Page 17 of The Red Woman and the White Bear

“I believe you haven’t,” Aisling countered. Kael glanced back at several empty bottles scattered behind him. Aisling stood, aware suddenly of the slight heaviness of her eyelids. Everything seemed a little softer now. A little hazier. She put her hands on the arm of his throne and moved close.

“Come and play,” she said, voice low.

“Excuse me?”

“They won’t miss you for an hour or two.” Aisling nodded towards two of the king’s knights, both flirting with winged females with ruby skin. “Come on.”

Kael maintained an expressionless gaze, eyes straight ahead. This had to work—she had to make it work.

In one final bid to convince him, she leaned in close, her lips almost,almosttouching the very tip of his pointed ear. “Have you ever kissed a pixie?” she whispered.

That got his attention. The intensity of his glare faltered just slightly, and before he could object further Aisling had slipped her hand into his and pulled him to stand. He stopped her before she could lead him off the front of the dais, though, and nodded wordlessly towards a door in the wall behind the throne.

Aisling’s blood rushed loudly in her ears as he guided her away from the drunken laughter echoing through the cavern with their fingers intertwined. He led her down a torchlit hallway, far from prying eyes, but stopped midway. The air was thick with anticipation and an electric energy thrummed between them when he turned to face her. Aisling took a step closer, then another, until Kael’s back was pressed against the cave wall and there was only an inch of space between their bodies. He was already leaning down, maybe unconsciously. This was coming easier to her than she thought.

Raising herself onto her toes, she tipped her chin to bring her lips close to his. Kael’s breath hitched, and she could feel the tension building in him.

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, little pixie,” he murmured, his voice low and husky.

Aisling’s fingers lightly brushed against the sharp angles of his face, tracing a path down his jawline. “Isn’t all of life a game, Highness? Tonight, I thought I might like to play it with you.” Her taunting words dared him to take the bait. She’d surprised even herself with her irreverence, but it seemed to be working just as intended.

Kael’s restraint wavered and he leaned closer, drawn in by her challenge. His fingers lightly grazed her wings. Shecouldn’t feel them there, but the gesture sent shivers down her spine all the same. Just a breath apart now, he hesitated for a beat. Then another. Then took Aisling’s hand again and resumed pulling her down the hallway. She let him.

He led her to the doorway of a chamber, pitch black inside, and Aisling’s stomach dropped. The uncertainty of what awaited her past the threshold set alarm bells off in her brain, muted by the wine but still loud enough to bring her pause.He knows,she thought. He’d found her out and she’d followed him willingly to her death. Already inside, Kael looked back at her with a smirk playing across his lips, at once both threatening and alluring.

“Are you afraid of the dark?” Now it was his turn to tease.

Aisling set her jaw and met his pale eyes. She wouldn’t let him win. “Only when there’s something in it to be afraid of.”

He seemed satisfied by her answer enough to let her linger in the doorway while he lit a tall, tapered candle and set the silver candlestick on the nightstand. Though the flame did little to illuminate the space, Aisling could make out a simple bed against the far wall. The chamber was small, almost certainly not Kael’s, but rather one he saved for occasions such as this, with females such as herself. He turned to retrieve her, letting his hands slide down her waist to rest on her slender hips.

“Better?” Kael asked. His smirk seemed softer now that she knew there was no malice hidden behind it.

“Almost.” Aisling stepped inside and closed the heavy wooden door. Then, she reached up to ease the black silken robe from Kael’sshoulders. He watched her, studied her, as it slid to the floor and puddled at their feet.

“And now?”

“Getting closer.” She took his hand in hers and raised it to her shoulder, guiding it to slip off one of the delicate cap sleeves of her dress. The intensity of his gaze was all over her skin, pins and needles that followed the path of his eyes and left her breathless. Kael’s breath, too, caught slightly when his fingers brushed over her.

Aisling slid a hand up around the back of Kael’s neck, settling it at his nape beneath his hair, and guided him towards her. He was so much taller than she was in this form, though she thought that even without the glamour the top of her head would only just reach his chin. He let her lead, giving in fully to her direction.

When Kael lightly touched his lips to her pulse, just below her jaw, Aisling’s fingers threaded through his hair and she pressed into him. He trailed kisses up, hesitating at the corner of her mouth. He was waiting for her, she realized. To take the lead, to take control, as she had from the beginning. He’d played straight into her trap. Aisling tilted her head and when their lips finally met, the whole chamber was set ablaze.

Kael fell backwards onto the bed, pulling her down on top of him, and the groan he loosed involuntarily raised goosebumps down Aisling’s arms. His kisses were raw and wanting and the taste of him was more intoxicating than all the honey wine in the world. His tongue moved against hers with urgent purpose, exploring the contours of her mouth, stoking the fire that had taken the place of every drop of blood in Aisling’s veins.

Kael’s hands explored her back, bare now after having undone the thin tie that held the fabric around her body, and traced the curve of her spine between her wings. His lips only broke contact with hers once, when a quiet hiss escaped them as her hand brushed over his ear and jostled the earring that dangled from his lobe.

Aisling paused, drawing back to look at him. “Did that hurt?”

“It’s nothing.” He lifted his head to kiss her neck again but she pushed herself up on his chest.

“Here, let me see.” Aisling turned Kael’s face to the side and removed the earring back.

“It will close,” he protested.

Aisling hushed him and swiftly, gently, pulled the earring from his ear. “There.” He gripped her waist when she leaned over and set it on the nightstand before pulling her back down into his embrace.

Each needy touch that followed fanned the flames burning in them both. When he worked his way back up to tangle his fingers in Aisling’s hair, gently pulling at the roots, she ground her hips down against his. She felt his hardness there and knew that he’d soon be angling for more, so she backed off. Rodney’s words remained clear in her spinning mind:Leave him wanting more.

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