Page 10 of Of Storm and Emerald
This was nothing like what they shared earlier. It was slow, a series of give and take, and tasting her own arousal on his lips was like her own personal aphrodisiac. As they kissed, Auraelia ran her hands up his chest to his neck then tangled her fingers into his hair, tugging slightly.
Groaning, Daemon pulled back, and when his eyes met hers, they widened slightly.
“Your eyes—” a mix of confusion and awe tinged his voice, “There are bright green streaks in them now that weren’t there before.” His eyes searched her face. Slowly, he reached up and gently fingered the edge of her mask, curiosity burning in his gaze. “May I?”
Auraelia stood there, wide eyed and frozen, her heart pounding in her chest. But just as he was about to lift her mask, thunder boomed above them as the sky opened.
“Shit!” They exclaimed in unison as the sky proceeded to dump water. Using the sudden rain as an excuse, she slipped out of Daemon’s hold and took a few steps away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, a bemused look on his face. The passion that blazed in his eyes banked momentarily before flaring to life again when she leaned over to remove her heels–a cocky grin on her face.
Standing in the pouring rain, most people would look like a drowned rat, but not Daemon. No, he stood there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his lips as the rain poured down causing his clothes to look like they had been painted onto his body. She wasn’t even sure when he’d lost his coat, but now every muscled contour was clearly defined beneath his soaked shirt.
The sight made her mouth water and had her momentarily second guessing her decision.
Auraelia stood up straight, keeping the grin on her face, and started to back her way down the path that had led them to the sanctuary.
“I think this may be my cue to bow out gracefully,” she shouted over the downpour.
Daemon uncrossed his arms and raised a brow. “Is that so? I thought we were just getting started.” He took a step toward her, but she continued to steadily back away. “I wasn’t quite finished worshiping you yet.”
The devilish grin on Daemon’s face–one that promised immense pleasure if the first two orgasms had been any indication–made her steps falter.
Keep it together, Rae. It’s just a panty melting smile on a drop-dead gorgeous man.
Coming to her senses, she held out her hand. It may have brought him to an abrupt halt, but it didn’t erase his smirk.
Keeping her eyes locked on his, Auraelia did the only thing that she could think of. She dropped into a deep curtsy, something that she only did for the queen. “PrinceDaemon, thank you for the…eventful evening. I bid you goodnight.”
At the sound of hearing his title, Daemon removed his mask.
“How is it that you know who I am?” Shock momentarily radiated across his face, but it quickly turned to amusement.
Auraelia produced a smirk of her own and winked. “I guess you’ll have to figure it out."
Turning on her heel, she sprinted through the rain and back toward the ballroom. Leaving a drenched and confused prince standing alone in the garden.
Wanting to avoid leering eyes and questions about the state of her appearance, Auraelia skirted the castle wall away from the ballroom until she found one of the maid’s entrances that led up a back staircase. Miraculously, she made it back to her room without being spotted and slipped into her suite.
As she leaned against the door, she took a deep breath and smiled. Reaching up to remove her mask, she walked across her sitting area, her soaked skirts leaving puddles in their wake. Just as she was about to walk into her bedroom, she heard the door to her suite open then slam closed.
“Where the hell have you been?! I swear to the goddess, Rae, are you trying to send me into an early grave?!”
A snicker escaped before she could stop it. Rolling her eyes, Auraelia called over her shoulder, “I’m sorry, Piper, I went for a walk and got…distracted.” A grin spread across her face as she recalled exactly what that particular distraction had been.
As if she sensed the shift in her thoughts, Piper was across the room in the blink of an eye and spinning Auraelia around to face her. “Spill. I need to know everything. Starting with who that gorgeous man was that monopolized your time on the dance floor tonight.”
“It wasn’t just on the dance floor.” With a wink, Auraelia turned and continued to her bathroom so that she could strip out of her clothes and take a bath to bring some warmth back to her body. Piper helped her out of her gown while the tub filled and peppered her with questions about where she had gone, why she was drenched, and who she had been with.
When Auraelia finished recounting the details, her friend stood with her mouth agape and stared back at her with shock and awe.
“Auraelia Rose, I didn’t think you had it in you! I’m so proud,” Piper said as she wiped an imaginary tear away from her eye.
“Oh, shut up.” Auraelia gently pushed her friend’s shoulder and rolled her eyes.
“Seriously though, Rae, I wasn’t sure about the masks at first, but now I can see their appeal.” Piper waggled her brows, then with a smug look on her face, turned toward the door and left Auraelia alone to soak.
Resting her head on the back of the tub, she looked up to the aperture in her ceiling and out at the sky above. The storm that had come on so suddenly seemed to have dissipated just as quickly. Sinking down into the warm water of her bath, she allowed her mind to wander.
