I don’t bother knocking before I enter the suite, but perhaps I should’ve. Maybe if I had, it would’ve given me some warning.
No. Instead, I take a step into the room and almost double over as my cock tries to explode in my breeches.
“Shit,” I groan, taking in Jaro and Lore, who sit on the edge of the massive bed hunched over themselves as they cradle their crotches like they’ve been kicked in the bollocks.
Neither of them is wearing a shirt, and I shrug off my coat as the warmth hits me as well. I would lose my shirt, but I’m clinging to the vain hope that the barrier will give me some control.
The room itself is gleaming and so elegant that I almost don’t notice the lack of windows. The lighting is kept dim, on account of Rose’s eyes, and the furniture is all soft with rounded corners—no doubt so that we can bend her over any convenient surface should she require it. A small feast has been laid out on a table at the far end. The food is sealed under enchanted glass cloches that will keep it fresh, though I can’t even consider eating while my balls feel like this.
Swollen.
Shit. Resisting the urge to check them for damage is taking most of my willpower.
Jaro flops back on the bed. “She’s bathing. Shit. We made it just in time. They reckon she has half an hour, if that.”
“I can’t blink.” Lore seems dazed. “I want to so bad, but she’s so shiny.”
At least Rose managed to take care of that concern. I was worried she wouldn’t be able to in her state.
“Go to her.” I step back to allow Bree to shuffle in the direction of the only other door in the room.
I don’t even realise I’m following until my eyes latch onto her. She’s reclining in a round pool, surrounded by female attendants with her eyes closed. I suddenly grasp why the others are out there and not in here.
Rose has no attraction to females, and yet seeing anyone who isn’t us close to her right now sends rage crawling down my spine. A curtain catches fire, and I hurriedly extinguish it with a curse.
Bree must feel the same, but he doesn’t show it as he bends down close to her, the attendants shifting to give him room.
“Are you awake, dragonfly?”
Rose’s lashes flutter, and she makes a noise in the back of her throat that sounds like affirmation.
Goddess, why did they have to put her in the water? The damned herbs they’ve tipped in there have turned the liquid a cloudy white that obscures her body, and it’s the worst kind of tease.
“Bree?” She sounds so out of it, and I have to wonder just what they’ve been giving her. “Don’t leave me.”
The anguish is written in the rigid lines of his body. He wants her—so badly I can practically taste it—but his fear wins out.
“Have fun, okay? I’ll dream of you.” He bends and kisses her temple, lifting back with a tormented groan.
Glutton for punishment that he is, his hand comes forward and strokes her hair away, before trailing his fingers down past her jaw and along to her collarbone. A flash of black inky mist later, and a tiny snake uncurls from Bree’s arm, heading for Rose’s shoulder. The nathair wriggles until it finds a comfortable spot, then dissipates in a cloud of darkness, reforming as a tattoo.
“Here. Now part of me will stay with you.”
If my entire focus wasn’t consumed by battling the urge to yank Rose out of the pool and savage her naked body like a beast in rut, I might’ve found the sentiment sweet. As it is, I can barely find the sense to step aside and let the púca flee the room.
He barely gets out in time.
Rose’s body jerks, sending water splashing, and the attendants share a look before they drop what they’re doing and start the process of pulling her from the water and drying her.
Somehow, I justknow.
This is it.
Without a word, I step between the maids, taking Rose into my arms as they scurry from the room with hasty bows.
“Drystan,” she murmurs, snuggling into me without opening her eyes. “It hurts so bad.”
“We’ll make it better,” I promise, barely recognising my own voice. “You just have to say yes.”
