Page 65 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
I slide the little volume out of my back pocket and tuck it into the darkness beneath the trophy cabinet. No one has stolen it from me, so no one can lay claim to it. It will remain mine, hidden there until I return to fetch it, or until someone finds it after my death.
Nudging the book further into its hiding place with my toe, I tap into my enhanced speed and race along an aisle to the library wall. Quickly I climb one of the spiral wrought-iron stairways to the second-floor balcony—little more than a narrow walkway with an ornate railing.
From here I can see West prowling between the rows of shelves. And then he stops, chuckles, and takes a dark marble from his pocket.
Shit, he’s cheating. He’s going to use the scrying stone to figure out where I am.
“You can’t have the Tama Olc,” I call down to him. “Is there anything else you’ll accept in exchange for the knowledge I seek?”
Without answering, he holds out his hand, and his staff comes flying across the room, smacking solidly into his palm. He rises on a cloud of green smoke, soaring up to the balcony where I stand. I try to use my agitation magic on him again, but it bounces off. He has shielded himself somehow.
“Don’t run from me,” he warns, landing on the walkway.
“Or what?” I retort.
“Or this.” He lifts the staff, and an invisible force hurls me backward, pins me to the shelves with my arms outstretched and my legs spread. I can move a little, but my feet can’t touch the ground, and I can’t pull myself free. When I reach for my magic, it doesn’t respond.
He’s been toying with me. Letting me think I was holding my own, when in reality he could have overpowered me at any moment.
West stalks forward, props his staff beside my immobilized body, and inspects the sharp black nails on one hand. He disappears the claws for a moment, then flicks them back into existence. “You’ve lost your shirt.” His gaze drops to my breasts, which are lifting and falling with my angry breaths, nearly surging out of the bustier’s cups with each inhale.
West runs his claws down my sternum. With a series of deft movements he loosens the string holding the front of my bustier together, draws it out, and flings it aside. The bustier falls open and drops to the floor, baring my upper body to him.
If I begged him to leave me alone, he might. But I don’t protest, not a word. Hanging here before my enemy, naked to the waist, is an intoxicating kind of torture.
West vanishes his claws again and moves in close, right beside me, his breath warm against my forehead. He runs long green fingers down my trembling stomach, playing along my hipbone, right at the edge of my leather pants.
His hand glides up again, cupping one of my breasts, fondling its softness. My nipple peaks, and he leans over to suck it briefly.
A soft moan slips from my mouth. Heat roars in my face immediately afterward, because I didn’t want to let him know how deeply he affects me—how much I crave his touch.
He pulls back at the sound. Looks into my eyes. “I propose an exchange,” he says softly. “You will submit to anything I request for the next hour. And then I will yield the knowledge you seek.”
The bargain is a sexual one. I know it, and my belly thrills at the thought. Does he know that I would submit to him anyway, even without the promise of knowledge at the end? I’m guessing he suspects as much. He’s letting me off easy, allowing me to give him something we both crave as the payment for the book I need.
It’s almost… a kindness.
“I agree to the bargain,” I whisper.
“Perfect,” he breathes, his lips brushing over mine. “My first order—remove the rest of your clothes. I know you can’t remove the slippers, but I’ll glamour them invisible. I don’t wish to see my sister’s shoes while you’re sucking my cock.”
My clit throbs in response, and I lick my lips reflexively.
“Good girl,” he murmurs. “Preparing to taste me already. I’m going to fill your pretty throat with my cum, Kin-Slayer.” He strokes my neck, and I swallow against his fingers.
“Fucking perfection.” He kisses me, a firm, possessive pressure. His tongue glides into my mouth, and I fight the urge to bite it for a moment before I yield and melt into the heat of his soft lips. He tastes like a rainstorm in the spring, when golden rays glance through the clouds and light up the sparkling drops, when the world smells pristinely fresh and richly green.
A moment later he withdraws, backing away several paces, and I’m released from the immobilization magic. I step away from the bookshelves and work my pants down, over my hips and legs. I have to sit to pull them off, and when I start to rise, West says, “You may as well stay down there. Now the panties.”
The bit of black lace is soon discarded, and I sit naked on the walkway before him. I can still feel the shoes, but when I look down, I see my bare feet.
West’s lips curve in a smirk. “Crawl to me, Dorothy. Slowly.”
On hands and knees, my breasts swaying and my ass in the air, I crawl to him. He takes his cock out while I approach, and he’s not smirking now—he looks ravenous. There’s a maniacal gleam in his eyes that makes me wonder if I’ll make it to him before he decides to pounce. But somehow he holds himself back, waiting until I crawl right up to his feet and rise on my knees.
“Take me in your mouth, Kin-Slayer,” he says thickly. “And don’t bite, or I promise you’ll regret it.”
I curl my fingers around the base of his shaft, holding his cock still while I take him in. I suck him quickly, my head bobbing with the rhythm, until he hisses a sharp breath and pulls back.
