Page 57 of Fae Champion

I had so many questions: What was the real reason for the queen’s leniency toward me? Did she expect whatever was going to happen tomorrow in the ring to be worse than whatever punishment she could have dealt tonight? Or was she simply too consumed by thoughts of the debauchery to come to care? That seemed unlikely, but I’d seen her enthusiasm for her “dancers” firsthand. The woman who’d claimed outrage at her husband’s adultery openly indulged in seduction with others—while the king did the same.

And that was only the beginning of the many questions that should have been spinning through my thoughts. What had Millicent done to receive the queen’s favor? Had she betrayed me—or Rush—somehow? And how could Finnian have done that to Sandor? I was no fan of the man who’d been key in my abduction, but I’d believed Finnian to have integrity—or at least, more so than most of the fae atcourt, who appeared utterly unconcerned by their moral turpitude.

On and on the doubts and questions looped through my mind, but like the musky, innocuous smoke of the hall we were rapidly leaving behind, they swayed and sifted past, slipping from my grip.

In truth, I didn’t want to snag on to any one of them. There was too much I didn’t know, too much danger, too little time assured. And the man I wanted beyond reason walked beside me, the heat of his desire pumping off his skin like vapor.

Fully decided I’d enjoy the moment instead of engaging the thousand worries flitting through my thoughts like moths escaping the darkness for light, I shoved them away and tightened my hold on his arm. His muscles were coiled beneath my grip, as if he wanted to sprint toward my rooms but wasn’t out of deference for my stupid heels—or perhaps he didn’t want to appear too eager.

I asked, “Will the guys stay?” My voice slunk out in a slow, seductive drawl I hadn’t intended. Perhaps there’d been enchantments in that fog, in the suggestive, thumping beat of the music.

“They will,” Rush answered, his voice deep as the bass that still thudded through my veins. “Don’t tell me you wish they were here with us?”

“No,” I replied, too quickly. “I just didn’t think that’d be their scene.”

I felt Rush’s gaze on me, and I glanced toward those molten eyes. His brows were raised in amusement. “The three of them enjoy the delights the court has to offer plenty. Roan too. If we must suffer, then we may as well take advantage of the good things along the way.”

“And that, back there”—I gestured behind us with a tilt of my head—“that was good?”

His brows lowered, his lips turned up at the corners, revealing a hint of the dimples I hadn’t seen in a while. “Well, it definitely wasn’t bad.”

Had Zako been here to witness the blatantly sexual energy pulsing in the hall, he’d have turned red in the face while having a conniption.

The automatic thought hitched along with my breath. Zako—notmy father—hadliedto me about everything important. Maybe he’d fucked in the middle of the dance floor while everyone watched, and then had the gall to insist I remain “pure” until I was too old and gray to care.

“What is it?” Rush asked, slowing.

I tugged on his arm to get him moving again. “Nothing.”

“That was definitely something.”

Itsked. “Of course it was, but I don’t want to talk about it. And given how many secrets you seem to keep, I wouldn’t push me about it if I were you.”

“Fair enough.” His mouth had lost its playfulness, his stare suddenly far away.

My mood turned stormy. “So you have to stick to me like glue, but only till the end of the match tomorrow, right?”

His pace slowed anew. “Yeah, I suppose so. I’ll win, and you’ll be finished with the trials. The queen will send you home while I advance to the Nuptialis Probatio.”

“Where you’ll pick out your wife,” I grumbled, and even I noticed how bitter I sounded.

“Yes.” He somehow made that one word sound just as remorseful. “Or it’ll be the first step to that end anyway.”

I forcefully shoved aside images of Rush and Natania, of Rush and Coretta, Eliana, Malina, and the dozens of other aspiring princesses whose names I’d never learned on purpose. Of him, with his long, silky moonlight hair and matching eyes, rolling across the sheets with the women, eagerly spread out before him, prizes offered to him on sparkly platters. His muscled body, slick with sweat of their joined passion, him grunting as he thrusted inside them—any of them—his erection glistening with their combined arousal…

Rush’s hand grasped my arm as he stopped, turning me to face him. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on,” I snapped.

Once more, those brows rose. “You were growling.”

“I most certainly was not.”

“Elowyn,” he said, my name a caress slipping between those full lips.

My eyes raked across them. “Whatever. Let’s go. We need to get our sleep before the fight tomorrow.”

I started walking again; my rooms were nearby. Reluctantly, he followed, offering me his armanother time as if he were a gentleman instead of a man who was part beast, ready to rut with any of the women throwing themselves at him, all but spreading their legs wide for him in the grand Hall of Mirrors.

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