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"As a goddess of winter, did Skaði at least give Loki some ice for his abused testicles?" Khan asked.
"The bards are curiously silent about it." The wine was going to her head, and his hard muscles pressing against her made her too hot. "I'm going to go and refresh myself. I think the wine is getting to me."
"Don't let anyone corner you," Khan said, all humor vanishing from his face as his hand curled protectively around her bicep.
Fen couldn't resist giving his bearded chin a playful pinch. "I'm a champion of the arena, remember? They corner me at their peril." She slipped from his arms with a wink and walked through the house.
"May I help you, my lady?" a female servant in blue robes asked.
"I'm looking for a bathroom," Fen replied with a smile. The servant showed her the way, her eyes downcast at all times. She didn't have a slave collar, but that didn't make her braver.
Does Hasina treat her servants so harshly that they won't even look a guest in the eye?
Fen found other women lingering in the bathrooms, adjusting their hair and makeup.
"Well, if it isn't the royal concubine," a woman in a red gown purred. "I don't think I've ever seen a slave go from the arena to a prince's bed so quickly. Especially the Chaste Prince."
Fen laughed politely. "That prince is far from chaste," she said, with a salacious wink that had the women chittering with giggles.
"Oh, tell us more," another woman said. "He's always been so stand-offish that we've all steered clear of him. Is he good?"
And you'll stay far away from him if I have any say in the matter, Fen thought protectively.
"The best I've ever had. On Geb, they don't make cocks so big or the men with such staying power. I'm surprised I can even walk straight today. This party is the only rest I've had in days," Fen replied, setting the women off again into peals of laughter.
She locked herself in one of the toilet rooms before they could ask any more questions. She didn't know if she had just made things better or worse for Khan's reputation. She decided it didn't matter. If they gossiped about him to Hasina or the Pharaoh, it should be that he was using her the way he claimed; for sex and entertainment and nothing else.
Heat flushed up her neck, and she tried to regain some control. If this had been a normal party and Khan a normal man, she might have already tried to bed him.
It's too dangerous to think like that. She had to live with him for a year, and the thought of damaging their slowly budding friendship wasn't worth any sex.
Thankfully, the women were gone by the time Fen was done. Her makeup still looked in place, and she adjusted her curls over her shoulder. The dress was revealing, but she didn't look like a painted whore like the first time she had been sent to Khan. He certainly didn't treat her like one.
Fen moved out into the house and was finding her way back to the atrium where Khan was when a rune started to burn a warning against her skin. She looked about, trying to find the source of the threat. She moved through the crowd, smiling as she ducked around the jeweled and drunk guests.
Fen made it to the atrium in time to see a servant with a Sekhmet tattoo offering a glass of wine to Khan. Fen's runes burned all over her skin, so she reached for her power. Instantly, the room lit up, and the goblet Khan was accepting pulsed with the gray-green of malice…and poison.
Fen stopped herself from shouting to him and alerting his would-be assassin that she was onto them. She moved towards Khan, sparking her magic and making his head swivel in her direction. She softened her gaze, rolling her hips in a way that made his eyes drop to them. Fen slipped into his arms, putting her body between him and his wine cup.
"Hello, my prince," she purred. "I hope you missed me as much as I missed you."
Before Khan could reply, Fen bent her head and pressed her lips to his. The room hushed again, but Fen ignored it, slipping her hands into his black curls.
Khan was stunned beneath her for a full five seconds before his mouth began to move, and Fen's mind hazed. Khan knew how to kiss and did it well. His tongue toyed against the seam of her lips, and she opened for him, letting her tongue move against his.
She vaguely registered the cup being set down before his strong hands came around her, pulling her gently on top of him. One hand slipped up her thigh and rested over the top of her tattoo, his palm burning her through the thin fabric of her dress.
Freya, have mercy. He tasted so damn good, like wine, spice, magic, and man. Fen was drowning in him, the warmth and strength of his body underneath her, daring her to slip a hand inside his shirt to rest against his hammering heart.
Her runes burned a warning again that this wasn't the time or place to indulge in her desires. Fen forced herself to pull back from him. He looked up at her, eyes lust-dazed and pupils blown out. Goosebumps pebbled her too hot skin. No man had looked at her like that before.
"What did I do to deserve that?" he whispered, his voice huskier and deeper than usual. She brushed her thumb over his full bottom lip.
"Khan, that wine you were about to drink is poisoned." Khan's eyes went wide, and he began to look about the room. "No, don't react. We need to get you out of here right away."
The lust vanished from his expression like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him. "What do you think we should do?"
Fen's fingers curled into his hair. "Pretend we are lusty, drunk idiots that need to slip away?"
