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I sighed heavily, wishing that just for tonight we could all stop being such good people.
I shook myself out of my thoughts yet again, grasping at the here and now, trying to escape the strange stretching and slowing of time that was occurring inside me as the magic of the moon seeped into every pore. Bach was still staring at me. But Mirri, Fife, and Adder were standing off to the side of the fire, their heads bent together as they spoke in hushed whispers. Fife shook his head and pointed at Bach. Then Adder put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder, turning him away toward the woods. When the cleric turned, for just a brief moment, I could have sworn I had seen…extra eyes.
I frowned in confusion, too moon-drunk to really be scared or unsettled as I suppose I should be. I studied Fife's body as the males walked away, noting the faint, violet outline that clung to him. It took me a moment to realize I could see the cleric's aura. Fife was literally leaking magic. And the other two were herding him away from the camp, their own bodies tense and animal features prominent.
"Are they okay?" asked, turning my attention back to Bach. I started when I found him not on the other side of the fire where he had been, but right beside me.
The big male loomed over me, broad and muscular, black horns arcing back from his head, and short fangs flashing when he spoke. "The wild moon is harder on Fife than the rest of us," he rumbled, crouching down beside me with his arms resting on his knees. "His magic is already stronger than most fae can tolerate and control. So, adding to that is…a struggle."
I nodded in understanding. I was only a mixed-blood, and all this moon magic was too much for me. I had never realized how strong it really was. Yes, I had heard the stories, but the wild moon didn't come often, and when it did, I had always locked myself away inside the house, under protective wards, like most sane people.
"Being around you makes it worse," Bach said, reaching out to trace a finger along my jaw. I gaped at him, and he gave me a wry smile to soften his words before he continued. "It's a primal thing. A natural urge to mate with the closest fertile partner. We become the animals we are on nights like this. And those who aren't usually prone to more violent pursuits like hunting or fighting…well, they're driven toward chasing pleasure instead."
I licked my lips. "Are you saying he wasn't really thinking clearly when he started this whole 'let's pass around the spy' thing with me?" I hadn't meant to influence Fife into doing something he wouldn't normally do. But he had seemed pretty lucid when he seduced me. "That I…what? Took advantage of his instability?"
Bach chuckled. "Of course not. Fife knew what he was doing. So did Mirri. And Adder." His blue gaze dropped to my lips and caught there, his voice dropping to a whisper. "So do I."
I suddenly had trouble breathing. The lust overcame all common sense, and all fear that maybe Bach didn't want me anymore after our one lone encounter. I flung myself at him shamelessly, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his.
He grunted in surprise and fell backward, taking me with him but cushioning my fall with his solid body. His arms came around my waist and he kissed me back, both of us trying our level best to devour one another.
When we came up for air, his blue eyes were glowing even more intensely, and his deep voice had dropped impossibly lower. "Rina," he said, doing the impossible and trying to reason with me. "Are you thinking clearly? Are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure you or our team won't pay the price when your employer learns of this?"
I let out a scoffing laugh and shook my head adamantly. "We won't get in trouble," I insisted. "I'm—" But the words froze in my throat. I felt as though I was choking, unable to utter the truth. The queen's spell was still firmly in place, even in this crazy situation.
Bach frowned as he smoothed the hair back out of my face. But I couldn't get the words out. I couldn't tell him the truth. "I want this," I said instead. A different truth. "You. All of you. I've dreamed of what it would be like to be able to act on this attraction. I won't pass up the opportunity, no matter what the consequences may be."
Chapter 37
Bach growled, frustration and lust warring in his fierce expression. Then he kissed me again, rolling us so he lay atop me, pinning me to the earth with his massive body. One hand kneaded my breast as he kissed me so deeply that he stole the breath from my lungs. "I can't say no to you," he said on a ragged breath as he pulled away. "I shouldn't feel this way, but…I could never deny you any pleasure you desire."
