Page 18 of Courting Envy
I glanced over to my advisor. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
He laughed and shook his head. "Don't underestimate him."
"I won't. He might have won this particular battle, but he won't win the war." I shoved up from my chair and stalked across the room towards my private staircase. "Deal with the rest of them, would you? I need to check on her."
"Yes, my lord." Slade dipped his head, and then took my place at the desk, kicking his hooved feet up onto the surface.
I'd save my reprimand for another day, right now there were more important things to deal with. My guard fell in behind me as I climbed the stairs, heading directly for Rava's rooms.
Chapter eleven
Rava
Softfingersbrushedhairaway from my face, and I opened my eyes to see Kyveli. Twin orbs of pale blue looked upon me, silver seemed to swirl through her large pupils, and when it came to her eyes, they were basically all iris with the tiniest sliver of dark pupil in the middle.
She blinked and I was freed from whatever spell she'd cast upon me.
Yellow light streamed into the room and with awareness came the aches that told me I was lying on the cool stone floor of my room, my head cushioned in her lap.
"Why are you always here when I wake up?" I asked.
"I like to check on you," she said, tilting her head to appraise me, and then she nodded towards the balcony. "I see you've discovered some of what you can do."
I let out a rough laugh. "I kind of wish someone had told me before. I knew I had power, but this..." I shook my head, or tried, because my horns in her lap made that a little difficult. "What am I?" I asked, locking my gaze with hers again.
"You are the queen, darling." She ran her fingers over my cheek again. "And now everybody knows you’re here. I can feel them whispering about it." Kyveli's eyes went all silver then, the black shattering to a hundred pin pricks before swirling together again. Her focus still wasn't on me though, it was like she could see through time and space. Hell, for all I knew, maybe she could. "There will be a dinner, here. With others. You're in danger now." She shifted her head, as if listening. "No, not you, as such. But Lucien. He's in danger because you are the key and without you, he can't keep his throne."
It was only then that she turned her gaze back to me. "Do you care for him?"
"I..." I opened my mouth and then closed it, trying to find the right words. I barely knew Lucien, and yet there had been a visceral response to him, and I couldn't deny the jealousy that had crashed through me at the thought of him in these rooms with another woman. "I don't not care for him?" I shrugged my shoulders, as much as I could in this position.
"Human, I don't know what that means." Kyveli shook her head, a bemused expression on her features. "You mortals are such strange creatures."
"Yes, I care. I just don't know him all that well. Yet. But I want to. Just, don't tell him that. Okay?" I cringed.
Kyveli laughed and the sound was like a windchime, tinkling in the breeze. "I won't tell him. But you might want to, sometime. Everyone here will want a piece of you, a piece of your power. You could put anyone on the throne."
I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to figure out what her angle was here. "And you? Would you try to steal me away for your own? Do you want to rule this place with me?"
"Who doesn't want that?" Kyveli said with a subtle shrug. There was no tension in her body though, no force. "We're all hungry here, yearning for more." She leaned down then, getting closer to me, her fingers moving from my face to my neck.
My body tightened then, and it was me who yearned. God, how I wanted her to touch me. I wanted anyone to touch me. What was it about this place that made my body ache and need in a way it never used to. My lips parted and my back arched slightly. Kyveli didn't smile though, didn't move her hand any lower. Her eyes were fixed on me, those silver slivers swirling again, drawing me in.
"But I won't claim ownership of you like the others. I would worship every inch of your skin, lavish you, ravish you, if that's what you want."
I reached up then, grasped her shadow dark hair and drew her down. Our lips met at an awkward angle but I didn't care. I twisted until I could get enough of her and she helped, drawing me up and to my knees. We knelt on the floor, bodies pressed together, the swell of her breasts against mine. I could feel my heart thudding so hard and the ache between my legs was unbearable.
I yearned to be touched.
I needed her to touch me.
Her hand finally moved down my body, over my breasts, her mouth moving to my neck, sharp little teeth scraping me ever so slightly. A high-pitched moan escaped my lips.
"Kyveli," I groaned. "I need-"
There was a thunderous knock on the main door and we broke apart like two school girls who'd been busted making out by a parent.
"Rava!" Lucien roared my name.
