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27
Erik could barely breathe. From the moment the doors opened, and she walked in, his entire body felt shaky, his fingers tingling. He wanted her. The primal creature that lurked deep inside him wanted to lay her out on the table in front of everyone. He wanted to feast on her wet sex and make her scream his name.
When she passed him to sit on his throne, the scent of her skin made him hard. He hadn’t had an erection in public in years, but that dress…and then the way she sang. Evangeline had always hated singing. She didn’t have the voice to carry at tune, but Mina’s voice was divine. As was the smile she gave the little girl who sang with her. A little girl she’d risked her own life to save.
His chest throbbed. Mina would be a great queen one day, he had no doubt about that, but more and more he found himself praying that she would behisqueen. Past be damned he didn’t care who she was or would be, all he knew was that he wanted her in his life. Needed her in his life. He couldn’t imagine living without her.
“What in the world could have you so distracted?” Mina asked, breaking him from his thoughts.
He smiled at her and leaned in, closing the distance between their chairs to whisper in her ear. “I am thinking about how delectable you look in that dress.”
She laughed and turned to whisper back. “And here I thought you might prefer me wearing nothing but this crown.”
“Hmm, why limit ourselves to just one option? I think we should explore both ideas.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she bit her lower lip, but before either of them could say anything more the music changed, and the doors to the great hall opened once more. He caught movement in front of their table and sighed, sitting back in his chair as Carlotta the matron of the wolves stepped forward.
“Princess, I have arranged a dance in honor of your birthday. Please, enjoy.” The woman extended her hand, and a troupe of scantily clad performers took their places in the open space at the center of the room.
There were men and women dressed in sheets of gauze, their bodies and hair painted to make them look like trees, or flowers. They stretched fabric around the edges of the floor to make it appear like a forest.
“What are they performing,” He heard Mina whisper to Lucy.
“It’s a surprise,” the witch chuckled.
She nodded and sat back, sipping her wine. He could already see the flush of it in her skin, and as the music began for the dance her eyes sparked with joy. He loved seeing her so excited.
Turning to see what sat before him, he watched a few dancers gathered together at the edge of the floor to make a great tree, and two females donned dark cloaks to climb the tree.
The music sped, and one figure dropped from her perch, falling dramatically to the ground. She rose brushing herself off, and as a third dancer appeared on the dance floor, he recognized the dance for what it was, as did Mina.
Grabbing his hand, she squeezed his fingers. “Oh, it’s the night we met.”
“Indeed.” He lifted her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips as two male dancers entered the scene. One was dressed as a wolf and the other was meant to be him.
The fight ensued gracefully as they killed the bone hound and rescued the women. He watched as the dancer who was meant to be Mina wrapped her arms around the man standing in his place.
He leaned over in his chair to whisper in the real Mina’s ear. “Now that embrace is new.”
She laughed. “But not an unwelcome image. “
Erik blinked watching as the dancers kissed, and began miming a carnal passion between the trees. The cloak fell from the woman’s shoulders, and her clothes were changed mid turn. The tree’s disappeared replaced by things to mimic the palace around them, and what had started as an embrace became—
Mina cleared her throat. “This is quite the performance.”
Beneath the table he noticed her legs pressed together. He sat close enough he could hear her heart race and smell her arousal. Inching closer, he brought her hand down to where his erection pressed against his pants. “I’d say that’s an understatement.”
Her head snapped around to meet his gaze for a moment, and her cheeks burned, but she didn’t pull away as she turned back to the dance. She merely crossed her legs and leaned into his shoulder.
To anyone else it would’ve looked like the two of them were being sweet, and in love, but if Lucy or someone else at his table cared enough to look, they would’ve witnessed her fingers massaging him through the leather of his pants, moving in time with the music.
Erik nuzzled her neck, kissing her pulse point, and when it all became too much, and the song came to an end he caught her wrist bringing her adventurous fingers to his lips again.
“That night will forever be one of the best in my preternaturally long life,” he said, and then released her to applaud the performance.
The troupe bowed as one, and Mina leaned forward lifting her glass in Carlotta’s direction. “Thank you, Matron. That was beautiful.”
The werewolf lifted her glass. “A beautiful beginning for a beautiful love story.”
