Page 17 of Traveling with Gentlemen
I hid my grin in his mane. "I can't relate to that particular experience, but as a woman who's suffered time in a corset, I object to your captivity."
Amon laughed. "I've seen the marks a corset leaves on your skin. It's not the same."
"But it is some kind of discomfort," I pointed out.
Amon nodded slightly. "Sometimes it is preferred. But not always."
"Not at home after a long trip away," I guessed, stretching to kiss Amon's jaw.
He purred again. "You really aren't unsettled?"
"Amon, I am intrigued, if it doesn't offend you that I say so. My lover has a body I've not learned yet." I allowed my hands to wander further as I watched Amon's expression shift. He was still shy, which was as tender and sweet to me as it was exciting.
"It does not offend me," Amon said slowly, lips curving into a smile at last. "You're not the first to be intrigued."
It was my turn to frown, and Amon's smile grew. "Are you trying to make me jealous?" I asked.
He laughed and shook his head. "Only ever other monsters. I didn't expect a human to…"
"Well, you were wrong," I said, arching my back as Amon's head lowered. His lips met mine in a slow caress.
"We should discuss the vampiress's invitation," Amon whispered.
"Do you still have your hook in this form?" I asked.
Amon chuckled. "Yes, my star. Now focus, if you will. Sofia will be very jealous of you. Auguste is right to object to taking you."
I blinked, distracted from my mission of seducing my sphinx. "Jealous?"
Amon cleared his throat and nodded. "She's always been particularly vicious with beautiful young women. But the invitation for all of us is pointed. She will be jealous of the woman who captured my heart, Esther."
I sat up straighter, eyes narrowing. "Oh? She wanted it for herself?"
Amon scoffed. "She wanted something of me. Not that. But sphinx are not to be collected."
My breath caught in my chest and my arms tightened around Amon. "No, they are to be cherished," I said.
Amon's gaze softened on mine, and I was ready for his next kiss, surrendering into the embrace, marveling at the gentle pinch of his claws against my hips. There were those who might think I'd collected Amon, one of several of my gentlemen. But the fact that he knew we were more—our family was not just a woman with her lovers, but a tangle of hearts who'd grown to care for one another in unique ways—meant a great deal to me.
"I love you," I mouthed into the kiss, and Amon purred in response.
"She will be dangerous, little star," Amon said softly.
"I can be dangerous too, my love," I answered, echoing his smile with my own. "She will simply have to suffer without you."
I snuggled into Amon's chest, his thick, rumbling purrs soothing the nerves our conversation had stirred up.
"She will ask for a boon or a prize," Amon said, so quietly I suspected he might be speaking to himself, thinking out loud. "We should consider our limits."
I ran my nails over the dense muscle of his shoulders, the thin layer of fur whispering as he growled gently. I knew my limits already, and it was anything that might touch, harm, or disturb my men. The vicious vampire countess might learn what a queen and her consorts did to those who crossed them, if she wasn't careful.
CHAPTER6
DECADENT PARTIES AND ILLICIT BARGAINS
Iglared into the mirror as I painted the rouge on my lips, willing the train to remain steady and cursing softly when it refused.
"You don't usually fuss like this," Ezra said, the deep dent in the mattress behind me the only sign of him in the narrow bedroom compartment.
