Page 132 of Reaper’s Curse

I needed her, but stronger than my need was my desire. My passion for all that she was, all that she would ever be. And when our relationship moved to that next level, it would not take place in a semi-public garden. She deserved comfort and privacy, the best of all things that I could provide her.

Holding my animalistic urges (and needy hands) in check…because, reaper help me, I wanted to explore her plunging neckline…I bestowed my devotion upon her in a lover’s passion. Kissing her fiercely over and over, without end.

Roses bloomed, and stars fell as the night sky and the wispy mists of ether hugged our bodies and honored our union. We were consumed in our moment. Commanding and worshiping.

A posed cough signaled the arrival of an unwanted third party.

“What?” I growled and, keeping Raven safe within the cage of my arms, turned my head and cast a hard glare over my shoulder.

At my back, Raven’s friend…servant…whatever…the guy I now knew as Lucas…shifted uncomfortably. “Terribly sorry to interrupt this most beautiful moment, but the crown prince insisted I retrieve you immediately.”

I grunted. “Then it is time?”

“I don’t know to what you are referring, but I would assume so. Yes. I shall await you by the door.” Lucas pointed toward the gala and then quietly slipped away through the garden.

I turned back to Raven. Her lips were swollen, blurred with the red of her lipstick…just the way I liked it…and a kaleidoscope of questions filled her gaze.

“You and Winter are up to something.” Her brow pinched.

I nodded.

“Even after what happened yesterday?”

I chortled and brushed a soft kiss to her lips. “Even so,” I murmured. “I promise to behave.”

“Meet me back here afterwards?” Her fingers glided down my exposed chest, traced the lines of my tattoo chains, and my body burned in response.

Jolted with something akin to static electricity. My desire for her thickened, stretching my pants uncomfortably.

“And if for some reason we miss each other…” She dipped and pressed a kiss between my pectorals.

A groan rumbled at the back of my throat. “You’re making it very difficult for me to walk away from you right now.”

I yanked at her hips, tugging her to me. Even with her large feathery skirt, we fit perfectly together. She smiled, a wicked little thing, and placed another kiss on the underside of my chin.

“If we miss each other later, you can likely find me in my room.” She raised a finger, indicating a bird-mobbed terrace in a long wall of terraces.

Of course hers would be teeming with crows. My mouth ticked up in a humored grin. Swinging my attention back to her, I brushed my lips against her temple.

“Now I know how to always find you. Just follow the crows,” I whispered, then drew back and cupped her face, pressed my forehead to hers. “I’ll try to be quick.”

“Do that,” she replied as I reluctantly stepped away, collected my mask, and crossed the garden to Lucas’s location.

I left her pressed against the wall, partially hidden between twisted cypress trees, glowing like the moon in the sky. Damn the gods, I hated walking away from her.

I veered straight for the male in waiting while tying my mask back in place.

“Um, sire,” Lucas drawled. “You have a little…”

He twisted a finger in the air, motioning to my face and upper body.

I glanced down at Raven’s brand upon me, her ruby lipstick clinging to my skin. I had half a mind to leave it, let Winter see her mark upon me. But…our tentative relationship would be better served if I cleaned up before rendezvousing with the prince of pricks.

Winter’s boorish stare burned my skin. Ever since I’d met up with the prince, the male had been finding it difficult to keep his eyes off me.

I supposed it was due to the fact that I had been unable to successfully wipe away all the evidence of my time with Raven. My lips were still mildly swollen, my skin a brighter pink in all the places her mouth had been.

Winter’s displeasure was another delight in my already extraordinary night.