The Kingdom's Crown (Inheritance of Hunger #3) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,84

to lift my head. I wasn't used to trying to hide my pleasure, wasn't even sure if I should in this moment.

I peeked out of my eyes. The room was staring. Even the dancers on the floor were really only trying to get a closer look at me and Daniel.

The snake stroked my clit, and I grabbed onto Daniel, holding my breath and pressing my cheek to his, releasing the smallest, quietest moan I could manage into his ear. He was growing hard against my hip, even as he moved us step by step in circles across the floor. The music suited the moment, swooping and keening through the air, bouncing from the glass and the gold moulding.

Stars, my mother was watching.

Forget them. Forget them all.

I found Daniel's gaze as the snake picked up its pace, Aric determined to push me through any reservations. I'd chew his ear off for not warning me later. I'd kiss him and thank him too. I was allowed to do both.

"You're beautiful," Daniel said with a soft smile. "Any man would be mad to think he deserved you. Except maybe Owen."

My laugh turned into a soft cry, and Daniel kissed me sweetly, not minding the iron grip I had on his shoulders or the way I wasn't even trying to dance now, just allowing him to carry me along.

"Make something every bit as beautiful as you. Something they can't ignore. Can't explain."

I nodded, pleasure racing in my veins, my legs and hands going numb. I softened my grip on Daniel so I would be sure not to accidentally push it into him. The snake was wrapped around my legs, head working at my clit, tail teasing my opening.

"You take me somewhere dark and private as soon as we are done here," I hissed.

"Yes, Your Highness," Daniel said with a broad grin. "I'll still fuck you until you scream my name for them all to hear."

I was sure Thao had put him up to that, but it didn't matter, the thrill of the threat and Aric's determined playing pushed me off one side of the precipice and into a dizzying free fall. My arms fell from Daniel's as he spun and spun and spun us in place. Gasps joined mine, a groan and creak of metal, a chink and crack of glass, the abrupt snag of the music coming to a halt as I shuddered and bit my lip through my climax.

Above me, chandeliers twisted into tangled wreaths and vines, ruby blossoms dripping down with emerald leaves. And in the windows too, flowers grew right into the glass panes, made of precious jewels, distorting the reflection of Daniel holding me in the center of the ballroom, of my mother standing at the head of the table, her eyes wide and mouth parted in shock, of Camellia, snarling across the room from me.

Quick thrusts within the circle of my thighs, skin slapping wetly, pleasure sizzling through me to my fingertips before being reined in again. Aric's kiss was rough and hungry, tongue licking in, barely giving me room to speak or make a sound. Which was fine, since Daniel had already kept to his word of making me scream his name as he fucked me in a barely private alcove of the hall.

Aric's hips snapped once more, and I moaned into the kiss, holding tight to this latest burst of magic, my hands fisted in his shirt beneath his open coat. He pulled away at last, breathing roughly against my ear.

Then he began to chuckle. My eyes narrowed at the smug sound, and I pinched his back.

"What's that for?" we both snapped.

I tried to shift away, but Aric's hands on my ass held me in place, keeping himself buried even as he started to soften.

"Excuse me for having a moment of amusement that I just fucked my princess in a castle hall," Aric said.

I sighed and kissed his jaw. "You fucked me in the Winter Palace hall once."

"Mmm, suppose it felt a bit more like home there. At least toward the end. Here is still…very much another world to me."

I couldn't argue that, so instead I kissed him, my legs trembling as he loosened his grip and let me unwrap them from around his waist.

"Someone is coming," Daniel whispered from where he'd been standing guard in the hall. "Shit, Bryony, it's your—"

"For fuck's sake, just get on the floor." Camellia's sharp tone echoed off the floor.

"No! Enough. I've had enough of you! Your behavior has been