Page 29 of Aria's Desire

Seeing that she understood and catching the promisingly thoughtful expressions on numerous other faces, Aria continued her story. As she spoke, plates of food were passed around. When she paused in her tale to take a bite, Sin made a low sound half a beat before her little passenger gave a warning zing. Without bothering to be discreet, he stopped her mid-bite and threw her plate into the nearby fire pit before making her a new one.

Understanding, she tipped her head back, gave him a soft smile of thanks, then took a bite from her new plate, and launched smoothly back into her story as if nothing alarming had happened.

But, as she spoke, she searched the faces of those gathered, looking for the one who’d just tried to poison her.

There. A female seated on the left side of the table, nearer to Ishtal, scowled briefly. Sin and Rellik made low sounds of acknowledgment, telling her they’d seen it, too, while Aria gave the woman a look of calm warning.

She wasn’t upset, though she took exception to the underhandedness. These people were safe here, hidden in their mountain castle. Ishtal was trying to change that, to thrust these people into a war they’d been avoiding for years. As the Queen herself had said, some were going to struggle against such a drastic shift. So, Aria would forgive the attempt. This time.

Now, if she’d made that attempt against Aria’s men…

Just the thought changed her expression from calm warning to something cold and deadly. The female, seeing the shift, paled ever so slightly and focused on her plate.

* * *

The feast lasted for hours.Aria answered dozens of questions, asked her own, and learned about these people.

And, throughout it all, Sin and Rellik touched her. Constantly.

It started as small grazes. Rellik would skate his fingertips across her arm or lean in to nuzzle her temple. Sin would play with her hair or slide his knuckles along the top of her thigh under cover of the table.

Aria damn sure wasn’t unaffected, but she was able to temper her reactions and maintain her focus on watching those around them.

And then they started taking turns feeding her little bites of the dishes they saw she preferred.

That, too, would’ve been fine… if their touches hadn’t begun lingering on her lips.

Where their sudden bold playfulness came from, she had no idea, but goddamn if it didn’t push all her buttons. After getting nothing but distance from them for what felt like ages, the change was both startling and enticing.

Despite trying to temper her reaction with repeated mental reminders they were only doing this to put on a show, their touches felt real, and her reactions to them were anything but fake.

Resisting the urge to snap at their fingers, knowing that would be an out of place reaction to what appeared to be normal touches from her mates, she decided to fight fire with fire.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Chapter 17

Was Aria aware her decision to retaliate came about because she was incapable of resisting this singular opportunity to sate even a fraction of her desire for them? Yes.

Did she know that was a slippery slope? Yep.

Was that enough to stop her? Apparently not.

She wouldn’t let herself go too far, but with them so close, their maddeningly appealing scents in her nose, the heat of their big bodies warming her, and their teasing caresses driving her to distraction, returning their playful touches with her own seemed perfectly reasonable.

So, the next time Sin offered her a bite of the spicy roasted meat, she opened her mouth and closed her lips around his fingertips, flicking her tongue over them to catch the juices.

At his choked grunt, she cut her gaze to him, taking in his slack-jawed expression and the look of glazed need in his eyes as he stared at her mouth. Smirking, she gave him a narrow-eyed look of triumph.

Turning to Rellik when she felt him lean in, she did the same to him, taking the bite of food he offered and sucking lightly on his fingers. His fiery orange eyes went wide and his lips parted, revealing those sharp teeth of his she liked so much.

Still smirking, she faced forward again, sure of her victory.

Unfortunately, they took her warning as a challenge and, instead of admitting defeat, their touches got bolder.

Growling low in his throat, Sin leaned down and pressed a hot, sucking kiss to her neck, surprising her so much she gasped. Rellik followed up by grazing his exhilaratingly sharp teeth over her earlobe. When she couldn’t quite stop a moan, they groaned in unison, the low, hungry sounds sending goosebumps shivering down her spine.

Jesus fucking Christ, are they trying to drive me insane?

---