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Jude was hot, sweaty, and exhausted. Cardan lay on top of her, his breathing tickling at her neck. Other than the rise and fall of her chest as she desperately tried to regain her normal cadence of breathing, she was frozen. In embarrassment, pleasure, something else, she didn’t know.
What she did know was Cardan knew what he was doing.
He was known for drunken moments in hidden back rooms. And not in hidden back rooms. Either way, this wasn’t outlandish for him.
Was she just another drunken moment to him?
The thought crossed her mind unbidden. But once it was there it wouldn’t leave.
Would he tell everyone how he had ruined his seneschal? Green gowned her? She was supposed to be in control of him. She should have commanded him to seduce Nicasia and leave her alone.
But she didn’t want that. She couldn’t truly say she regretted the moment.
Her thoughts flew from her mind as Cardan started moving. His tail flicked against her leg, before unwrapping from its tight hold on her which she hadn’t realized was comforting. As he pushed himself up, his eyes flickered to hers.
Their dark gaze encompassed hers and again she wished nothing had happened. But then he leaned down and his teeth grazed her neck. He searched for the spot beneath her ear, and sucked gently when he found it. Jude let out a low gasp.
“Is this what you want me to do with Nicasia?” His voice was challenging, no true wonder in his question.
Their conversation from earlier came back. It was as if what had just transpired between them had never happened. But that was exactly what he was referencing.
Jude wanted to tell him no. Wanted to tell him to stay with her. Force him to kiss her again. Command him if necessary. She forced herself to stay quiet.
Cardan didn’t like that.
He shifted his lips up her face, eye lashes fluttering at the movement. Jude’s chest heaved in a frantic breath as he leaned in. Her eyes tried to move away from him, going to the ceiling of the room.
It only made it worse.
Because when Cardan’s teeth nipped at her bottom lip she only had sensations to rely on. Cardan was more the king of that then of Elfhame. Her heart pounded in her chest, she figured his keen Faerie hearing could detect it easily.
His lips landed on hers in a slow languid fashion. As if he wanted one last taste. As if it wasn’t even real.
It didn’t feel real to her.
The kisses were different than before. Cardan was taking his time to explore. Maybe it was punishment for not responding to his question, for wanting him to seduce Nicasia. If it was to be torture, Jude would have tied up her own hands and called herself his prisoner.
This was the magic that Faerie was known for.
Her eyes left the ceiling and went back to his.
He stopped his kissing, pulling away. She leaned up for more, but his hands gently pushed her down.
A cold feeling spread through her bones. Rejection. She was truly just another bedmate.
Cardan was still close to her. “Chase my kisses when you decide this wasn’t a mistake.”
This is an absolutely terrible idea.
The words he had said flashed through her mind.
She had agreed with him then. She didn’t know how she felt currently. “And if I don’t?”
Cardan didn’t deign to answer that question. He just leaned closer to her and she picked her head off the couch for another one of his kisses. Another kiss that would make her warm and tingly all over.
But it didn’t come.
Cardan pulled away with a smirk.
He had proved his point.
Jude hated it.
She hated him.
I hate you so much sometimes I can’t think of anything else.
She managed to regain control of her previously immovable limbs to bring her hands up to Cardan’s shoulders. She meant to push him away, but when her skin landed on his, she froze. And her fingers followed his skin to his clavicle, and up to his chin eventually gripping his neck.
His eyes widened in desire.
She sat up, pulling him in for a kiss. He grinned before their lips touched.
She should have been winning.
He wanted to tease her. He had failed.
But she had proven his point.
She was chasing his kisses. But she couldn’t stop. His lips were soft, his skin was smooth, his hair was silky. He was…
The man that tormented her throughout her childhood. The man that she had complete command over. The man that had showered her in kisses and more in a dimly lit room on a dingy couch.
When she let go of him, his eyes lit with primal excitement, staring at her.
This time when her hands went to his shoulders she succeeded at pushing him away.
He finally took a hint and pulled himself off of her, “I figure I have a princess to seduce.”
Jude nodded frantically, she needed him away from her so she could think.
He grabbed his pants, pulling them on, followed by his shirt—which she had terribly wrinkled. It was all evidence. She couldn't deny what happened.
“Maybe you’ll promise to make her a Queen.”
Cardan was at the door when she finally forced the words out. He just gave her a glance over his shoulder, “If you think I would offer her that proposition, you must truly hate me.”
He slipped out of the door, leaving her in shock.
Emotions she didn’t understand flocked in her mind as she started to get dressed. Picking her clothes up off the ground from where Cardan had thrown them didn’t help in the slightest. She had crossed a line she vowed to never cross.
Because Cardan was off limits.
He was supposed to be off limits.
But maybe she didn’t want that.
Or maybe he was just an addiction that she needed one hit of and then it would be over. He would be out of her system.
Although Jude’s studies of mithridatism had taught her about addictions.
They only get worse.