Page 71 of A Dance of Water

Her lip curled at his audacity.

"Suck," he instructed.

Luella turned her head away, but he only chased after her. Vale stared toward Az, then back to her, threats lingered between them—iron bars and dank air.

Her lips parted. Warm fingers pressed against her tongue, and she sucked the sweet juice off of his fingers, swallowing around them with a soft gag as he pressed further into her mouth.

Electricity crackled, the tension so thick it weighed against her.

She let her teeth bite softly down, not quite a bite but a tease of what she might do if he tested her further. A vitriolic smirk twisted his lips.

Vale pulled his fingers away from her, and she could breathe again.

"Berries taste better when they’re sweeter than this, don’t you agree?"

"I think bitterness is better suited for something so pretty," she whispered, staring up at him.

Crystalline shimmers clung to the ends of Vale’s lashes, glittering with every blink. He continued on as if she had never spoken. "That’s why the Solstice is so important. Your pleasure will be sacrificed to let these berries flourish in the cold months. For the days to come, you will be an icon, but I will not allow you to forget yourplace. Never." Vale indulged in another berry, and she watched his mouth as he swallowed around the fruit.

He pulled away the bitten end from his lips and pressed it against hers, forcing her to finish his remnants.

She was owned by him, and everyone knew it.

The tangy, bitter bite of the fruit filled her mouth, and as she chewed, she could only hope for a saving grace, anything to stop what was coming—what she would be forced to do.

21

SNOW ON THE BEACH

LUELLA

Shades of blue coated her arms and dusted the hem of her gown.

The King and the captive Princess danced amid the snowy marble floors, the courtiers giving them a large berth as they watched, arrested by the sight of her, like the wintry moon, majestic; him, a prideful combination of green and gold.

And their union, a discordant whirl of wills.

She allowed him to bend her to his liking, to twirl her and spin her about like she was a puppet on a string.

Luella felt the eyes of her Vincire on her body, could never ignore the call inside her. The threads were loud and unabating as they tugged.

"I eagerly await our journey to the Temples of Aedis." Vale dipped her, her spine arching as she allowed her head to fall back, and then rise with ease, folding into him.

Her eyes flicked to his before she looked away, finding Az at the side of the room. With her spinning, he was murky, and she was barely able to hold him in her sights before she was torn away, and the crowd blotted out his frame from view.

There was so much she didn’t know. "When do we leave?" she asked.

"Three days from now. The journey is to bedone under the cover of nightfall. We will arrive at the Temples at dawn," Vale said quietly.

"Will I—" Her throat closed up. She could barely say it. "What, exactly, will be expected of me?"

Vale’s hands tightened around her waist, and her tongue came out to lick over her bottom lip. His eyes tracked the motion. "Not here. All will be revealed in time. And that time is not now, Princess Luella."

Warm breaths puffed over her skin, and her cheeks pulsed with a hot ache, too aware of him and the eyes on them both to do anything but give the tiniest of nods.

In time.That phrase, back again…

But this time, Luella did not think she would stand for the lies for long. Tonight. She would get her answers tonight, even if she had to steal them, pry them from their deceitful mouths, and trick them away from their clutches.

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