Page 55 of The Fae Menagerie
A thought darkened his expression for a moment before he tried to hide it with a smirk. "That's my line. And then in the morning, I'd run."
"I'm not running," I reminded him. "You have a captive sex partner here for the taking, whenever we want." I meant it, too. Maybe not every night, but I loved the closeness of being inside Doyle and marking his insides, making him mine.
Holy shit. Was that what I'd just done?
"Wheneverwewant," he repeated. "Yes. Thank you for including yourself in that statement." He nestled against my neck so I could no longer watch his expression.
That was probably a good thing, since I was still shaken about the possibility I'd claimed him. Could a human claim a fae prince? I didn't know enough about fated mates.
"Is there anything else you want to try?" he asked.
I felt brave with him, and the orgasm's afterglow gave me the courage to suggest something I'd never wanted from anyone else. "Would you fuck me?"
He laughed. "I'm not going to fuck you, Parker."
His immediate refusal shocked me. "Why not?"
"Because I—" He sucked in a startled breath and pulled away. Something had spooked him, something he didn't want to share. "Forget it."
"I think I would enjoy it, with you." Other words danced on my tongue, the ones he feared. I was falling in love with my beautiful fae prince. I already had an emotional connection to him, one that brought my libido to life for the first time.
"Before I die in here, and all that." I forced a laugh, but Doyle didn't laugh with me.
"I know," he whispered. "I think I'd like it, too."
Before I could think too hard about what he meant, he pulled me with him to the side of the bed and carried me to the bathroom.
Chapter
Twenty
DOYLE
More months passed.Just when I thought Mother had fired Aidan, he darkened our doorstep once more. Except we didn't have a doorstep in the menagerie, and he darkened nothing, since incubi didn't have shadows. It was how they convinced humans they were light fae, when really, they were made of darkness.
I should have known better than to get involved with an incubus, but I'd wanted to be free, and Aidan was the only fae in my vicinity. No, I wasn't being species-ist or sexist against Chani, but cuddlebugs and their insectidae relatives weren't sexually compatible with anthousai. We were partners in the same undertaking, to pollinate the fae wilds. While I had fooled around with a few cuddlebugs in my time, we weren't compatible long term. They had four arms, but the lack of opposable thumbs did a number on my libido.
Chani had four hands, each with four fingers and two opposable thumbs, and they were gorgeous for an insectidae. However, too many hands could be overstimulating, and that wasn't an experience I cared to repeat.
Aidan possessed all the right physical parts, including his sexy wings and horns, but he was missing a soul.
Incubi had given rise to the human vampire lore, back when we could cross through the fairy circles on our own. Now that we had to be summoned, humans usually avoided calling the ruthless among us, sticking to love-'em-and-leave-'em types like me.
Following the script of every vampire movie I'd ever seen, Aidan bit his victims. His sharp incisors injected venom to incapacitate and arouse. He'd never had to bite me when I was willing, but now …
… I could see it in his furious gaze. He wanted to inflict his manufactured lust upon me.
"It's lunch time, but there's no lunch." Parker entered the living room through the kitchen door, heading for my side without noticing the glowing incubus, who was even brighter than the chandelier.
I tried to shout for him, but it was too late. Aidan moved quicker than the sound of my voice, his hand darting out to take Parker's wrist, his bite closing on the vein there and injecting him full of toxins.
Aidan lifted his head from the bite and wiped the blood from his lips. "I was going to bite Doyle, but this is far more fun. Dance for me, little human. Show me how much you want me."
Instead of falling into a trance, Parker glanced at me, and then back at Aidan. "You fucking bit me." Parker backhanded Aidan across the face, cutting his lip open on an incisor.
Before Aidan could react, Parker ran to me. I tucked him to my chest and barricaded him there with my wings.
"You little brat!"
