Page 83 of A Courage of the Chosen

“Thank you, Lord Fettis. I do hope to get a proper introduction with your wife soon. She seems delightful.”

The woman in question glares at me, and Lord Fettis completely misses the sarcasm lacing my voice.

“That your last one?” Callahan asks as I turn to face him.

I shake my head and he glowers. “I’ve got Lady Navin left.”

“Well, hurry up. I keep growling at people when they stare at you for too long, I’m nearing my limit.”

I chuckle as I lean into him briefly. “Alright, I’ll go find her. And then I’m all yours.”

Our connection hums with the promise of pleasure, and heat simmers in the steely depths of his eyes. It follows me as I head back into the throne room.

One more conversation before I peel that jacket off his shoulders and kiss every inch of him.

Chapter 23

Elsie

The door thuds closed as Callahan pushes me up against the wall in the entryway of my room, hitching one of my legs high around his hip. Our movements are frenzied. Hands everywhere, and mouths bruised as we claim each other.

Despite my promise to him, I stayed in the throne room until most people had left. After my conversation with Lady Navin, it seems there was a stream of Seelie wanting to make polite small-talk with me. And as much as I was desperate to leave and be alone with Callahan, it was important to me that they felt they could come to me as their queen. So I stayed. Answered their questions. Tried to address their concerns, and offer them reassurances that we are doing everything we can to bring an end to the war.

The end result was hours of slow teasing for Callahan and I. And the more I drank, the more I wanted his hands on me.

Every time we looked at each other, I almost dragged him into a darkened corner, and let him do what he vowed in his stares and barely-there touches. He hovered behind me most of the night, and the way he glowered at people when they got too close prevented them from staying for more than a few minutes. I could feel the heat underneath the entire time. The way he was counting down until he got me to himself.

It was thrilling.

Now that we’re alone, we’re not wasting a single second.

“Dhia, Elsie. You’re going to kill me.” He lifts me into his arms, shoulders the second set of doors open, and strides to my bedroom while nipping along my neck with his teeth.

“Right back at you, Cal,” I pant as he sets me down on my feet.

He cups my face in his hands, and kisses me breathless another time before dropping to his knees.

Seeing a man as powerful and steadfast as Callahan kneeling before me is dizzying, and I place a hand on my stomach as I breathe in and out slowly. I’m fuzzy with wine, and a desperate ache that only he can soothe.

“Foot,” he beckons, reaching for an ankle.

He grasps me by my lower calf, and lifts so he can undo the straps of the sparkling blue heels beneath my gown. He presses his thumb into the balls of my toes and then slides it down the center of my foot, eliciting a low moan from me at the sensation.

He does the same thing on my other foot, and the noises I make are downright pornographic.

“Keep moaning like that and I’m going to ruin this dress.”

My eyes snap open and frown down at him. “Don’t. She’s too pretty,” I say, running my hands along the fabric.

“Turn around then,” he demands and slowly gets to his feet. I do as he bids, giving him my back as his hands trail up the outside of my thighs.

He groans.

“What?” I ask, turning my head to look at him over my shoulder.

“There are a million fucking buttons on this thing,” he grouses, referring to the dainty buttons that follow the path of my spine.

“Best get to it, then.”