Then he slid down my body, lifting my shirt to press hungry kisses down the center of my torso, to the soft curve of my belly, and lower. His big fingers curled under my waistband, and I lifted my hips, letting him peel off my breeches, leaving me exposed from the waist down. I panted in anticipation. Finally, finally, someone was going to fill the ache inside me the way I'd been craving all night. Just the thought of Bach's massive cock with its stimulating bumps made me want to cry.
But he only parted my thighs and dipped his head to kiss his way to my sex.
I gasped at the first swipe of his talented tongue, all thought of penetration forgotten as my core pulsed in response. The wild magic flowing around me seemed to crawl inside me, filling my lungs as I gulped down air, zinging through my blood, filling me with feral want. I brushed my fingers through his soft hair, wrapped my hands around his horns, and arched up into him, pressing my pussy to his face like a wanton nymph with no mind for anything but pleasure. Bach growled against me, tongue lapping and swirling in all the right places, his broad shoulders pushing my legs wider, demanding that I give him all of myself.
I shouted my pleasure to the sky, to the wild moon above, the echoes of my climax singing through the darkness like the cry of some desperate wild animal. And still he drove me higher. A pair of thick fingers breached me, thrusting in time with the flicks of his tongue against my clit. Then he latched onto the bundle of nerves and sucked, making me see stars.
I released his horns, clawing at his shoulders like a beast as I came again.
When the last shuddering waves of my pleasure subsided, Bach moved up to lie next to me, propped up on an elbow, as he looked down into my eyes. He looked as wild and feral as I had felt just moments before, and I wanted nothing more than to indulge that side of him.
I reached for the fly of his breeches, my fingers brushing the buttons, but he pulled his hips away, pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead instead. "You should put your clothes back on," he said, his voice rough as he fought all of his instincts. "The others will be back before long, and…I don't want this to go any further. It's best not to torment them with the sight of you."
I shook my head at him, a bit of anger rising to combat the moon-drunk, lust-fogged sensation in my brain. "You're the most stubborn male I have ever met," I snapped, sitting up and yanking my breeches back on. "As if this is any different than the five of us having a full-on orgy! Do you honestly think the Prize will care that only I came? That you tasted me, but didn't put your dick in me? You're ridiculous!"
He snorted at me and sat up. "You're ridiculous, woman! It seems like you, more than anyone else, would understand the games nobles play. I know you must keep your secrets, but I also know there is a high likelihood that the Prize is a princess, or a noble of very high standing in our kingdom, to be so beloved by the king and queen. Anyone of that status would not want to be bonded to a male who might have sired a clutch of children with someone else! So, yes, it does matter. It is the only thing in this situation that would matter to most logically minded nobles seeking strangers as mates to help run their estate and sire children to carry on their name." He ran his hand through his hair in an agitated gesture, as if he'd like to tear the locks from his head.
I plopped back down on the ground beside him with a sigh, leaving a bit of space between us. He was right, of course. But I knew the truth of the Prize's identity, so I pushed. "You're not going to breed me. I might not have much magic, but I can manage a damned contraceptive charm. So can most highborn, for that matter. I just assumed you had all taken care of that beforehand."
He shook his head. "Of course. But there's always the chance. That maybe one of us forgot. That maybe the charm didn't work—they aren't fail-proof. In the eyes of our potential mate-to-be, there would be the chance. As things are, a simple truth charm would put that fear to rest, since we can all honestly say we've kept our dicks to ourselves."
Except that time at the inn. But I didn't bring it up. It was a different circumstance, and it had been long enough now, that the risk of pregnancy was a bygone thing. I'd had my cycle since then. But it was all maddeningly stupid, anyway. "She won't care," I muttered.
But that just got me an arched brow and a suspicious look. "You say the Prize is such a wonderful, caring person, and yet she is supposedly so cold that she wouldn't care what her potential mates got up to right on the cusp of winning her hand?"
I shrugged and looked away from those beautiful blue eyes before I could attempt to tell the truth of who I was again. I didn't relish choking again. "You assume you're going to win?" I said instead.
