Yep. There it was. A soft glow.
A pretty soft glow.
“How weird,” I murmured, unafraid because I’d spent over four months in that world and I’d seen some amazing stuff, all of it beautiful, so at that point glowing tea didn’t faze me.
I hooked my fingers around the delicate handle, lifted it to my nose and took a sniff.
“Wow,” I breathed.
It smelled divine. Like peppermint mixed with licorice and vanilla.
It was clear this was herbal tea and I wondered if they provided it to soothe you and help you get to sleep. Or if Apollo had ordered it for that reason.
The one thing I knew, that smell was certainly soothing.
And I could use some soothing. I could also use some warm in my belly. The fire was great but I’d learned in my time in Lunwyn that I wouldn’t be warm and toasty until I was under the covers.
I put the top back on the pot and poured a cup, grinning in fascination as I noted the glitter dancing in the tea.
No wonder it glowed.
I took a cautious sip and closed my eyes slowly.
Bliss.
I then took a not-cautious sip, enjoyed it immensely and put the cup down. I moved to the bed, pulled up my skirts and tugged off my boots. I was also wearing tights of a fine, soft cream wool. I pulled those down too.
And felt them slide magnificently across every inch of my skin.
Although that hadn’t happened the times I’d done it before, I wasn’t surprised. The wool of my tights wasn’t cashmere, but its softness was close. And it was warm, so it wasn’t a surprise the coolness of the room hitting my legs when I lost that warmth made me tremble.
I went to my trunk, unlocked it and threw it open, tossing the tights inside and grabbing a nightgown that I’d laid on top.
It was unfortunate at this juncture with the sleeping arrangements that all my nightgowns were awesome, as in awesomely sexy. But I was hoping to be under the covers before Apollo saw one.
I went back to the table and nabbed the cup, taking two more quick sips as I walked back to the bed. I tossed the nightgown on the bed to free my hands to take off my dress, but when I’d done that, I didn’t take off the dress.
I wrapped both hands around the warm cup and drank more of that heavenly tea.
Then more.
And I did this because I suddenly wasn’t sipping tea.
I was experiencing it, an explosion on my taste buds and a warmth that spread through me from inside to out.
My eyelids got heavy as I took another sip and became vaguely conscious of every inch of my skin. This was because it was tingling in a way I really liked. I took one hand from the cup and wrapped it around my belly to hold myself as I experienced it.
“Fabulous,” I whispered, lifting the cup and drinking in more.
Suddenly, my legs were restless, moving without me telling them to. My knees went back and forth, rubbing my thighs together, the friction warming them and sliding up between my legs, an area I noted just then was drenched with wet.
“Oh God,” I breathed, looking into the glittering dregs of the tea.
This wasn’t right.
My hand moved from my waist over to my belly and down and I couldn’t stop it.
God, I had to touch myself, now.