Page 55 of Lady Knight and the Thief

His gaze swept down her body once more, dancing over her lips and down her neck. “The hunger. If you don’t,” he gestured with his hand, clearly uncomfortable.

Cypress could connect the dots well enough.

“You mean I’m going to feel this…Until I,” she swallowed, “-have sex?”

Torren nodded, but then added with a shrug, “Well, to be precise, until you cum, Lass. The feeling in your veins will drive you mad.”

Cypress blinked. “Surely it will fade?” she asked, fingers beginning to tremble. She already felt half-crazed–like she’d let him ravage her right here, despite the animosity between them.

Torren shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lass. I would have told ye if I thought you had Fair Folk blood.”

Cypress herself had believed that she was entirely human.

No abilities had ever shown themselves to her, and she’d been at the human orphanage all her youth. With no one to ask and no indicators otherwise, Cypress considered herself human. Until now.

“It’s not your fault,” she said, clenching her thighs together. Then, she slipped under Torren’s arm and out of the alcove.

“Where are you going, Lass?”

Cypress raised an eyebrow in his direction. “This way?” She replied, hooking a thumb over her shoulder.

“Did you not hear what I just said?”

“I did… was there something else?” Cypress needed to get away from Torren before she took his proximity as an invitation.

Now that she could name the feeling she was experiencing, Cypress felt a little less helpless, a little less crazed.

Torren rubbed his face and heaved a deep breath. “Nope, I just thought you should know.”

Cypress nodded, then walked away from the Prince with her head held high. This was an absolutemess.She didn’t stop when she reached the doors to the throne room, or for anyone who greeted her in the halls.

When Cypress reached the deep purple door to her rooms, she let out a breath of relief. Once inside, she would take care of the problem herself and then rejoin the party.

This time, though, she would take care not to drink the infernal Pixie Wine.

Cypress collapsed in a heap on the bed, then arranged her pillows behind her head, and pulled her skirts up around her hips.

18

Lose our heads

Torrenspenttheremainingportion of the evening entertaining his guests, as was customary. He dutifully danced the evening away, toasted to the health of Faerie, and conferred with those in his council.

And still, he could not tear his mind from the way Cypress had felt under his hands, how her breath had caught when he inched closer, pressing her back against the wall.

Perhaps he should not have indulged in the Pixie wine either, as he was struggling to control himself as well. He’d already turned down several offers from those within his court, though usually he would have done otherwise. It was much, much laterwhen Torren left the celebrations in search of Cypress. She hadn’t reappeared within the throne room all evening, as he had hoped.

Hopefully, the Lass had found some companionship that suited her for the evening. It felt rude to ask such a thing, but still, Torren owed it to Cypress to check on her before retiring.

Moonlight filtered through the open windows, casting the white bark of A’aravos Paravale with a barest of blue tints. Torren tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked the halls, nodding respectfully to those whom he passed.

When he rounded the final corner, which led to the hall where her room was located, Torren heard the slightest of sounds. He kept walking, undeterred.

When the Prince of Faerie raised his fist to knock on her plum-colored door, the noise came again. Torren was intimately familiar with the sounds that women would make in the throes of pleasure–this was not it.

A pained, breathy sob echoed through the door. Torren pressed his face against the wood, ears straining to catch the sound.

As soon as the sound came again, Torren immediately knew Cypress was within the chambers and wasnothaving a good time. Without thinking, he burst through the door, expecting the worst.