Page 35 of Elemental Fae Academy: Book Three

I shivered, the memory of my near death too fresh to ignore.

Sol kissed my shoulder, his touch surprisingly soft with his big form. “It’s going to be okay, little flower. I promise.”

My throat constricted, his words exactly what I needed but also reminding me how horribly wrong our evening had gone. “I’m sorry about the ball.”

His lips quirked up. “I’m not. We danced, you were beautiful, and now we’re home. The perfect experience, if you ask me. Minus one minor detail.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” I wondered, feeling his amusement warming our connection.

“You’re still clothed.”

Those three words captured the attention of the entire room.

And lit my body on fire, diminishing all the sense of dread clouding my spirit. “What are we going to do about that?” I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper.

“We’re going to remove your dress,” he said, his palm circling the back of my neck. “And then we’re going to devour you, Claire.”

Claire

“Are we at the two-hour mark already?” Exos mused, glancing at his wrist. “Fascinating.” A devilish glint entered his gaze as he looked at me. “Strip, beautiful.”

I gaped at him. “What?”

“You heard him.” Cyrus pushed off the chair, his icy blue irises trailing over me in a seductive wave of energy. “Strip.”

“My mother just appeared in an apparition, and you all want sex?” This was the clear downside to having five male mates.

“We can still discuss that while you’re naked,” Titus casually pointed out. “In fact, I feel it would drastically improve the conversation.”

Exos nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

“You’re all incorrigible,” I said, standing.

Only, Sol tugged me back down, his palm going to my thigh and trapping me on the couch. “This isn’t about us, little flower,” he murmured. “This is for you.”

“Being naked is for my own benefit?” I nearly laughed. “Right.”

He tilted his head. “I think we need to demonstrate, Vox.”

The Air Fae beside me grasped my opposite thigh, his lips brushing my neck. “You really do look amazing in this dress, Claire,” he whispered against my escalating pulse. “If you want to keep it on, I can work with that.”

“What about—”

“There’s nothing we can do about Ophelia at the moment,” Cyrus said, cutting me off. “What we can do is continue enjoying the evening we intended to indulge in prior to her making an appearance.”

“And what evening did you intend us to have?” I asked, my throat going dry.

Sol’s mouth trailed across my jaw until he hovered right over my lips. “Well, I had intended to remove your dress.” His hand slid down to my knee, where he bunched the fabric upward in knowing, measured movements. “Slowly,” he added, punctuating his point by the tedious rise of my gown up my legs.

“While we planned to watch,” Cyrus murmured. “It’s Sol and Vox’s night, but the three of us couldn’t deny your beauty in that dress.”

“Which is why we all agreed on observing,” Titus added, a flicker of heat in his words. “And maybe more.”

“Depending on your mood,” Exos said, his strength and courage brushing my spirit in a tender stroke. Vox and Sol went all out for tonight, their desire to spoil you superseding reason. It would be a shame not to celebrate their hard work, princess. Don’t you agree?

You’re talking about the carriage, I whispered, whimpering out loud as the fabric of my dress inched up my thigh.

Among other things. Finding a suit to fit Sol wasn’t easy.

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