Page 17 of The Crown of a Fallen Queen
“Step-granddaughter,” I correct him, reminding him in no uncertain terms that we have no blood relation at all.
“—the rebelstep-granddaughterwho used to wear her crown.”
“You meanmycrown.”
He matches my smirk tenfold. “By the spindle… You’re as beautiful and delusional as they say.”
I roll my eyes in response, but the back-handed compliment squeezes my belly.
This man probably grew up in a world that couldn’t stop whispering about me, and that thrills me more than it should. To know he heard my name, synonymous with beauty and guile and revelry. An object of many forbidden fantasies. Outlawed. Taboo.
Only minutes ago, I was about to get fucked against a wall. Naughty promises were made. My body expected sex. It’s the only reason why I’m attracted to this prince of nothing. Not the fact that his sculpted abs are on full display, or that he’s the only darkling I’ve ever met who also possesses the lure of a Spring Fae.
I’m a sucker for tall, dark, and emotionally unavailable men, and Seth can probably smell the arousal between my thighs. That’s a recipe for bad decisions, and he strikes me as the kind of man who excels in disastrous choices.
His gaze flicks to the swell of my breasts. The cold draft he dragged in—along with the weight of his stare—makes the peaks tighten beneath the black spandex. “That’s some fatal attractionmojo you’ve got going on… Should we get it out of our system now?”
I meet his offer with an overly magnanimous smile. “Oh Seth… I’mneverhaving sex with you.”
“Hey, it’s in our blood. We’re bound to be at each other’s throats, all wired and restless, until we fuck.” He arches a brow, inching closer. “If it had been me up there with you earlier, I would’ve done things quite differently.”
The fresh, airy scent of rain mingles with a metallic tang of steel at his closeness.
“And what would you have done, pray tell?”
His husky voice is full of greed and confidence as he answers, “I would have fucked you against that wall, window opened or not, storm or no storm.” He rests his thumb below the angle of my jaw, right over my pulse point. “Fed you my cock in one hard stroke. Hard enough to soothe the unsatisfied hunger in your belly. Deep enough to leave a mark on your soul. Isn’t that what fucking the most beautiful Fae in the worlds is all about? For her to remember you for all eternity?”
Damn… I like how he thinks.
A quickie with Jonas would have been nice, but a night of unscrupulous sex with a Fae as powerful as Seth would soothe the ache in my bones fordaysto come. Bloody hells, he’s probably a very talented lover.
But I hate this man, and everything he stands for.
I lick my lips, unable to stop myself from picturing it. “And what if we were being attacked?”
“Then our attacker would’ve had the privilege of seeing the rapture on your face before I killed him.”
I tilt my head to maintain eye contact as he draws closer, his body heat radiating from his tall, muscular, and completely off-limits frame. He grazes my waist over the soft fabric of my dress,and the small, yet incredibly intimate touch goes straight to my overheated core.
I shudder all over, dizzy with the possibility of letting him claim a prize he’s clearly been daydreaming about for years, and nudge his side with my hip. “So cocky… Don’t you know what having you as a hostage could buy me?”
He steadies my hips, holding me to him in a gentle but brazen manner. “You want to tie me up that badly?” he asks, his gaze fixed on my bottom lip.
I drum a slow rhythm over his pecs. “Believe me, pretty boy… If I tied you up, it wouldn’t be pleasant. Not for you.” I slam my open palm to the middle of his chest and shove him back, forcing him to retreat by several inches. “Now, stop wasting my time and tell me why you’re here.”
Bottomless lust burns in his gaze, but he doesn’t bridge the gap between us. “I’m here to offer you a deal, Devi Eros.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “By all means. Dazzle me.”
“Oh, but I might.” He flashes an annoyingly perfect row of white teeth. “Faerie is in upheaval. The magic is going haywire, and if we want to avoid an all-out war, we need to mend all the torn fences. Come back to Faerie with me, and I’ll find a way to end your banishment.”
When a handsome devil offers you what you crave most in this entire universe, it’s hard to say no. But what is he playing at? What good would it do me to return to Faerie when I can’t use my magic?
Curses do what curses will. Freya wove that curse, but she couldn’t take it back even if she wanted to. Only the gods themselves would know which loose thread could unravel it and rid me of my monsters.
Perhaps Seth doesn’t know a thing about the curse.
Chapter 7
