Page 9 of Midwinter Night's Prince

She snorted. “There’s nothing right with it either,”she quipped easily.

Seth could only look at her, slightly lost and perhaps impressed. Blair wasn’t sassy with him. Blair didn’t speak to him at all if she could help it.

Except here, in the confines of her dream, where she was in control.

He found he liked her that way. Confident. Sure of her power, even facing him.

She’d been terrified the first time she’d encroached on his mind. The woman in front of him was an entirely different creature.

“How would you have me dress? In a black monkey suit, like the rest of the world?” Seth despised anything ordinary.

“Why would I want to dress you at all?”

He shrugged. “Well, it’s your dream. If you’d prefer me naked, just say the word.”

Blair rolled her eyes, reclining on what had been his favorite chaise longue. He wished Aveka had more regard for furniture. Finding both comfort and style in an antique piece was no easy feat.

“Tempting as that offer is, I’ll pass.” She pretended to grimace, and Seth could only chuckle.

He wasn’t blind to his appeal to anyone attracted to his sex. Other than his blood relatives, he’d never met a person who wasn’t impressed by what they saw. When they were attached and faithful, men and women looked away. But they saw him.

Blair was no exception. She was good at hiding it, but he saw the blood gathering under her skin, flooding her cheeks with heat. He heard the rhythm of her pulse when he looked into her eyes.

She might not like it, but she was attracted to him, as was any human. It was simply in her nature. The fact that she fought it amused him.

“What I want from you is answers.” His blade appeared in her hand, materializing out of thin air. “What is this?”

Of course, she’d glean the importance of the weapon. Seth hid all discomfort behind his brightest smile. “A long knife, or short sword, I suppose.”

Blair sighed. “You don’t have to be difficult, Seth.”

How wrong she was.

“What is it?” Blair repeated. “Why is it capable of hurting you when nothing else can?”

“Yes, witch, let me list my weaknesses for you alphabetically, so that you may catalog them.” Surely she realized how ridiculous she was to demand this of him?

Blair’s jaw tightened. “You’re the one who gave it to me.”

“Would you have rather I brought you to Atlantis and doomed us both?” he asked, conversational as ever. “Along with the rest of your friends and my family, of course.”

The tension in the air was thick with her frustration, fueling his.

Seth could think of many ways to relax them both. He’s start by ripping the leggings off, then her tight bodice. The tutu, she could keep. And the boots too.

He was surprised by the wave of desire hitting him unexpectedly. Surprised, and pleased.

Sex had always been a simple need to him, like food, blood, and air. He’d sated it as required, with whomever suited his fancy. Yet that need had completely disappeared months ago. He hadn’t even felt the echo of it since the first time Aveka’s skin had slithered against his.

And here it was. Lust, awakened in a dream.

Seth shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d always noticed Blair’s appeal. She hadn’t been worth the bother, or the complications—she was a friend of Catarina’s, after all. But he’d appreciated her lithe, supple frame, her scent, and the shape of her mouth. Quite delightful, with that plumper upper lip. Bitable, just like the curve of her neck.

“Fine, don’t tell me about the knife,” she relented, to his surprise. “I’m in this mess because of you, and you are hunting me. I can’t stay blind, though. You owe me.”

He was just human enough to agree with that. The problem was, he didn’t care. “And what, pray, do you want from me?”

“Tell me who you are. Tell mewhatyou are,” she corrected.

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