Page 57 of Lady Knight and the Thief

“I’m going to fix it,” Torren agreed with a nod, trying to think of any of his friends who would be a suitable match for the Lass. Or rather, someone that Cypress wouldn’t destroy within the evening.

Intimately, he knew Cypress would be too much for many of his friends. She’d been up here for countless hours attempting to pleasure herself, to bring relief to the burning in her veins.

In his experience, that meant it would take quite a while for the effects of the Pixie Wine to be satisfied, even with a competent lover.

Torren himself felt that thrum, that heady scent of arousal thick in his nose. He, too, would need to find a partner for the evening once he solved this for Cypress. But which of his friends would be best suited for the Lass?

Rhene was far too devoted a man for a job like this. Ellisar was still at the camp at the edge of the Wylds. Who else could he ask such a thing from?

“Good boy,” Cypress crooned, then crossed the distance between them and pressed her body flush against his. The contact sent his pulse skyrocketing, his cock tenting his pants.

Her distinct eyes gazed up at him through thick lashes. The small crown of vines still adorned her now unruly hair, her body warm against his.

And then, Torren’s brain caught up with the look in her eye, and reality came crashing toward him.

“Me?” he asked, arms coming to band around her waist despite himself, keeping her body flush against his.

“Yes, you. Everything that’s happening right now is by your hand,” She countered, a small smile on the corner of her lips in complete contrast with the furrowed brow and glare she was sending him.

“I highly doubt I can take credit forallof this,” Torren countered, trying to control himself, but their hips pressedflushed together was a special kind of madness he was having a hard time resisting.

“If you didn’t try to steal the scepter from Cade’s tent, we never would have met. I would never have come to the Wylds, never would have tried Pixie Wine,” She said, fingertips dancing across his bare chest. “If you had warned me properly, I never would have drunk so much of it, or retreated into my rooms and fucked myself mercilessly in an attempt to fix it.”

Cypress’s voice was like silk against his skin, arousal flooding his body. Torren couldn’t hear anything other than her breath in his ear, couldn’t focus on anything other than the shape of her lips.

“I could apologize again, if you’d like,” Torren said with a smirk, fingers tightening on her dress as he struggled to keep his thoughts in order.

“I’d rather you just make it feel better,” Cypress replied in a breathy voice, shifting in place within his embrace.

“I’m afraid I am not, uh,” Torren began, eyes rolling back in his head at the press of her lips against his chest. He took a breath, then another to master himself.

“I also drank the wine, Lass. I’m not sure either of us can really make this choice in our current states,” he tried, though his grip on Cypress’s waist revealed the torment he was in.

“Don’t patronize me,Thief. I know what I’m asking of you.”

Torren attempted once more to sway her. “What if I don’t like the idea of compromising you like this?”

“I am not a commodity or a good for you to trade and assess value upon, Torren.”

“One of us needs to keep a level head here, Lass,” he said, groaning with torment as she slid her hands beneath his jacket, caressing his skin.

“Torren, if you don’t fix this, I will not be held liable for what I do to you instead,” Cypress warned, her nails rasping over his back.

“Let me think for a moment, Lass, will you?” Torren said, breathing deeply, even if his hands were still clutched around her waist.

Cypress took a step back, and Torren couldn’t help it; his fingers reached toward her receding form. “Don’t think too long, Thief,” She said in a low, husky voice.

Torren couldn’t tear his gaze away from Cypress, her hair tousled, skin flushed in a beautiful gown he couldn’t wait to remove the rest of the way. But could he? If it were any other woman in this position, he would of course do what needed to be done. Madness from Pixie wine was a horrendous ordeal to go through alone.

Torren gripped the footpost of the bed with a shaking hand, trying to master his arousal andthink.

Cypress was Captain of the Prince Guard, and Torren knew she was loyal to Caelith and Cade, likely to a fault. It was foolish– beyond it – to even be considering this, rather than finding someone he trusted to help the girl.

And yet, Torren found himself saying something else entirely.

“Fine. I’ll help, ye Lass,” He started, voice thick. “But only that. I’ll help ye get rid of the heat, the madness. Nothing more,” Torren warned, unable to look away from her lips.

“And you? How will you get rid of theheat, the madness?” Cypress asked, firing his words back at him.