Page 33 of Lord of Dance and Desire

Three more days until the showcase.

Each passing day only increased my neurosis, whichsomeof the luudthen thought entertaining.

Andrei indulged my nerves—equally entertained, but smarter in how he showed it. As long as I was eating and sleeping at night, he was content enough.

I was discovering the key to keeping Andrei content. Let him fuss, don’t do anything to surprise him, regular sex. . .shocker. . .and don’t wander off. Which fell under the auspices of no surprises. He liked schedules and order, and upsets in either brought out his High Lord.

“This is because children need routines or they throw tantrums, and have to be put down for naps,”Con had said.

Andrei’s response to that comment still rang in my ears.

On my more restless nights Andrei didn’t stop me from dancing in the courtyard, though he’d snatch me back into the house if he thought I was coming too close to what he called a “spiral.”

If he wasn’t home, the others would bully or bribe me, whatever my succubus felt like responding too. She liked both the carrot and the stick. Sometimes at the same time.

And they’d all continued teaching me how to. . .feed.

When I danced in front of others, I’d been inadvertently using my affinity for dance as a feeding tube. When I invited them to watch me, to yearn for me, to give me their love and energy, it was literal.

I couldn’t go more than a day without dancing because Fae couldn’tfast.

“It’s a trait of your ancestor’s sub-species,”Andrei had said after the night I’d almost eaten Vargas. Or enslaved her. I was hazy on the details.“And with your affinity for dance, you can spin yourself into your own kind of fairy circle if you aren’t careful.”

“I’ve never seen anything quite like her before,”Con had said.“Trust you to mate the peculiar one.”

“The beautiful one,”Andrei corrected as I punched the luudthen in the middle.

“Beware of the beautiful ones,”Con replied, voice dark.“They eat your soul every time.”

“I haven’t noticed you complaining,”I’d pointed out, pleased instead of insulted because like any woman I was a sucker for compliments.“Peculiar isn’t what you call me when I have your cock in my mouth. Besides, I’m not beautiful.”

Con stared at me as Andrei tilted his head, eyeing me with a kind of secret mirth.

“The way humans judge beauty is inexplicable,”Con said finally.“Your species gets so many things wrong.”

“Our word for it doesn’t really translate though,”Andrei murmured.

This morning I learned that unleashing the satin in my blood when I danced alone was like cannibalizing myself. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that I was some kind of succubus.

“A sex demon, Andrei?” I demanded. “Really? Do I look like a sex demon to you? Never mind, don’t answer that.”

Considering the things we’d been up to in the bedroom, that was a stupid question.

He’d dragged me out of bed early because mornings before I headed to studio were often the only time we had together, and there was a lot I needed to be taught.

Lounging on the fainting couch in the courtyard, his loose robe fell open to reveal his chest. He didn’t remove the arm flung over his eyes to look at me—he was sunning, one of the rare instances he actually sat still. I stood staring down at him, my arms crossed.

But I heard the eyeroll when he responded. “Not a sex demon. A Dark Fae entity that feeds off energy, sexual energy being the easiest, and uses that energy to subvert others’ wills. You’ve proven you can do that a touch. You’re in my light. Move.”

I didn’t budge an inch. I also heard what he didn’t say. “That’s why you all keep playing whack-a-mole with me?”

“You’re manipulative. It’s not sporting, cygnet.”

Please.

If they thought I was actually going to stop using whatever advantage I could to stay a few toes ahead of them. . .well, bless their hearts and hope to die. Let them think that if they wanted. I’d just learn to be more stealthy.

My silence must have lasted too long. He lowered his arm and looked at me. “If you aren’t careful, and the servants you feed from have no defenses, you could bind them to you. Create an open bond between you that is a source of constant nourishment. Is that what you want?” he added pointedly.

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