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“Benefit me?” I choked out a laugh—born of disbelief. Yet another ridiculous lie.
He performed a singleI’m-a-prick-and-I’m-fine-with-itnod. “The curse I gave you was also for your benefit.”
I threw my hand to the side, my anger bubbling to the surface. “I fail to see how cursing me was for my benefit. It certainly didn’t feel like that as my body was being shredded apart by the fever.”
“Believe it or not, Kitten, it was,” he said, his phantom breaking apart—just like it did that time in Belamour, telling me that he couldn’t hold this form much longer. He sighed through his nose. “This visit has nearly chewed through the last remnants of my power.”
“Good,” I snarled.
He rolled his eyes like he didn’t believe me, then nodded to the door. “Themate-fuckeris on his way.Ask himto remove the collar and see what he says. Or did you forget what you wear around your neck?” His gaze dropped pointedly to my lips. “Just like you forgot who those belong to.” His eyes shifted lower. “That too.”
I growled at him, covering myself, even though I was wearing a robe.
Von’s phantom dissolved on the wind, his wicked smile the last thing I saw.
The door behind me opened.
“Good morning, princess,” Aurelius said pleasantly. “I’m sorry I had to leave before you woke. I would have preferred to spend the morning with you, but unfortunately, duty calls.”
“Morning,” I said, turning to greet him, a soft smile replacing the downward turn of my lips. “It’s alright. I was just getting some air.”And having my head messed with by a lying bastard.
“How do you feel?” Aurelius asked as he took me in his arms, surveying my face.
“Fine. Mostly. Perhaps a bit . . . sore,” I admitted sheepishly, my arms wrapping loosely around his torso.
“I can help you with that.” He bit into his wrist, drawing a mouthful of ichor. Gently, he coaxed my mouth to open, pullingmy lax jaw down with his hand. His lips pressed against mine as he released the divine nectar into my mouth.
I swallowed it down.
Seconds later, euphoria erupted.
He pulled his mouth away from mine, a light smile touching his lips. A glistening bead of ichor rolled over his chin. Standing on the tips of my toes, I licked it off. Savoring it, I closed my eyes. This feeling—it was so incredibly seductive.Addictive.
“What do you feel like now?” he asked.
I thought about it before I said, “Like I just achieved something insurmountable.”
He chuckled. “Would you like to feel like this all the time?”
“I don’t know what would be left of me if I felt this good all the time,” I said with a grin, a gentle buzz licking at my skin, my vision.
“I like seeing you like this—feeling good and happy,” he said, just before he kissed me. We became enraptured in one another’s kiss. I felt movement around me, but when I opened my eyes, we were standing in the massive room that housed the bathing pool.
Light walking with Aurelius felt different than it did with Von—I didn’t doubt that if I opened my eyes when he did it, we would have been surrounded by a bright-blue sky, rather than dancing, twinkling stars.
Aurelius captured the string on my robe, pulling on it, causing it to fall open. White lashes lowered, as he took in the swell of my breasts, the flat of my stomach, and the evidence of us between my thighs.
He grinned. “You are positively filthy.” He extended his hand to me, backing towards the stairs that led into the water. “Come, let me clean you.”
I glanced around, my vision slightly altered from his ichor. Even though no one else was in the bathing pool right now, thatcould change at any moment. “What if someone comes in? What if they see?”
“Then we will let them look,” he said, his grin widening. “And then I shall pluck out their eyes after.” He winked at me, but the playful nature of it fell a bit flat, the thought replaced by another—specifically a head on a pike with the eyes gouged out.
“Is that what you did to the night guard?” I asked, and even though I wanted it to come out more serious, the euphoric feeling drifting over me kept it soft, peaceful. As if I were asking him a simple question, like what he had for dessert last night.
Oh wait . . .that was me.
“I did. He wished to gaze uponmy wife,” he answered, his golden eyes like liquid fire. “We gods are a jealous bunch.”
