Page 106 of Glow of the Everflame

Sorae poked her head in to greet me, then took one look at Luther fuming and disappeared back to her perch.

“Traitor,” I shouted her direction. A pulse of amusement answered back over the bond.

I rolled my eyes and stalked across the parlor. I was almost to my bedroom when the heel of my shoe caught on the edge of a rug, and I went ungracefully flailing toward the ground.

Instantly, Luther’s arms were around me. He scooped me out of midair, and my brain swam with the intoxicating effects of sweet wine and hard muscles and large hands. The room spun around me as I somehow continued to move. I had only just processed that he was carrying me when I went flying again and my back hit the springy mattress of my bed. A few of the dainty chains on my dress snapped at the rough motion.

Luther stood between my legs where they hung off the edge and glared down at me.

“Foot,” he barked, holding out a hand.

My jaw hung open. “What the hell wasthatfor?”

“It’s my duty to protect you. And that includes keeping you from breaking your neck stumbling around drunk on ridiculous shoes.”

“I’m not drunk,” I slurred back.

His eyes narrowed. “Foot,” he said again, the roughness of his tone stirring something low in my belly.

Jealousy and anger mixed with indignation, layered with a stubborn determination to win this strange battle we were fighting, shaken by alcohol-decimated inhibitions, and poured over a lust I still wasn’t ready to acknowledge.

It was a dangerous cocktail, and I was still in the mood to drink.

My foot slowly began to rise, dragging roughly up his leg. I smiled viciously as his posture drew tight and his fingers twitched. My toes skimmed along his thighs and paused at his waist, hovering just long enough to lure him to reach for me before jerking higher and continuing up his body. When I reached his chest, I flexed my foot, digging the sharp heel of my shoe into the space just over his heart.

Luther didn’t flinch. His hand closed around my ankle and yanked it even higher, holding my stare as he hooked it over his shoulder. He grabbed my waist and dragged my body towards him until the back of my thigh slapped against his hips. My lips popped open, and his eyes gleamed with challenge, daring me to object.

My mouth snapped closed. I was still riding a victorious high from my success at the dinner, and I’d be damned if I lost now. Especially tohim.

He held my stare as his hands circled my thighs and deftly began to unwrap the straps that wound from my shoes up my leg. He could have snapped them off with one strong tug—instead, he took his time lazily sliding them away, then massaging my skin to soothe the marks they’d left behind.

My eyes fluttered as he put his Descended strength to good use on my tendons. The warm, firm pressure of his rolling fingers wasdivineon my aching calves. I had to grit my teeth to keep from moaning.

“I hope you and Iléana had a nice night,” I said frostily.

Luther watched me but didn’t respond.

I huffed. “You two certainly seemed in a rush to be alone. You didn’t even say goodbye.”

He kept his silent vigil, eyes pinning me in place as he worked his way over my ankle. He slid the shoe off my foot, letting it clatter to the ground, and pulled my foot to his chest.

“I think I see now why you two work so well together. She’s miserable to be around, and you love to be miserable. It’s a perfect match.”

His mouth thinned ever so slightly, and my grin spread wide with triumph.Diem one, Luther zero.

I cockily raised my chin. “She’ll make a lovely Queen Consort for you once I’m dea—ah!” A husky, mortifying sound slid from my lips as Luther’s thumb foundjustthe right spot on my foot, sending a lightning bolt of pleasure up my spine. He circled it again, and my back arched against my will, hands fisting into the sheets.

Luther smiled darkly.Tie game.

He left my leg propped against him and held out his hand. “The other one.”

There was a dominance to his tone, something less than possessive but far more than protective. It thrummed with an unspoken dare—a goading for me to say no, to wave the white flag and pull away—but it also sang with the hint of forbidden promise. A glimpse of what he might offer, if I let myself submit.

I should have hated it. I was a Queen, after all.

But I didn’t.

I really,reallydidn’t.

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