I’d rather tongue you,” she admitted. “I thought I’d feel a little murderous in this dress, perfect for my lessons. Imagine my astonishment when I discovered I’m not an evil queen at all.” A flush tinged her cheeks as she nipped his bottom lip. “You’re looking at an evil seductress, baby, and she is desperate to suck you off.” Another nip. “Do you want me to?”
“Yes!” He didn’t mean to shout, but he would die if she didn’t wrap those ruby lips around his length.
“Then I will...later. Probably.”
He swallowed a groan. “Do not play with your male, Chantel.”
“Baby, all I’m gonna do is play.” A temptress like no other, she slowly eased from his clasp. Her eyes gleamed. “I told you. Evil.”
He shot out his arms to yank her back into his embrace. Pressed together again, he warned, “There will be consequences for teasing me.”
“I’m counting on it.” Her smile never faltered. “If you’re a good baby boy, I’ll let you come on my tongue while I drink you down.”
The things this woman made him crave. “Today’s lesson is officially canceled,” Kaysar bellowed to one and all as he tightened his hold on his prize.
“Jareth,” Chantel called, dancing out of Kaysar’s hold. “You can look now. The lesson officially begins.”
“I’m here, I’m here.” Eye raced into the room, carting a tray of varying tartlets. “I bring the snacks you’re soon to demand, your majesty.”
Kaysar strove for calm as the whole world conspired against him. “Chantel, this is Eye the something or other. Our oracle. Eye, this is Chantel the Briar Rose. My...mine.”
“Is she the one who will show me Pearl Jean and Sugars?” Chantel asked. “And did you call me Briar Rose?”
“My teammates get nicknames,” he told her with a shrug.
“I can’t do it, I’m sorry,” Eye blurted out. “Kaysar didn’t wait around to hear my response to his demand. I’m unable to see into the mortal world.”
Kaysar rubbed the center of his chest again. First, “Chantel opted not to greet her citizens, now the oracle contradicted his claim.
Chantel returned to rest her head against his shoulder and pet him where he’d rubbed, the simple actions calming him. She kept her gaze on the oracle. “Is Eye short for...something else maybe?”
“My given name is Ambrosine,” the girl replied. “Ambrosine Adriene.”
“Hmm. Do you have a nickname?” Chantel asked.
“Amber.” Eye shrugged. “That’s what you prefer to call me, anyway.”
“How do you—Oh.” Chantel gave a husky chuckle, and he kissed her brow, treasuring the sound. “Never mind. The seer sees. I shouldn’t be shocked.”
How much of her future had the oracle witnessed? Kaysar had refrained from inquiring or seeking images, because he was too...he wasn’t sure. Not afraid. He didn’t do fear. Discounting the times he had, in fact, feared. But he might be a jot...uncertain when it came to knowing how to be in a relationship. Did he really want the future interfering with the present?
“I’m Cookie.” She cast Kaysar a pensive glance. “As I navigated this maze of a castle, I experimented with possible titles for myself. Chantel the Briar Rose is great, but I don’t want everyone in Astaria calling me Chantel. Only you. So what do you think of Cookie the Uncrumbled?”
“A designation is given, not chosen,” Jareth said, deciding to insert himself into the conversation. The barest hint of bitterness had infiltrated his expression. “Lulundria was known as the Kindhearted. A label to strive—”
Kaysar flittered and gripped the prince by the throat. “Perhaps you’d like to take a moment to rethink your comment to my honored companion, Jareth.” Before, he’d noticed how much the barb about “normal” had bothered her. What was normal, anyway? “I shouldn’t have to remind you that Cookie the Uncrumbled is perfect, just as she is.”
Fury mottled the male’s skin as he fought to breathe.
“No need to injure my tutor.” Chantel glided over and folded her fingers around Kaysar’s wrist to draw back his hand. “I get it. He misses his wife, and he seeks her substitute. We can’t blame him for that.”
He opened his grip at once, freeing the prince, who sucked in a mouthful of air. Chantel—his Chantel—had spoken kindly about a Frostline who had insulted her.
Eye and her tray of tartlets inched backward.
Was Chantel experiencing the princess’s emotions, without realizing it? A development he hadn’t anticipated.
He clasped his belo—beliked mistress’s hand, linking their clawed fingers. Holding on, lest she escape him. Then he flittered her to the throne, wanting no one else to hear his next words. “You will begin your