That makes me feel warm and gooey inside, a feeling I don’t often get, and I’m not sure what to do with it.
I rush towards Yasmeena, who looks pale, still leaning against the cold stone wall.
“I don’t feel good,” she manages to croak while coughing.
“I know, beautiful, come on.” Taking Yasmeena by the hand, I escort her to the bathroom. Turning on the water, I splash her face, hoping the cold will help.
She dips her head into the sink and takes a drink, and I laugh.
“You know the bartender would’ve given you a bottle of water, right?”
Yasmeena laughs too, and relief floods my chest. “I know, but this is right here.”
Mascara and lipstick run down her face, reminding me a lot of the makeup Baelor and Absinthe wear during their performances. I take my fingers and wipe away the dark rings from around her eyes before taking a thumb to her lips. Gently, I clean the smudged lipstick stains.
“Thank you, princess,” she whispers, and it ends me.
Fuck duty and fuck the rules.
Cupping her jaw in my hands, I bring her lips towards mine and kiss her. I kiss Yasmeena like I’m suffocating and she’s the last tank of oxygen. She leans into me, deepening the kiss, before pulling her lips from mine and quickly shifting backwards, her golden eyes wide with surprise.
Unbelievably sexy.Her deep, tan skin looks warm brown under the dim lights of the bathroom. The details of her dress are lost, but I can see every curve of her chest, hips, and thighs. I want to trace her body with my fingertips and tell her just how perfect she is.
But right now, she looks almost frightened.
“You shouldn’t kiss me,” she says.
I shrug, looking at her lips. “Why not?”
“You can’t—I thought the rule was we wouldn’t kiss?”
“I made the rule, I decide when it changes,” I say, pulling her back into me as she smiles. This time, she doesn’t protest.
Her lips part, and our tongues collide, moving with acrobaticprecision, just like we do on the trapeze. I love the feeling of her waist beneath my touch, her mouth pressed against mine, the warm caress of her tongue.
The drenched heat between her legs.
Yasmeena is truly exquisite. I want to worship at an altar like she’s a goddess most divine. If it weren’t for her dress, I’d have her wrapped around me, but instead, I push her up onto the bathroom counter, kissing and licking down the length of her neck.
The door swings open, and Zuri and Clio walk in.
Fuck my life.
“Hello,” Zuri says.
Clio lets out a laugh. “I’d say get a room, but I think they already did.”
Yasmeena’s cheeks appear rosy, but I don’t feel a drop of shame or embarrassment. I’m making out with my fiancé—political arrangement or not—in the bathroom of a bar my father owns. Why should I feel bad?
“We were just leaving,” I say, taking Yasmeena by the hand. “I’ll catch you two later though.”
“Send the Alpha our love,” Yasmeena giggles, clearly drunk on lust.
I turn back to look at them. “Donotdo that.”
Exiting The Cathedral hand-in-hand with Yasmeena, I feel torn up inside. It’s like there are two halves of my soul that will never be one.
The first half is my pack. It’s my duty to my Alpha, and to my people. Friendship with lupion like Zuri and Clio. It’s Bobby and the other employees at The Cathedral. Pack Escalus is where I belong, I can feel it in every fibre of my being.
