Page 60 of A Legacy of Storms and Starlight

“Enter,” he said, pouring another glass of sweet wine for her. He thanked the waiter, his gaze locked beyond the curtains on someone else in the restaurant. “Do you trust me?” he asked as Tarin pulled the curtains shut.

“Do I… yes, why?”

Her breath left her as he scooped her sideways into his lap and looked down at her, but his face was serious, solemn as he murmured, “Just kiss my neck and look like you’re enjoying it.”

Zylah picked up the sound of soft footsteps approaching their booth as Raif lifted her hand to his chest and mouthed, “Please.”

His right arm wrapped around her, pressing her to him, and she felt his body tense beneath her. Not because of her, but because of whoever was about to enter the booth. And maybe it was because of the wine or the quiet easiness that they’d fallen into over dinner, but she leaned in and pressed her lips lightly against his neck, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as she kissed the spot just beneath his ear.

“Raif. Busy as always,” a male voice said from over Zylah’s shoulder as the curtains were shoved aside. She was grateful for the hood covering her face, and for the hand Raif had wrapped around her thigh where the dress had fallen away and exposed most of her leg. The other was pressed to the bare skin across her back, as if they’d just been in the middle of a passionate embrace.

“Marcus,” Raif ground out, as if he had indeed just been interrupted.

“No pleasantries still, I see.”

Raif angled his head away from Zylah, and she pictured the disinterested look on his face as he stared Marcus down. “Say your piece and leave. You’re spoiling a good evening.”

“The girl from Dalstead. What do you know of her?”

Zylah stilled, her heartbeat a roaring drum in her ears. Raif slipped his hand under her dress, fingers splayed across the lace over her rear and squeezed lightly.

If he hadn’t asked if she trusted him, if they weren’t there to spy, she’d have snapped a remark about it. But he’d done it to elicit a response, to urge her to continue to keep up the façade in front of Marcus. It was enough to remind her to trace a kiss beneath his jaw, hoping that Marcus hadn’t caught her moment of unease.

“Nothing,” Raif finally said, keeping up a good show of enjoying himself, his other hand playing with the lace that edged the very low scoop of the back of her dress. “My scouts tell me she never entered Virian.”

“Your scouts? Come now, son. You and I both know they’re not your scouts.”

Son.Zylah slid her hand under his shirt, her fingers running across his chest, and felt Raif’s shrug in response. She leaned back, her face angled to his, lacing her fingers through his hair and studying his expression. Raif turned away from Marcus to capture her mouth with a swift kiss, his lips tasting of sweet wine and his tongue darting quickly over hers.

Her breath caught as he teased her lower lip, before pulling back just a fraction to look down at her. His eyes smouldered, and Zylah was certain he could feel her pulse racing everywhere their bodies touched.

Marcus cleared his throat. “Arnir wishes to use the girl. Her escape has sent whispers through the towns and cities. He intends to use her as an example that we will not be allowed to live free.”

Let him come, Zylah thought. If not her, there was an army of Fae waiting to take him out.

Raif lifted her hands from his chest and twined his fingers through hers, never breaking her gaze. “And yet that won’t stop you from working with him, will it? Are you here on his behalf or your own?”

“I came to visit my children.”

“I suspect Rose will give you as warm a welcome as I have.” Raif’s gaze never left Zylah’s as she watched him in the dim light, one hand still playing with the front of his shirt, for Marcus’s sake.

“Very well. Perhaps now is too inconvenient a time.”

“It is.” Raif’s mouth was on hers again, his kiss slower this time, devouring.

But the way she tugged at his shirt in response was no act.

“Goodnight, son.” Zylah heard the curtain drop, Marcus’s footsteps getting further away. But Raif was still kissing her, his fingers working at the fastening at the nape of her neck.

“Aren’t we going to discuss the fact that you just hid me from your father?” Zylah asked breathlessly as Raif tugged lightly at the hood, the weight of it pulling the sleeves off her shoulders.

“What if I was hidinghimfrom you?” She felt his smile as he kissed her bare shoulder beside the thin strap of her dress. “I’ve waited all night to see you without this,” he said, pressing another kiss to her shoulder before pulling her arm free, and then the other.

“You’re distracting me.” And gods above, it felt good. His touch. His lips against her skin.

“Isn’t that what I promised?” His breath was warm and sweet as he kissed her neck where she had kissed his, pulling her closer to him. He adjusted himself, the hard length of him pressing against her thigh as his other hand slipped under her dress again, resuming its position along the edge of her lace underwear, fingers brushing her navel as his mouth met hers.

He slid a finger down and over the most sensitive spot between her legs, and Zylah gasped into his mouth. Theo had never touched her there before. She knew what she liked from her own exploration and gods… the way Raif’s fingers worked idle circles over her underwear, he knew it too.

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