Page 20 of Knave

She wished she could go back to the days at the mortal club. Happy. Carefree. Listening to Ferris on his drums while dancing to the music.

Yet this felt more real than anything, especially with her lips still tingling from their kiss. A comforting kiss from one friend to another.

But her heart told her otherwise, that it was more than that, as did the heated warmth spreading through her, traveling lower and lower. Her fangs dropped, begging her to taste him, to taste every inch of him. Because she would follow him anywhere too.

Chapter Nine

Ferris

Mouse’s fangs scraped over Ferris’s neck, ending with a light nip. It didn’t break the skin, but itdidsend a shock straight to his cock. Her weight shifted on his lap. And then she was straddling him, a knee pressed against either side of his hips. His pulse sped at the sensation of her breath on his skin. Her fangs. The slip of a tongue as if she were tasting him.

Shit.He wanted that tongue somewhere else. Somewhere lower.

The thought snapped through him and his grip tightened on her hips, bunching the black fabric of her dress. They were friends…Justfriends. So he shouldn’t be imagining her licking his cock, the sounds she would make if he ran his own tongue up her core. Mouse moved her mouth up his neck to skate along his jawline until she found his lips again.

Fuck it.There was no reason they couldn’t indulge each other a little. Was that his dick talking? Probably. But two years of hell in the Ruby Heart Palace left him with a need his own hand couldn’t satisfy.

He pressed his lips to Mouse’s, met her tongue with his own, careful not to prick himself on her fangs. One of his hands drifted higher. Up her back. To her hair. Gripping her plait gently at the base of her skull and holding her close.

A moan filled his mouth—hermoan. A sweet, seductive sound that had his cock straining in his trousers. Then shemoved. Slid herself against the bulge beneath her. Tentatively at first. The layers of fabric separating them were a damned curse. Ferris wanted to feel her. Wanted her to feel him. She must’ve sensed his desire as their tongues slid over one another because the next time she moved her hips, it wasn’t shy. Her mound ground against his length and he groaned.

Mouse broke away from his mouth with a gasp, pupils blown wide, and kissed his neck again. Ferris let his head fall back to give her better access. His breaths turned shallow as she explored his chest with her hands. Somewhere deep in his mind, he wondered if he should stop her, but—

Fangs settled against his artery. He froze as the air took on a slight edge. There was nothing wrong with a bite and a fuck—in fact, it sounded damned amazing. He wanted to experience it himself, preferably with Mouse, but not when she was having control issues.

“Stop,” he whispered.

He tugged her back where he was still holding her hair. The space between them crackled with arousal and he wanted nothing more than to indulge but … not right now. Not until she was better in control of her hunger. If she took too much and killed him, he knew Mouse would never forgive herself.

“I should…” He swallowed hard. “I should go take a shower.”

A crease formed between Mouse’s brows, but she nodded slowly before climbing from his lap. He sat a moment longer to try to compose himself, but his length was too stiff, too demanding, to even think about waiting until his hard-on was gone.

He nearly groaned when he stood and walked from the room. The piercing at the ridge of his cock pressed at an odd, almost painful angle against his zipper.Shit.He rushed into the bathroom and removed his trousers with a relieved huff.

The relief didn’t last long, however. His hard length swelled, begging for attention. Grinding his teeth, he turned on the shower, removed the rest of his clothes and stepped under the warm spray.

But he could still feel Mouse’s mouth on his, her tongue on his neck, the way she moved on top of him. Phantom sensations that throbbed through his veins had him gripping himself. Ferris stroked his cock and rubbed his thumb over the tip. The barbell piercing had two small silver balls at the edge of his head. One above the ridge. The other just below, next to his shaft. He stroked again and set his forehead on the glass door, his heavy breaths fogging it.

Holding back a groan, he imagined Mouse doing this instead. Imagined her on top of him exactly like she had been, her clothes gone. With her wet folds gliding over his length. He moved his hand faster. Harder. Ferris squeezed his eyes shut and imagined her gripping him, guiding him to her soaked entrance. Sinking down on him.

“Shit!” he growled as his cum spilled against the glass door. His legs trembled slightly when he pushed himself upright again and angled the showerhead to wash away the evidence. Just as he shoved away the pang of guilt he felt for thinking of his best friend riding him.

Shehadinitiated it though. Kissed him first. Straddled him. Teased his neck with her fangs. Still—better not to tempt fate and ruin their friendship because he was horny as fuck. Maybe he needed to get out of the Ivory Palace for a bit. Out ofanypalace and learn who he was as a vampire. He hadn’t gotten the chance before becoming Imogen’s toy. And it would help clear his head. But he needed a purpose. A goal. He didn’t want to wander aimlessly around Wonderland.

The Jabberwocky.

It was perfect. The beast needed to be stopped and no one knew how to achieve that. He could find out. Fueled by his new idea, Ferris quickly washed himself and made his way back to his bedroom in only a towel.

To find Mouse sitting on his bed with an empty bottle of blood.

“I ate,” she whispered, seeming to have followed his gaze. “Sorry about almost biting you.”

He smirked. “It wouldn’t be the first time. And I never minded before, did I?”

She shook her head and Ferris slipped on a pair of loose black shorts before tossing his towel over the back of a chair. “Are you going to wear those to bed?” she asked with a tilt to the head, her gaze trailing down his bare chest. “I can turn around if you’d like to get under the covers and be comfortable.”

“I’m not going to bed yet,” he admitted. As Ever’s guard, he would need permission to leave his post. The sound of her viola music drifted through the palace so he knew she was still awake and he’d like to leave as soon as possible. “I need to talk to the queen.”

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