Page 45 of Taken By the Shadow Prince

Her eyes fall closed again, and she tips her head back, little moans leaving her lips.

I slide a hand between her legs and slide her wetness along my palm. I think she expects me to try to take control again, but no. No, watching her get herself off is probably the best fucking thing I’ll ever see in my life.

I wrap my fist around my cock and say, “Watch me, Mavey.”

She peels her eyes open, and her eyes flick down to my cock. I push my robe away with my free hand, and she whimpers, her fingers moving faster inside of her body.Fuck. She likes this, too. Likes—likes watchingme.

So I watch her hand, and she watches mine, and she moans and I grunt and we match our rhythms together.

And when we come, we do that together, too.

Her legs shake and her breathing is heavy as she slides her fingers out from between her legs and goes to wipe them on her robe, but I snatch her wrist in mine and say, “What a waste that would be.”

Mavey laughs, a grin growing on her face. Fuck, I can’t get over her laugh. Her smile. The way she looks at me when I say something she finds amusing. I’m completely fucking mesmerized by her.

How humbling it is, that she doesn’t feel the same way about me.

Chapter 25

Mavey

a shred of happiness

Mair delivers the invitation to me herself.

I’m immediately grateful that Armin went back to his own rooms in the dark of the early morning, when I’d told him that we’d suffered enough of each other’s presence. Really, I’d just been desperate to sleep, and I knew that I’d never be able to convince myselftosleep if he was in bed beside me. No, with Armin, there are far more fun things to do than sleep.

“We’re going to do it,” Mair says as she drops on the couch in my living quarters. I’m lucky she didn’t try to push for the bedroom—it smells strongly of sex in there, and I’ve yet to get the chance to make a powder to sprinkle around to give it the usual eucalyptus scent I prefer.

“What?”

She gestures to the envelope she thrusted into my hands. “Look at it!”

I do, trying to hide my curiosity as I snatch a knife from the end table where I’d discarded it a day or two ago and slice through the seal.

A thick, cream-colored parchment with handwriting that must belong to Lillian decorates the card.

It’s a wedding invitation.

For Mair and Leven.

When I look back up at her, blinking back my surprise, she’s grinning so widely that it would be impossible to ignore just how in love with Leven she is. “We wanted to do it before the battle.”

“Because you’re worried something will go wrong?”

She shakes her head. “No. I mean, we are a little worried, but that’s only logical, right?” She shakes her head. “Really, though, we wanted to give ourselves this—this moment of happiness to share between us. One of the witches from a sanctuary that Kal and Kelsa found said he used to be aSefa, before they went into hiding. He’ll officiate for us.” She smiles widely. “We don’t want to wait anymore, Mavey. Which is hilarious, I know, considering I never wanted a husband in the first place, but... marrying Leven is the only thing I want to do right now. And I want to do it while we can still be happy about it, before we’re mourning the loss of our people.”

Because there would be losses. On both sides, no matter what.

So I give her a soft smile, and I pull Mair in for a hug. “Congratulations,” I whisper to her. “You deserve happiness.”

When she pulls away, there’s a knowing smile on her face. “So do you, you know. You came with that witch, all alone. He was rather good looking.”

Witch?

Right—Armin. Alexander, we said his name was.

“He wanted to join the cause. Caught me in the street when he noticed the seal on my horse’s saddle.”

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