Page 77 of The Devil In Blue
“And… I felt things tonight that perhaps I wasn’t expecting. I discovered things.”
He took another step toward me and if I could see his eyes, I knew they’d be searing into me like hot pokers to the ice wall I’d built around my heart. Another step caused me to back into the shelf again and he didn’t stop. He moved in close and I could smell those familiar scents on him again. Gently, his fingers came up and hooked the chain of my necklace, lifting it.
“He gave you this,” he said.
“Yes.”
The word was soft and breathy. All I could do was stare at Petris’s mask, wondering what was under it that he truly didn’t want me to see.
“You like it, then,” he said.
I reached up, carefully taking his wrist and dragging his hand slowly down over my breast. I trembled when his fingertips skimmed my pert nipple. But it wasn’t a frightened tremble or a regretful one. I liked his touch.
I knew I would…
“Yes,” I whispered.
I could have released his hand. I could have pushed it away and rejected his touch. My thoughts were full of the king, but at the moment, I had Petris. And his warmth was infecting me and turning into desire. It was sweet and addictive and I hardly knew how to sate it.
Without truly thinking, I held Petris’s hand to my breast and encouraged him to touch me. The moment I did it, he tilted his head and shook it once like I was somehow torturing him. Like he was begging me to stop.
“Briar,” he exhaled warningly. “This isn’t what you want.”
“Don’t tell me what I want. It’s all anyone ever does. You were the only one to have asked before. So ask me again.”
He took a deep breath, his hand burning against me. Even if he seemed conflicted, I knew he was capable of pulling away, but he wasn’t. Instead, he moved in, his body so close I could feel the vibration of his pulse.
“What do you want, Briar?” he murmured.
“I want…” my voice trailed off. I looked up at the unmoving shape of his lips. “To take off your mask.”
He stilled, taken aback.
“You know I cannot let you do that,” he whispered.
“Then touch me. The way the king wants to touch me. You said you know him better than anyone.”
“This is dangerous.”
“Would he be angry?” I slid his hand down my belly, my body aching for the kind of caress I could not get from myself.
“Not the way you might think.”
“Then, you don’t think he’d want this?”
“Oh, I can tell you he does. Without a doubt, he wants to be touching you right now. More than anything. He fears… you may not be ready.”
“Show me how he would be touching me if I was.”
He groaned softly, pressed himself against me, and then abruptly backed away with a shake of his head. With a deep breath, he composed himself and lifted his chin.
“It’s late. You need rest. The king will see you in the morning.”
Spinning around, Petris headed for the door. I almost didn’t say anything. I watched him march away from me and nearly choked on my tongue trying to swallow down the words I wanted to say. But then he turned the corner into the hall and my feet rushed forward without thought.
“Petris, wait,” I said, one hand on my doorframe to keep me from sprinting desperately toward him. He wasn’t stopping. But I didn’t want to let him go. “Rune!” I called after him.
He was mid-stride when he froze, his body rigid. My heart was galloping in my chest when I realized what I had just done. I’d stolen his secret. I’d allowed my words to escape me when I used to be so skilled at keeping them at bay.
