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Pity that she also insisted on binding her hair. The braided bun, speckled with pearls, scarcely did her justice. Every stitch of that magnificent red hair was shackled in place, to the point where it looked like a migraine waiting to happen.
What attractions existed beneath the tight stitching of that outfit? How easy would it be to dismantle the braid, to unravel it like a brushfire and tangle my fingers in that blaze? What would she do, and how would she sound, if I pulled those flames from their roots?
With purpose, I let my gaze slide over Briar like the tip of a dagger, smoothly and with a hint of peril. My eyes carved through and ran deep. Between us—just between us—I made it obvious, letting my deviant thoughts be known.
Her eyes latched onto mine, translating the anarchy occurring in my head. A flustered tint of pink raced across the neckline she disliked so much. The slender plank of her mouth parted like a latch breaking open, beyond which deep, dark, damp places lurked.
The phenomenon lasted one exquisite second before giving way to visible annoyance. She clamped her thin lips together, as if her mouth was adhered with cement.
Fascinating. I’d never made someone hate me with this much devotion. The ivory, amber, and red shades of her—innocence and fire—drew me in like a moth.
She was a bramble that had never been clipped of its thorns. A stiff taper that had never been lit and melted.
I had believed myself done with her, but I was a fickle being. How could I resist seeing where this challenge led? Besides, I’d grown bored with everyone else.
Nay. I blamed her. Somehow, this female made everyone else boring.
I’d targeted her once already. I could do it again.
Indeed, I could push it further.
Make her squirm.
My voice pinned the princess to the grass.“In Autumn,”I repeated,“color infuses the trees like spices, and ladies interpret dreams by candlelight, the wicks illuminated for the long night.”I piled the next words on my tongue and hurled them at her.“Burning hot before melting into a lovely disaster.”
Briar’s slender throat bobbed, the muscles working in tandem. Were it not for the subtle pump of her neck, I’d have pegged the princess for a statue. But nay, I wasn’t naïve. I saw her discomfort and could have dined on it like an appetizer—a gluttonous impulse.
A lovely disaster.
Spreading my arms, I fixed my attention on Basil and Fatima.“And here in Spring, life blossoms. We pile our plates high, dwell among the flora and fauna, and thrive on sensuous pleasures.So go forth and frolic, sweetings. And praise our sovereigns for this revel. For the love of Spring, I bid you a scandalous welcome.”I bowed.“And a scandalous adieu.”
The guests toasted and explored the grounds. The children attacked, crashing into my legs and begging me to tell them another story. “Please please please please please please please please pleasepleasepleeeeeease!”
“Alas,” I lamented. “I’ve run out of tales for the night.”
“Nooooooooo.” they whined.
“But I have an alternative.”
With a flourish, I snatched one of the soap wands from a passing servant who carried them in a pail. Because the orbs would last a while before popping, I blew air through the oval tip. A stream of translucent orbs sailed across the garden and coasted into the winding paths. The tykes gave chase, scattering across the gardens whilst their parents made haste to follow.
Spring greeted their guests. Summer joined a game of bowls.
Elderly Winter looked in desperate need of airing out. Silvia and Doria trundled down a walkway as if it would take a pilgrimage to reach the end.
Autumn conversed with a group of attendants who showed her how the bubble wands worked. And where there was Autumn, there should be her daughter.
Should be. Yet wasn’t.
The misanthrope hadn’t wasted time in disappearing. My eyes scanned the foliage, hunting for those flammable tresses.
The queen’s seven ladies danced like flirtatious nymphs. Two of them—Posy and Vale—swatted their hips together.
Cadence joined the pair, gyrating with them. As the only clique member I knew intimately, the female caught my eye beneath her lashes, the cliffs of her cheekbones cut like a gem. She had beckoned me like this on a prior occasion. The outcome had been pleasant, my fingers thrusting slowly between her legs until she came around my knuckles.
Presently, Cadence swayed her tits in an unspoken invitation.
Juggle these, if you please.
