wards around her with her magic, imagining as she did that she was stroking Rio’s face as he kissed her. The wards shivered under her touch. They were always there, just out of sight, but they had never reacted to her before.

She slid the teacup onto her desk and lifted her hand to her collarbone. Rio loved to touch her there when he kissed her. Light, careless touches that lingered long after they were gone. She moved her magic over the wards with the same gentle caress. They vibrated with a sibilance she couldn’t hear but felt along her body like a mimicry of that touch. She leaned back in her chair, remembering the way he smelled, like the deepest parts of a pine forest where the earth was rich and dark. That smell would always be associated with him, would make her feel safe.

She felt the soft brush of his lips against hers, and then the way her stomach clenched when his kiss changed, becoming hungrier and more fervent. She let a little of that hunger shape her magic, feeling the feral edge of it take form. The wards gave way slightly, the way her mouth would part under his kiss. They seemed to yearn for her, the same way she did for him.

She lowered her hand to her chest, slipping it inside her camisole to skim over her nipple, teasing the ring there for an instant before her touch became harder, more urgent, the way his would. When she stroked the wards the same way, they thrummed in response.

Her other hand danced up along her thigh, another part of her that Rio loved to smooth his fingers over as he kissed her. There was always a moment when he scored her with his claws that made her shiver, and she did that too. The wards didn’t breathe, but they gasped all the same when she ran her nails along them.

She dropped her hand between her legs, teasing herself through her panties just as Rio would do, letting the moment of anticipation draw out long until she felt like she’d burst from the wanting. She grazed her magic over the wards the same way, feeling them arch toward her just as she would toward Rio’s hand.

With a swift tug, she pulled her panties aside, like Rio would do when he’d finally had enough of teasing her, then sought out her clit with ravenous fingers, desperate for contact. She was slick and hot, from the fantasy and from the magic. With all of that desire, she reached out for the wards.

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