Serpent's Touch (Serpent's Touch 1)
KYLLEN
He woke up but kept his eyes closed. Amira lay next to him, his arms around her.
The throbbing pressure between his legs announced a morning erection—something he hadn’t experienced for a while. He obviously had drunk enough water last night for this to happen. Taking a bath had certainly helped, too. He shifted his hips, but the rubbing against the cover only made it worse.
He carefully extended one sentie all the way to the headboard, then made it open its eyes.
A sentie’s field of vision was small. Using just one of them was like illuminating the room with a flashlight instead of turning on the overhead light. But it was enough for him to see that Amira’s scarf was still firmly tied around her head, keeping her eyes closed. He rose on his elbow and studied her.
Even with that gray scarf hiding a big portion of her face, she was beautiful. She had no idea how gorgeous she was, and that might be a big portion of her appeal. She was genuine, someone he would’ve never encountered at his father’s court.
She stirred. “Kyllen?”
“Hm,” he hummed softly.
“You’re staring at me, aren’t you? I can hear your breathing right over my face.” She grinned, and he couldn’t control himself.
He leaned closer and kissed her lips. Self-control had never been one of his strongest qualities. And around her, it had been tested greatly.
She met his kiss with a soft gasp, but didn’t slap him or pull away.
His senties trembled with his eagerness to put them on her, but he held back, remembering how she’d reacted when he’d let them touch her before.
Amira ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders. She cupped his nape, then trailed her fingers to the back of his head. Her hands brushed by the base of several senties, sending a jolt of arousal to his groin. And he couldn’t hold back anymore. He let his senties loose.
They sank into her hair, filling his senses with its fragrance and the sensation of its silky texture. He coiled the senties around her fingers and hands, tasting her skin. He slid one along her check and inside her scarf, gliding the tip along the warm, delicate skin of her neck. The scent of her was the strongest there, and he savored every tendril.
She let go of his head, and he broke the kiss, afraid he’d startled her.
But she didn’t move away. Her lips still parted and glistening after his kiss, she trailed her fingers down one of his senties, spreading pleasurable shivers along his skin. He stifled a moan.
“Is that what you’re hiding under your hood?” Her voice held no fear or repulsion, just curiosity. She was a curious little thing.
“Senties,” he explained. “That’s one of the twenty-four I have.”
She coiled it around her wrist, her fingers stroking another one. It was the most sensual thing, Amira playing with his senties. He moaned again, this time openly.
“Does it feel good?” she asked.
“Very much so.” He thrust his hips her way. He was so hard, it surely could be felt through the covers.
“Oh.” She let go of his senties, freeing her wrist. “Sorry… I didn’t know.”
Great Serpent, he didn’t want her to let go. He wanted her to keep toying with his senties, to let him explore her body with them, inside and out. But she had already moved away and was now getting out of bed, holding on to the wall to guide her in her blindness.
“Wait.” He leaped out of bed, too, then tossed his tunic on over his head and donned his hood. “You can open your eyes now. It’s safe.” He neatly coiled his senties inside the hood, forcing them to calm down.
“Okay” She took the scarf from around her head and stood on the other side of the bed, facing him. “Oh.” She cleared her throat, and he realized she must be staring at his crotch.
The tent he had going on there was probably big enough to house Ghata’s entire menagerie. There was nothing to do about it but to stuff it into his pants, which he did, his erection, the tunic, and all.
Amira got busy by making the bed. “We should be going. It’s not a good idea to stay in the same place for too long when the bracks are surely after us.”
She made a good point. Not that he planned to linger in this hotel, anyway.
“We can get breakfast in the city,” she said. “Then figure out the best way to get to France.”
He looked longingly at the bathroom door. It had felt divine submerging his entire body into a tub of water last night. He wished he could do it again, instead of facing the biting winds outside. But Amira was right. The sooner they started on their way, the quicker they’d reach their destination. The baths in Lorsan were by far superior to anything this world had to offer, anyway.
“You’re not planning to gamble today, are you?” Amira asked quietly when they left their room.
“No. We have enough money. Right?” He had a stack of the paper money stuffed in each of his boots. Amira hid the rest in the pockets of her sweatshirt that seemed bottomless. “Besides, I don’t think they would let me play roulette again, and I can’t manipulate card games for a sure win.”
“Then we probably should sneak down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.”
He heard concern in her voice, and fear. She was afraid of the pathetic human men who tried to con him last night. Of course, they’d be disappointed that he deprived them of a chance to weasel his money from him. There was a chance they would try to stop him from leaving the premises.
Not that he cared. But Amira was worried.
“All right. Let’s take the stairs.” He let her lead him to a set of stairs, then down to the same door they had entered through with Rourke last night.
When he placed his hand on the handle of the door to the alley, another door opened down the hallway.
“Hey, mate, leaving already?” Rourke hurried their way. He wasn’t alone. Three equally sketchy individuals flanked him on both sides. “Didn’t you promise to play cards with us today?”
Promise was a strong word. He didn’t make promises lightly because for a fae the penalty for breaking them was too great. He never really made a promise to Rourke. He might have misled him into believing he was going to give him a chance to get his winnings back, but he certainly had no intentions of doing so.