Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
I planned on kneeing him in the junk.
“You wanted to speak with me?” the Prince asked.
“I do.” The voice was closer, and then I sensed that he sat at the booth. “I was surprised when I saw you on the security camera. You’ve been… back for two years now and not once have you come here.”
“So, is this how you greet all newcomers?” Caden’s hand drifted off my rear. That was a good thing—a great thing. At first. Because now his hand was on my bare thigh and his long fingers had slipped under the hem of my dress. My eyes widened. What was he doing?
“Only newcomers like you.”
“I feel special,” Caden replied.
“You should.” There was a pause and then Neal asked, “So, what brought you here after all this time?”
Wanting to see who Caden was talking to, I managed to move an inch, and it was the wrong move because it put me more solidly in his lap. The Prince’s hand stilled and tensed, holding me still.
Was he…?
Holy smokes, there was no mistaking the thick, hard ridge straining against my inner thigh.
I did not know what to think about that, but my body… Oh God, my body was way on board with what his body was doing, and that was wrong, just as wrong as me liking it when he smacked my ass.
“Did you know there were some missing younglings from the Summer Court?” The Prince’s thumb began to move again, in a slow, idle slide across my inner thigh.
“I did not, but that is unfortunate to hear,” Neal replied. “Do you think they have been here?”
“Possibly. I ran into one of the missing younglings last night. There was something odd about him.”
“How so?” Neal sounded bored.
“His eyes were… wrong. So black I couldn’t even see a pupil.”
“Well, that does sound bizarre.”
“Does it?” Caden asked carefully. “You know what’s even more bizarre is that there’s apparently a substance that can rob a fae of their free will and the substance apparently has a neat little side effect.”
“Changes their eye color, I assume?”
I felt Caden nod.
“That is interesting, but I don’t see how it has anything to do with my place.”
“Do you know what that substance could be?”
There was a pause and then Neal said, “I have never heard of any substance that could have that kind of impact on a fae.”
Now that was definitely a lie.
“I have a question for you,” Neal said. “Heard through the grapevine that several of my… associates ran into an issue at Flux last weekend.”
“They did,” he answered, and I tensed. “And you should have better associates.”
Wait. If Neal was somehow connected to Tobias, then wouldn’t he be connected to Alyssa? I curled my fingers around the neckline of Caden’s shirt.
“So, you’re the reason why Tobias is no longer among us?” Neal asked, and I was a little surprised that this fae would speak so freely in front of me. He had no idea who I was.
Then again, based on my current position, he probably wasn’t worried about what I’d say or do. He probably thought I was glamoured.
“I am,” the Prince replied.
He’d just lied.
Holy crap, Caden had just lied for me, and he could’ve said anything, but he took responsibility for what I’d done. I didn’t know how to process that.
Neal snorted. “Tobias was an idiot.”
“True.” His hand was moving again, and every fiber of my being zeroed in on its travels. “Why would Tobias be meeting with Aric?”
“He was?”
“And you don’t know why he was at Flux?”
“I figured he was there to fuck and feed as most do.”
I wrinkled my nose.
“And they can’t do that here?” Caden asked.
“My establishment is a bit more… high class than that.” Neal sighed. “You know, I have heard something else through the grapevine. From what I hear, Aric is wanting to test the loyalty of the fae here.”
“Loyalty to the Queen?” he asked, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
Neal didn’t answer vocally, but I was assuming he must’ve nodded, because the Prince asked, “Is Aric planning to find a way to contact the Queen?”
“That is something you’d have to ask him, but if I was a betting man, I would say yes,” Neal responded. “Aric wants to be more than a Knight. He wants to be a King.”
What the….?
The Prince scoffed at that as his hand crept farther under the dress, those fingers reaching the crease between my thigh and pelvis, causing me to gasp. His other hand squeezed the base of my neck, the touching oddly reassuring.
And that made no sense. So it had to be him. His scent was… it was doing strange things to my common sense, but he smelled amazing. A wicked spice and fresh scent that permeated. The skin of his throat was right there, scant inches from my lips. If I opened my mouth, I could taste him.