Page 63 of The Lord of Whispers

“So, you mustneverwithhold from me what is mine. Now tell me that you understand, Alarie,” he demanded, not with the usual steel that accompanied such demands but with something more akin to a plea, a tone wholly unfamiliar to the high lord’s lips.

The gentleness in Jay’s voice took my breath away like I’d been plunged into a frozen lake. I couldn’t handle the vulnerability in him. I needed my strong, unyielding high lord back.

“Yes, Jay,” I answered, sultrily, attempting to direct his mood back to what we did best.

Feeling my capitulation, he softly kissed the side of my neck. I slightly widened the gap between my legs, causing his hand to slide farther up my thigh.

“Alarie, Alarie, Alarie,” he crooned against my neck, like my name in his mouth was life itself.

The heat in his voice shot warmth through my entire body until it settled over my traitorously eager sex. He moved his hand closer to the wetness, feeling it begin to soak through my thin undergarment. I felt him stiffen underneath me, and his desire for me melted away any last vestiges of my hurt and anger, replacing it with the same need borne in the library all those months ago.

His hand moved up my thigh, finding my throbbing wet center and slipping his fingers under the barrier between us. Only a few strokes in, I almost lost myself, my whirlwind of emotions complicating yet heightening the feel of every stroke.

“I love you, Alarie,” he said, his purr turning into a growl as he picked up the pace of his stroking inside of me.

“Now show me how much you love me. Come for me,” he demanded, the familiar steel returning to his voice.

I broke with my need to feel something else. He turned my head toward his, opening his mouth over mine and swallowing my moan. He withdrew his hand from between my thighs and lifted his fingers, coated in my ecstasy, to his mouth with an intensity in his eyes that screamedmine.

31

Alarie

Lady Vitruvian departed from the Vitruvian manor after only two days, but Jay and I did not return to our unencumbered lives. We still shared coffee most mornings and found ourselves tangled in each other’s embrace most nights. But there was a silence that hung between us, and in that silence were the words we’d left unspoken about Lady Vitruvian, my role as consort, and my increasingly frequent and late nights out with the boys.

I knew Jay had his reasons for what he did, and I could even believe that he did what he did for us. But he had purposefully done something that he knew would hurt me, and that was something that I’d never imagined he was capable of doing. He felt like a different person to me now. It had been so long since I’d allowed anyone to even be in a position to hurt me like this. My years of isolation had hurt in different ways, but the kind of pain I experienced now was the kind I thought I had closed myself off to long ago.

But, if I were being honest with myself, Jay wasn’t solely to blame for the distance growing between us. I’d subconsciously started to distance myself from him even before the incident with Lady Vitruvian. After Breakpoint, I’d found more reasons to stay away from the manor for longer and longer periods. Jay and I had erected a fence around our relationship to keep others out. But we’d gotten too good at segregating each other’s involvement in each other’s lives. I’d become accustomed to living without Jay being a part of so many aspects of my life.

But if I became Jay’s consort, all of that would change. I didn’t even know what role I could perform at the High Court once I was Jay’s consort, but I was fairly certain it wouldn’t be liaison or anything along the same lines. People wereterrifiedto say anything of substance in the presence of the Lord of Whispers. Who would have loose lips around his consort? And who would dare flirt with the Contra’s consort? So, without truly realizing what I was doing, I’d begun to reinforce the fences Jay and I had built around our relationship, turning them into walls that kept us from growing instead of keeping others from prying.

The issues with the lesser fae similarly remained unresolved. Lord Dumont had left the High Court without any agreement in place between the factions. The lesser fae wanted land, money, and representation. They likely could have come to an agreement on the first two asks, but the last ask had ended in Lord Dumont’s prompt and cool departure from the Court.

The lesser fae wanted a seat on the High Council—and they wanted their own court. Lord Dumont presented the proposal to the High Council. The new court would be called the Golden Court and would be seated at Lord Dumont’s estate in Ardmore. Lord Dumont would initially take the seat on the High Council. Even the request for a seat on the High Council may have been tolerated, but the creation of a new court was unthinkable to most, particularly the Tragon contingent.

I dismissed my thoughts of Jay and Lord Dumont as I approached the great hall where High Lady Tragon’s soiree had already begun inside. Upon entering the expansive room, I heard someone singing with a rousing, warm voice that immediately had me searching the room to find its owner. I found the singer sitting on the other side of the large hall, a handsome younger lord with dirty blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a smattering of freckles across his nose, propped up on a stool with his hands wrapped around an acoustic guitar.

I moved a little farther into the room, and the young lord’s head moved with me, catching my eye and flashing me a playful grin and a wink. I spotted a few people I wanted to catch up with surrounding the handsome lord, so I made my way across the room, perhaps adding a little more sway to my walk than I normally would have. I spoke to Rhett while enjoying the young lord’s performance, before moving on to another crowd to pry secrets from the lips of the lords and ladies.

As always, Luke, Rhett, and I gravitated toward each other by the end of the night.

“Cole’s too busy to make an appearance at his own House party?” I commented on the fact that Cole had not shown his face that evening.

“Must be your lucky day, Al,” Luke replied.

“Time to get out of here, right?” Rhett said, practically begging.

“What about your date?” I asked Rhett, noticing the absence of the dazzling blonde who had been next to him most of the night.

“That would be Candace over there,” Rhett said, staring pointedly toward a large group of ladies, whispering and laughing across the room.

“I dare say I’ll get the chance to entertain her later,” Rhett quipped, a satisfied smirk upon his face.

“I’m sure you will,” Luke interjected, looping his arm around my waist.

As usual, Luke and I were each other’s date for the evening.

At that moment, the group of women all seemed to turn toward Rhett and giggle.

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