The Kingdom's Crown (Inheritance of Hunger #3) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,89

grin in, tension tight in my grip around my Chosen's hands.

"Aric, was that wi—" Wendell breathed as the door shut behind us, but he stopped as I leapt at Aric.

I pushed him into the wall, slamming my mouth to his in a rough kiss. "You're wicked." Another kiss, and Aric held me to him, laughing and taking handfuls of my ass. "You're mad and horrible." I moaned as he wrapped his arms around me, bending me back as he licked his way into my mouth to devour the sound. "You're a genius, and I love you," I gasped as his lips traveled to my jaw and then my throat.

"I love you too, princess. Your indignation was the perfect tool to sell the fool's gold to the man," Aric rasped, nipping over my pulse before hauling me upright again, pushing me and swatting me on my rear. "We have to convince Nathan to let us move the magic. And to give up Kenneth, I suppose."

I laughed and bounced on my toes, linking my arm with Wendell's and stretching up to kiss his jaw. He was bemused, eyes bouncing between us with obvious questions on the tip of his tongue.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way," I said to Wendell before turning to Aric. "Which will be the greater sacrifice to swallow do you think?"

"Oh, definitely moving the magic," Aric said with a laugh.

I moaned, head thrown back and my fingers digging into the soft wet clay on the table, the same way Cosmo's fingers dug into the flesh of my hips as he thrust inside of me.

"Oh, stars! Cosmo, yes!"

Cosmo grunted, his speed picking up, patience finally breaking. My hips knocked against the table, barely cushioned by the muslin draped over. The legs squeaked against the floor, hushed beneath our grunts and cries.

"Come for me, little muse, make magic in that clay," Cosmo hissed, leaning against my back.

There was clay drying along my spine and on my breasts, smudged from and smeared from my interruption of Cosmo's work. I'd only come to see if he would join me for the afternoon of cards I'd arranged for the visiting nobles. He'd been scowling at his work, and I'd wanted to kiss into smiling again.

Half an hour later, and my dress was hanging down my arms, skirt rucked up around my waist, and it would surely all be ruined—the fabric, the start of Cosmo's sculpture, crushed in my fingers. He'd insisted, in my defense.

Cosmo's bucking grew wild as he gave up on me, more determined for his own finish, and the rare selfishness thrilled me. I fell with him, crying out his name, rocking back to meet him roughly until he was collapsing on my back, nudging me gently through the quake of my finish.

In my hands, clay roughened and grew hard, spindling around my fingers like a cage. I moaned and shuddered, landing on my elbows before I could fall into whatever I'd wrought.

Cosmo's arms circled my waist, dragging me back a little as he nuzzled into my neck. "We'll put it in the royal gallery."

I hadn't even noticed my eyes squeezing shut, but I opened them now and snorted. "We certainly will not."

"I like it. Sensual and scandalous."

I untangled my fingers from the strange globe made of twining rose vine and bryony blossoms and orchids. Inside, equally tangled, were two figures, joined but holding themselves open for the viewer to see the explicit union clearly.

"Not quite us," Cosmo said, kissing my cheek, reaching out to gently turn the globe.

One of the woman's hands was gripped tight around a vine, the other on her own breast. Her head was back, eyes shut and mouth open in obvious bliss. The man had his feet braced against the base, face furrowed in effort and determination, eyes fixed to where he penetrated the woman, his fingers digging into the flesh of her thighs.

I shook my head as arousal spiked in me.

"It's very good," Cosmo insisted.

"It's just magic though," I said. "That's like cheating, I think. There's no art in it if there's no effort."

"No effort! I object to that claim. I put forth a great effort." Cosmo rocked his hips against mine in demonstration, and I laughed, twisting to face him. He stepped back, grinning, and then pulled me toward the chair at the corner of his bright studio room. "I see your point, little muse, and I appreciate the reminder."

I leaned back against Cosmo's chest and stared at the strange object I'd made from