Page 38 of Flame and Starlight

“Hm?” I asked, turning around.

“I never want to hear you talk about your body like that again.” He threw back the whiskey in one

go and poured himself another. I nodded, even though he wasn’t looking at me. Lost for words, I

turned and walked back to the room, the dust on my shoulder flaring with heat I tried to ignore.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I had butterflies in my stomach. Being out of the Night Court had Asher and me in our own little world. He didn’t have any responsibilities weighing over his head, and I was experiencing a whole new world for the first time. I had taken a nap after we got back from shopping before I had to get ready, and he came in to wake me up with a cup of coffee after his bath. His hair was still dripping down the thick column of his neck, and I followed each drop like I was parched.

As I looked at myself in the mirror after an hour of getting ready, I was excited and confident. I was wearing a spaghetti-strap dress that was black with an ivy-like design laid over it in the same silver color as my starlight necklace. It seemed to move and dance over the fabric. It hugged my body but was loose enough you couldn’t see the dagger tucked tightly against my thigh. My opal ring Asher had purchased for me hadn’t left my finger since he placed it there.

“I went out and got you something while you were sleeping.”

I jumped at his voice and blushed at being caught staring at myself in the floor-length mirror. He was dressed in all black again, but tonight he was missing a tie, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, allowing the designs of his tattoos to poke out.

“I think you’ve bought me enough today,” I said as he walked closer, both hands behind his back. He walked behind me, and we locked eyes in the mirror. He slowly brought a solid black tiara over the crown of my head and placed it gently in my hair. It was covered in jagged black quartz and small smooth pieces of onyx. It was beautiful, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

“If you’re going to pretend to be my arm candy, you’re going to look damn powerful doing it.” He turned me around to face him and pushed my chin up. “Just because you’re here under those pretenses doesn’t mean you have to be meek and quiet. I think you know by now that’s not really my style, little duck.”

I smiled and held my chin up high as I turned around and adjusted the tiara tighter against my hair. “We’re staying to dance tonight,” I said as a challenge, and I met his eyes in the mirror. A smirk played across his lips, but he agreed.

“Should be interesting seeing as our dances are sure to be different from yours.”

I paled. All I could imagine were the dances I saw in period films where they barely touched and had very specific steps to go by. Twerking probably wasn’t going to be their dance of choice. When he saw my ghostly face staring at him, he laughed.

“Don’t worry, I can lead you through it. They won’t even know.” He winked and pulled my hair off my shoulders and to the nape of my neck, letting it fall down my back.

“Just don’t let me fall. That would be mortifying,” I said as I followed him out of the cabin. He snorted and picked me up, his magic keeping us warm against the chill. I clung to his neck and pushed my face into his shoulder, hoping I wouldn’t smear red lipstick all over the fabric. I still wasn’t used to flying long distances, and my stomach dropped as he made his way above the trees. I was never a fan of heights. I could feel my legs clench together at the thought of falling.

“Relax, Alys,” he whispered in my ear. I reluctantly released my death grip and peeked over his shoulder. We were going at a leisurely pace, and the large pine trees beneath us looked black in the setting sun. The feathers of his wings fluttered in the wind and shone blue in the dusky light. I looked up at him and watched his side profile.

Gods, he was beautiful. I mentally traced each sharp angle of his face before my attention snagged on his lips. I let that familiar warmth spread through my body and settle low in my stomach. His nostrils flared, and he looked at me. His eyes darkened and met mine. I smirked, daring him to say anything. Before he could, I held on to my tiara and tilted my head back, letting the wind tousle my hair, and laughed into the open air.

“Hold on, my little wildling,” he murmured into my hair and then angled down. My stomach dropped again, but instead of being afraid, I trusted him and let myself enjoy the experience, smiling the entire way down.

We landed in an alley, and he barely let my feet touch the ground before he backed me up against the wall of the building. He grabbed both sides of my face and stroked my cheeks with his thumbs. His emotions flooded my system, making my vision blurry with a need I had never experienced before. My breath caught in my throat.

He wants me.

I leaned into his want that he was letting pour into me and locked my eyes on his. They were the color of the smoky quartz on my tiara and burned into mine. His wings encased us against the wall, and his jasmine-scented shadows danced playfully over my skin. That warmth in my stomach broke into a wildfire and made my knees weak, but his body was flush against mine, holding me up. His nostrils flared again as he leaned closer, running his nose up the side of my throat, breathing me in.

His hands fell to the fabric at my waist, and he curled it in his fists, pulling me even closer against him. I tilted my head back until it hit the wall behind me, giving him access to my neck. The mark he left on my body flared to life under his breath, and all mine left me as I felt his lips skim his dust.

“I can smell myself on you,” he whispered against my skin. “You can feel what I’m feeling now, can’t you?” I swallowed but didn’t answer. I felt a sharp pain on my shoulder.

“The fuck?” I pushed him away and saw blood on his smirking lips. His wings snapped away, but his shadows stretched out, still clinging to me. “Did you just bite me?” My hand went to my shoulder and came away with fresh blood on it. But I could feel it healing and closing up already. He grabbed my wrist, and that need assaulted me again. I groaned against it, trying to fight it with my anger.

He fucking bit me.

He took a step closer and brought my fingers one by one to his lips and licked the blood off each one. If I hadn’t been so angry at him for biting me, I would’ve been a puddle of goo at his feet for how he was making me feel.

“Mm,” he purred against my hand. “You even taste like chocolate.”

I ripped my hand out of his and, with speed I didn’t have a week ago, grabbed the dagger from under my dress, and pressed it harshly against his throat. “I will use this dagger on you, High Lord. Don’t push me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you can feel my emotions now, little duck?” He pushed into the blade a little more, and I rolled my eyes. I sheathed it back under my skirts.

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