I scowl at her, even as I pull her on top of me.
“I don’t think the cot can—oof.” She lands on me hard, but the makeshift bed holds underneath us.
I wrap my arms around her, laying my cheek on her head. Aurora nuzzles in, and all of our limbs naturally seek and findthe hollows and swells between us until we fit so perfectly, I’m certain we were made for each other.
We breathe in for several breaths, just holding one another. Assuring ourselves this is real.
“I’m the most self-involved person in the world.” Her words are muffled against my chest.
I crook my head to try and catch her expression, but it’s hidden.
“Mal must be after me,” she says in a parody voice. “Oh, she must want to finish the job. She must want to kill the princess.” She snorts. “What kind of narcissist am I?”
She lifts her face so she can look at me. I see her frustration, her regret, as if it was written on her forehead.
I brush the back of my knuckles along her cheek. “We both thought it.”
She shrugs, still agitated. “We’ve spent so much time focusing on me, when you are a true wonder, a true...” She searches for the word. “Specimen.”
I can’t help but full-on grin at that.
Aurora rolls her eyes. “Oh fae lords, now this is going to your head.”
I pinch her side and she yelps before swatting my chest. The simple delight of getting to touch her and tease her like this will never lose its novelty. People take for granted those little points of contact.
“You said it, not me.” Then I frown. “But they did go for you. You were targeted as well.”
“To take me out. Turns out Mal expected me to use thegiftshe gave me against her.” She throws air quotes with her fingers even as she tries to remain wrapped around me. Then her expression darkens. “And I finally found a way to use it.”
Before I can ask what that means, her fingers clutch at my chest. “I called my parents.”
I can’t help but massage her hips. Somewhere deep inside me, I already feel the whisper of my fire kicking up. Our time to touch is limited. “What did they say?” I ask.
“Well, for one thing, they said the only thing keeping them from coming after me and dragging me home by my now pierced ears was the regular letters you sent them, updating them on what was happening.” Her eyes narrow.
“Did you want them to come after you?” I ask her pointedly.
She pouts even as she shakes her head, knowing I have her.
“I didn’t tell them…everything,” I say.
Unable to help myself despite all we have to discuss, I pull her down and kiss her. Tangling my hands in her hair, reveling in the taste, the feel, of her.
The heat inside me is rising quickly. Time is slipping through my fingers. I grip her tighter until she’s plastered to me and I’m delving deep into her mouth, finding my favorite spot in the universe. The one that makes her groan and claw at me like she can’t get close enough.
The door creaks open, breaking us apart.
“Hey guys—whoa,” Snow says, shielding her eyes. “When you’re done banging in your boss’s office, we’ve got food here.”
“What?” comes a sharp exclamation from Rap somewhere behind her.
“We aren’t having sex,” Aurora says, sitting up, though I don’t let her get far.
Snow drops her hand, nervously looking between us as if still expecting to find our privates exposed.
I sit up despite the soreness in my muscles and fatigue. My stomach lets loose a vicious growl at the thought of food. "Food would be good.”
Everyone is eatingand chatting amongst themselves at various tables, giving me time to refuel at the bar with Aurora.
