Page 74 of Fate and Flame
“That’s not what I meant.” His tone was flat. “And you’ll have both travelers with you, so I won’t even be able to get there quickly, if something happens.”
“I think, between the three of us, you won’t have to worry about that.” I pulled the knife from the band on my thigh and set it on the table beside us.
“You’re supposed to kill him,” he said. “We’ve got enough going on trying to figure out what to do in the Sea Court right now.”
“You don’t trust that Kai is working on it?” I asked, slumping back in my chair.
“No, I’m confident he is. But he can’t stay down there and babysit forever. I need him with Brax, training the new recruits.”
“How’s that going?” I asked.
“We’re not changing the subject right now. I’ll concede that the Hunt is important. You have my blessing to go if it’s what you needed. But just keep in contact with me the whole time.” He tapped his finger to his head, and I sighed.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Are we fighting?” he asked, sitting back in his seat with a glint of humor in his eyes.
“No,” I said sharply.
“Oh good, because, for a second there, I thought you might want to murder me too.” He grinned.
“Not funny.”
“Listen, you can do whatever you want in the whole world. I’m not in charge of you, I’m not trying to command you. I’m your equal, Ara. I just want to know what you’re doing.”He put the book he had been reading back onto the shelf behind him and sat back down, folding his hands.
“That’s why I’ve been trying to talk to you instead of just disappearing, but you can’t really say you’ve been fair to me. You scold me when I do something you don’t like, and then when I try to sit down and talk about it, you avoid the conversation.”
“I’ll make a deal with you.” His eyes turned dark and seductive.
“I love a good deal.” I pressed my body into the table.
“I promise to never avoid a hard conversation with you if you let me clear out this library and lay you across this table.”
“You can’t brush this off with sex,” I laughed.
“I’m not brushing it off. You want to go, go. I just want to seal the deal.”
“Right here?” I asked, patting the surface.
“And over there.” He pointed at the bookshelf.
“And there?” I asked, indicating the windowsill.
“Especially there,” he growled.
I threw my head back and laughed and he was out of his chair and placing me on the table in an instant.
“I thought you were going to clear the room?” I whined, making eye contact with a female smiling at me from another table.
“Fun hater,” he whispered into my ear.
“At some point, I want them to respect me, King.”
“Out,” Fen roared, leaving no room for argument as the library emptied in a frenzy, with me still sitting on the edge of the table. “Undress.”
The command in his voice was provoked by my use of his proper title. His magic crept down my spine. I pulled my top over my head, eyes glued to him as he stroked his bottom lip with his thumb, watching me, consuming me with that salacious look.
He moved in, placing his hands on either side of me, pressed flat on the table as he kissed me so hard I couldn’t help but lean backward, the cool table caressing my skin as he hovered above me. He lowered his head to my collarbone, pushing soft kisses down my body until he got to my navel. He shifted, pulling the wrap I’d worn to the side so he could move his rough hand up my thighs as his other caressed my neck, moving down to follow his trail of kisses until he took a full breast into his hand and squeezed.
