“That’s kind of offensive.” I glanced at the door.
“Yeah, well, it’s too late to get you out of here. If he gets a real good look at you, he’ll know you’re with the Order.”
I started to frown. “How will he know?”
“He just will.”
Who was the guy that was coming?
“You’re going to have to pretend like you like me.”
“I don’t know if I can do that.” I turned to him.
“Do you think all the fae are as stupid as the three you managed to kill?” He glared at me, and surprised flickered through me. “They will figure it out. This one will definitely figure it out.”
I waved him off and started to turn, but the sound of voices on the other side of the door grew close.
“Damn it,” he muttered, and then his arm snaked out. Without warning, he slid into the booth, hauling me into his lap. Like legit into his lap, one leg tossed over his, the other curled against the cushion of the chair. The skirt of my dress rucked up, exposing most of my thighs. One wrong move, and my behind would definitely be on display.
Gasping, I immediately planted my hands on his chest and pushed back as I tried to scramble off his lap. We’d been closer than this last night, but this was different, because for some inane, annoying reason, I kept seeing her—Alyssa—with her hand on his arm and his face buried in her neck.
“Stop,” he seethed. His arm was like steel around my waist as he tugged me back so I was flush with his chest. His eyes burned with irritation. “You better be really good at acting.”
My fingers dug into his shirt. We were way too close. My senses were firing off in every direction, causing my head to spin. His hand slid up my back, sending a wave of acute shivers down my spine.
“Because when the door opens, and he figures out who and what you are, I’m going to have to kill him and then I’m going to be really, irrevocably pissed, because apparently there may be some shit going down here,” he continued, curling his hand around the nape of my neck and holding my head in place. “So, sunshine, you better fake it till you make it.”
Chapter 22
My face was currently shoved against the Prince’s throat. Not that I had much of a choice. His grip was like a vise along the back of my neck, keeping my face hidden.
His thumb smoothed over the tense muscles of my neck, reminding me at that very moment that while he held me in place, his grip was gentle.
Later, I was going to have to examine all my life choices that had led me right to this very moment.
“Keep your face hidden, sunshine.” Caden’s voice was soft as his other hand landed on my thigh. “No matter what.”
The door opened before I had a chance to respond and I heard an unfamiliar voice say, “I was surprised when they said…”
He trailed off, and I imagined it was because he wasn’t expecting to see a woman in Caden’s lap.
Luckily my face was buried in his neck, because I was sure even with all the makeup on, my face was as red as an overripe tomato.
A throat cleared and then the male said, “This is unexpected.”
“Isn’t it?” Caden squeezed my thigh as I let out a low growl. “Hope you don’t mind. I don’t want her getting into trouble.”
“I can see where she would get in… a lot of trouble.”
I was going to kill the Prince, straight up stab him in the chest with an iron stake. Better yet, I should’ve just let him die.
A door closed. “So, am I interrupting?”
“Not at all,” Caden replied. “Just enjoying an evening snack when you interrupted me.”
What in the hell? That comment was so not necessary.
Who I was guessing was Neal let out a low laugh, adding to my irritation. Sliding my hands up and around his shoulders, I dug my fingers into his hair and pulled hard enough that he had to fight the motion of his head jerking back.
Caden’s other hand came down on my ass. Hard.
I yelped.
Both males chuckled.
I was going to kill him, so help me God, I was going to—
His hand smoothed over the stinging area and he squeezed. I bit down on my lip as I eased up on his hair. The sting… it burned. Muscles in my thighs tensed as a rush of heat flooded me.
Oh God…. I thought I… I thought I liked that, and that was bad, very bad considering my ass had just been slapped in front of someone.
“Not sure I’d want this one as a snack,” Neal replied, and I rolled my eyes.
Caden continued kneading the area with his large hand, and if he thought that was going to make the burn go away, he was wrong. The burn was spreading. “Oh, I plan to keep snacking on this one.”
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.”