Page 109 of Beneath a Shattered Sky
Maybe I should rename that knife ‘self-control.’ It seems to be doing the job better than whatever’s between my ears.
She’s coming closer, and I look over her head to the rest of her Guard for help.
Nothing. Traitors.
The autumn prince is even sneakily leading Praedra away from the group while they’re all focused on me. When he catches me looking, he gives me a wink and sweeps her into his arms, abandoning all pretence of subtlety as they disappear between the trees, probably to fuck some more.
Newly mated couples are worse than rabbits. I sigh.
Rose captures my face in her hands, and suddenly she’s all I can see. My pretty shiny pet. “Why did Finch say I wasn’t a true redcap mate?”
Note to self: blink Finch to the top of Calimnel and push him off. Not only will he learn his lesson about saying stupid shit, I’ll get to find out if he rolls like a snowball or just goes splat. Science!
“Perhaps because he’s a jealous dead male walking?” I ask innocently.
“Killing the Fomorian’s grandfather is not on the table,” Jaromir interrupts, and I groan. “Especially when he and his mate have been faithful warriors of the realm for centuries.”
Those gorgeous violet eyes pin me in place as she ignores the wolfie. “If I’m not giving you something you need, I want to know. You give me so much, and if I’m failing you somehow?—”
I cut her off with a kiss. It seems like a good idea, but I’m quickly proved wrong when her tongue darts out in an uncharacteristically bold move, deepening the contact until my cock throbs and all my hard-won self-control falls to the ground with a clatter of steel against leaf-strewn rock.
My hands fist in her hair, dragging her head back as I fight to remember why blinking her out of her clothes is a bad idea. She wants to be a true redcap mate? I can help with that.
“Lorcan.” The dullahan has so much warning in his tone, and I briefly consider whether stabbing him might help me calm down.
Eh, it’s worth a shot.
Blinking to him, I curse when he dodges both the first and second blades.
“Answer her question or tell her to drop the matter.” The Lord of the Wild Hunt doesn’t seem to care much for the way I stick my tongue out at him. “But do it quickly. We’ve taken enough of a detour already.”
“So eager to go home and watch Mummy and Daddy fight?” I tease, but he doesn’t rise to it.
Shame.
“Is it so horrible?” Rose asks, her voice stroking along the back of my neck like a caress.
“Terrible.” I grin. “Absolutely depraved and truly perverse. You’ll probably faint.”
Her hand closes over my shoulder, turning me without effort, and making me face down that determined purple gaze again.
“Try me.”
“A true redcap mate…” I lean down, closing the distance to whisper darkly in her ear. “Kneels in the middle of the slain after a battle, taking her under fae’s cock in front of the whole troop while he ruts her like a beast.” I lean back, grinning again. “If you ask me, letting me play with your pretty little pussy right in the middle of that slaughter in the Spring Court was even better.”
It’s not the same, and my smart little pet knows it, if the scowl on her face is anything to go by.
“And Cressida did this… with you?”
Abort. Abort. Abort.
Cressidick has done many things to me, a good half of them were agonisingly painful. None of them are things Rose needs to hear about. I shoot a pleading look at Jaro. Surely wolfie will save me?
“Rosie,” Jaro mutters, reluctantly. “A lot of battles where redcaps are involved tend to devolve into orgies… I doubtit meant anything to Lore, and Cressida was probably just curious.”
My mate doesn’t back down, and neither does the Goddess’s fury simmering in her eyes. “Does it matter to you?” she presses.
“You’re the only thing that matters to me, pet.”
