Page 33 of Solstice

“Decided?” I grabbed Lex’s hand.“Everything okay?”

“April twenty-first.” She said it casually, like it meant nothing in the world, but Lex’s stare shifted to mine.

“Ten days before Beltane,”he muttered inside my head, accompanying a hot, panicky flare of emotion. As a fire festival, Beltane marked the union between the sun and earth. In fairy lore, May first was as important, if not more so, than Samhain. It was bad enough that our wedding would be a beacon to any fairy who meant to do us harm, but to do it so close to a high holy day? We were basically giving them the finger and telling them to come get us.

“I thought we decided on June.” She and I had discussed it before the election. We had agreed.

She narrowed her eyes as if my reasonable suggestion had now been deemed ridiculous. “No.”

That was that. No further discussion on the topic.

“It’s my wedding. I should get some say on the date, at least.” I straightened and pushed my shoulders back. I’d earned a right to speak up, hadn’t I? Of the two of us, I was the only one who held an office anymore.

“April twenty-first is enough time from the inauguration as to not draw attention from your new father-in-law, but far enough away from Memorial Day as to not make a national holiday about you.” My mother looked at me like I was an idiot. How dare I not come to that conclusion on my own? “It will be April twenty-first.” She looked from me to Lex. “Anything else?” When neither of us spoke, Evelyn scoffed and glanced at her watch. “We’ve got ten minutes until midnight. Ivette, don’t forget you agreed to make a speech. I’ll see you outside for pictures, yes?”

Then she turned and walked away.

Lex put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug.

“I hate her.”I hated her so much, I could fucking sob.

Lex didn’t answer, just kissed my temple and nodded toward the back of the ballroom.“C’mon. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

* * *

Lex ledme down a quiet corridor and up three flights of stairs. I followed him, wondering when I’d come to trust him so completely. Four years ago, if he’d asked me to sneak away with him in the middle of a crowded museum late at night, I’d have told him to fuck off. Now, I held the fabric of my dress in one hand and Lex’s fingers in the other, biting back a smirk as he lifted a velvet rope and gestured me ahead.

The sign clearly said “Employees Only Beyond This Point,” but Lex had never let pesky things like rules keep him from doing what he wanted. He led me to a room with big heavy drapery hanging from the ceilings in swirling designs. I had no idea if this was an art installation or a room for cleaning canvas, but I let him guide me through it, the conversation with my mother growing more distant in my mind as we went.

The clicking of my heels on the hardwood echoed off the walls, mixing with the rhythm of his dress shoes, amping up my anticipation. He brought me to an alcove overlooking the Potomac, some of the party guests milling about in their expensive furs, their opulent jewelry glistening so bright, I could see it all the way up here. I burned with rage for it all. Biting that back, I took a deep breath and glanced over my shoulder at Lex.

“What are we doing?” I whispered. “We’re supposed to be downstairs.”

“Remember Ireland?” He pulled me into the curtains, twisting the fabric around us until the world fell away and it was just me and him and the dusty smell of an old room in a museum. He put his hands on my hips and yanked me closer, biting my ear and sending shivers down that side of my body. “When you dry humped me in a hallway for the whole school to see?”

I dropped my gaze to the floor. “That was because of the lust.”

“Hmm.” He trailed his lips down my shoulder, tugging the thin strap of my dress to the side, the soft satin drifting down my upper arm. “And when I fuck you in this alcove, in front of DC’s highest society, will you blame that on the lust, too?”

I should have stopped this. It would take one nosy guest to look up this way and see us standing here. It would take one paparazzo with a telephoto lens to snap the next best-selling shot of my future husband with his hands up my skirt. But I couldn’t slow down this speeding train.

“What if it is?” I wrapped my hands around his neck, fingering the back of his hair as I leaned against the wall, hitching one leg on his hip so I rubbed my cunt against the bulge in his pants.

“What if it’s not?” He smiled and I melted, choosing to ignore the consequences of what he suggested as my legs drifted open farther. Since Solstice, we hadn’t talked about what this newfound addiction to each other meant. He wanted to prove to me it was real, and as much as this was fun, I still believed I needed to enjoy it while it lasted. Once Lex woke up from this spell, this fantasy, he’d regret all of this and so would I. But I shoved that away, too, because I had a plug in my ass. Our filthy game hadn’t stopped. Our disassociation from reality still throbbed between us.

The jingling of metal on his belt urged me on, made me wetter and more eager for him, and the sounds of the party below drifted through the window as the two-minute countdown began.

“We have to be downstairs for pictures,” I mumbled through hurried kisses.

He groaned and positioned himself at my opening while I tugged my thong to the side. Lex shoved home, and I collapsed against the wooden window frame. Curtains hid us from the rest of the room, and two floors separated us from the bloodsuckers below. Here in this intimate space, nothing else mattered.

His hot breath coasted down the front of my dress, and I fisted my hands into the lapels of his jacket, holding him close while he dug his fingers into my thigh to hold me up.

“Fuck, you always feel so good,” he murmured. “So fucking good.”

“Remember when we used to sneak away from these stupid parties so I could kick your ass.”

His hand shot around my throat like a viper strike, pushing me flush against the wood. He froze inside of me, those hazel eyes dark and piercing. “Yeah, and now I’m gonna fuck your ass instead.”

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