Page 74 of Crown of Briars
“You’ll want to stop doing that,” I murmured in a strained voice.
“Oh?” She tilted her head toward me, her red-tinted lips curling into a smile.
“Do you recall how I warned you about certainpartsof me being more monstrous than a typical human male?”
She snorted. “Warned me? Or taunted me?”
I grinned. “Both.”
“So you want me tostoparousing you because your male appendage is monstrous?” Her eyes gleamed. “Now you’ve made me curious.”
Well, damn. I should have expected that. I heaved a sigh. I was flustered enough from her sitting on my lap with no regard for my red skin and clawed fingers. Did nothing affect her?
She leaned closer to me, her lips brushing my jaw. “Can you tell me?”
I suppressed a shiver from the way her breath tickled my face. That lilac scent enveloped me once more, tinged with the barest hint of old parchment and burning incense. “Tell you? Or show you?”
Her cheeks flushed again, but she said nothing.
“This is a revel, after all,” I went on, bolstered by her bashfulness. “If I were to disrobe right here, no one would think anything of it.”
Her pupils flared, and her lips parted. I felt her breath hitch, and her pulse quickened.
Mother of Shade, was she actually considering this? If shesaid,Yes, Varius, please show me your cock,then I wasn’t sure how I would respond.
Before she could say anything, I explained, “It’s barbed.”
Her eyes widened. “It is?”
“Well, there are ridges, and, on command, I can summon the barbs.”
“Ridges,” she repeated.
“Yes. Like… hard bumps.”
Her eyes dropped to just below my navel, and that same intrigued gleam sparked in her eyes.
“You want to see it, don’t you?” I smirked again.
“I—n—” Her mouth clamped shut, and her blush deepened. She had been about to deny it. A normal human would have. They could lie, after all.
So why hadn’t she? Was she so accustomed to being around the unseelie that she did not want to lie?
I chuckled. “You can’t lie to me, wife.”
She huffed an exasperated breath. “I am merely fascinated by the anatomy of the unseelie fae. Are all males like that, or just you?”
Now it was my turn to feel flustered. “I don’t know. I—I don’t oftenlookat other males’ genitalia.”
She laughed at that, and I couldn’t help but grin in response.
Someone cleared their throat loudly, and we both turned to find Enzira standing awkwardly before us, clutching a glass of deep purple wine. It was different from the mauve color of faerie wine.
“Forgive the interruption,” she said in Agnarrish, pressing her free hand to her chest as a sign of respect to me. She turned to Sybelle and said in broken Terrish, “You drink? Is safe.”
Sybelle smiled at her, then reached out her hand. “Garsha, Enzira.” She accepted the flute and sipped from it, then hummed with pleasure. “This is delicious. What is it?”
“Berry wine.” Enzira beamed.
