“Go tell her!” she urges, then the door slams shut.
And then disappears.
Well, that’s good, right? Kyrith wouldnae seal me in the stairwell if she didn’t want me to go up it.
Unless it was the Arcanaeum? But why would it do something like that without a reason?
Clutching the velvet box like it’s a stress ball, I climb the rickety wooden stairs one by one. They’re less squeaky than usual. Wee arched windows have been installed every few steps, each one stained glass featuring a different flower. It feels good. Brighter. Like the Arcanaeum is making her space more of a priority now that she’s alive.
I flick the tiny catch on the box with my thumb as I climb the last few steps.
Eddy stopped claiming Sanctuary earlier in the week, so it’s no surprise that her bed on one side of the stairwell is gone. The empty space has been taken over by shelves, but I barely spare them a glance, searching the other side of the room for Kyrith?—
Only to freeze as I find her on her bed.
Her eyes are closed; red lips parted on a silent moan as her fingers dance between her legs. If I take one more step, I’ll be able to see her cunt over the fabric of the skirts she’s shoved up in pursuit of her pleasure.
Fucking beautiful.
What I wouldnae give to drop to my knees and see her over the edge she’s closing in on. Does she taste as sweet as I imagine?
Her eyes snap open, latching onto me, standing on the top stair like a pervert. The quiet moan blessing my eardrums morphs into a startled gasp as her hands shove frantically ather skirts. Her cheeks are flushed scarlet, doe eyes wide and refusing to meet mine as her breasts heave.
Fuck. Should I leave? I should?—
“We have got to stop meeting like this,” she stutters before I can mumble an apology and retreat.
“I’ll go,” I automatically offer. “Unless… Do you want help?”
Stupid. Stupid. She’s never going tae?—
But her eyes darken, interest lighting them up from within. It gives me a spark of hope. After five hundred years of nothing, she deserves all the pleasure she can stand, and I want to give it to her.
“I’m at your disposal,” I whisper. “If you only say the word. Any time.”
Kyrith’s hands tangle in the fabric of her long skirt, like she’s trying to discreetly wipe away the evidence of her arousal from her shining fingers. Magic, I’d give anything I own to lick those digits clean.
“I’m supposed to be impartial.”
Oh. That same excuse again. Deflating, I nod, my grip on the box easing as I turn away. I’m not Lambert to push and push until someone says no. I can take a hint…but still…
“Lass, we both know you’re not the kind of woman to be so easily influenced by anything with a cock.” I pause, releasing the box in my pocket to grab the railing. “If you don’t want us, just say so. We’re big boys. We can take it. And you should probably be blunt to stop Lambert before he gets any more wild ideas.”
Her brows furrow. “Wild ideas?”
Shit. Me and my big mouth. “Nothing,” I splutter, fleeing another step.
“Stay.” Her single word freezes me, dragging my head up. “Just for this. Just one time.”
My heart thumps off-kilter for a smidge, and I takea half step back in her direction before stopping. I want her, I do, but not once. Last time, we came together in the heat of the moment, for one of the hottest encounters of my life, and a few minutes later, she sent me packing. She’s still treating me like a one-night stand. I don’t want that.
If she’s still worrying about impartiality, she’s definitely not going to consider anything more than casual sex, let alone the other things I’d planned to ask for when I stepped into the Arcanaeum.
I shake my head. “No.”
Her beautiful brown eyes widen. “No?”
I offer her a sad little smile. “I’m not here for that—even though I want you more than my next breath. I actually came to give you this.” I pull the box out of my pocket and flick it open, displaying the delicate bracelet inside. “And to ask you to go on a date with me.”
