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Cardan’s wet tar eyes locked with hers across the festival. She had realized the moment she’d asked him not to drink for the evening that she’d grossly miscalculated how strongly he wanted to spite her. She was only thankful that he didn't partake in the nevermore that had been passed around by a few of the more wild faeries. They were now stunned in the hedge maze, starry eyed and petrified. Cardan was sprawled across a carved oak throne, his head tipped back, and his spidersilk shirt unbuttoned to his sternum. His crown was slipping down his tousled waves and was in danger of slipping off entirely with one wrong shift. She’d felt his gaze chasing her shadow all evening and a sharp, vicious grin told her she needed to go tend to him before he found a way to entertain himself. She sighed, recognizing that she would not be getting any further with negotiations tonight, and retreated to his side.
“Jude,” he said and her skin erupted into gooseflesh. His coal eyes watched her with amusement before meeting her gaze again. She would never get used to her name on his tongue.
The danger laced his voice as he invited her to walk with him through the maze. He held his elbow out and after a long moment she closed her eyes, collected herself, and tucked her arm into the crook of it.
She grimaced internally as the small flowers of the untrimmed hedge sprouted so many thorns that she was certain one unintentional bump into them would spill more blood than she could spare. She kept her face guarded though. His cruel smile never wavered and his eyes never strayed from her.
“Are you having fun tonight?” he asked and she frowned.
“I’m having as much fun as can be expected,” she said and his grin was delighted.
He turned her sharply in the maze and then turned her again. A servant with spiked ears and a curling tail held a tray of thimble-sized acorn cups and a crystal decanter of elderberry wine. Cardan pulled two thimbles from the tray and handed one to her.
“Drink with me,” he commanded and for a moment she was certain he was trying to weave a glamour. The air felt warm with magic and smelled of spice. A moment of clarity sent heat along the back of her neck and tips of her rounded ears when she realized that the heat and spice were from his breath, warm in the night air and too close to her. She took a step back and he took two steps closer.
She snatched the thimble from him and downed it in one go. Her head buzzed instantly and he looked surprised, as if he had only offered her a drink to taunt her. She pulled the other thimble from his loose grip and threw it back as well, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. His tongue darted out and he licked his own lips. Her head began to swim and for a long moment her thoughts whirred and then she conjured up a merrow, the merrow she'd imagined her sister might fall in love with, gifting her the ability to breathe underwater and crowning her with pearls. She sighed a longing sigh and Cardan’s hawk eyes were sizing her up.
“What?” he asked and her loose tongue betrayed her thoughts without any consideration for her desires.
“You want to bed a merrow?” he asked incredulously when her hand, the only loyal part of her, caught up with her sluggish brain and slapped her mouth shut.
“No, you're missing the point. Doesn’t all of that sound amazing?” she wrinkled her nose and laughed. Cardan looked a bit disconcerted.
She reached for another thimble, but Cardan grabbed another for himself and dismissed the servant. He downed his in a single gulp, not unlike Jude had moments before. He stared at her like he was searching for something clever or rude to say, but the wine had stolen all the interesting things from his lips. Her gaze dropped to those clever, rude lips.
She stared at the plum stain of wine on his lower lip, waiting for him to wipe it or lick it. Without warning, the image of Cardan at Locke’s party with golden stained lips rushed back to her. The girl kissing his mouth while the other kissed his calf.
She shoved him hard onto the bench and climbed into his lap. He let out a surprised grunt and asked “Jude? What are you doing?”
“Shut up,” came her response before she sucked the stain from his lips.
He stayed frozen for a long moment before his lips finally moved against hers. The pace was frenzied and his hands slid frantically from her hips to her waist to her back and down to her hips again. She was moving against him, finding a friction that she didn’t realize she had craved. He was pressing into her. Just when she thought a wave of pleasure would crash over her and drown her, a stupefied faerie with gilded lips stained with nevermore stumbled into their alcove.
It was enough to cause Cardan to shove her off his lap and send her to the ground. The faerie stumbled past, not aware they were there, but Jude was livid. Wordlessly, he stood from the bench and crouched down beside her. He plucked her hand from the gravel and examined it. A small trickle of blood pooled from a thin gash where gravel had been. He brushed the remaining dirt from her hand and she waited for some witty remark about dirt in her blood. His eyes met hers and he pulled her hand to his mouth and sucked it clean. She shivered.
“Not here,” he said and he yanked her up by her sore hand. She staggered dumbly to him and his lips ghosted hers. They stumbled through the maze, a tangle of lips and hands, until they reached the wine cellar.
Without breaking their kiss, he flicked his wrist and sent two vines to either door of the cellar and yanked the doors open. She stumbled in with him and the slamming of the doors jarred her back to reality. She was indignant that he’d shoved her to the ground only to kiss her all the way through the maze where anyone could have happened upon them at any time. It was hypocritical. She sank her teeth into his shoulder with all the force she could muster. He groaned at the pain and began undoing his buttons.
His freed tail swayed like a predator sizing up its prey. She gave it a hard yank and he groaned again. He worked on the zipper of her dress and she was alternating between kissing him and digging her claws into his back.
She slipped a hand down his back to the front of his pants, trying to yank the buckle undone.
“Someone’s in a hurry,” he muttered, his teeth grazing her neck before he soothed the spot with his lips.
“Don’t make me regret this,” she hissed.
He hummed in triumph as her dress slipped off her shoulders, revealing her exposed body. He grinned down at her, hungry, before trying and failing to unhook her bra. She let him fumble for several more moments before she showed him the clasp in the front.
“Devious,” he muttered, freeing her of the constraint and throwing it behind him. His hands reverently traced her body as he feverishly kissed her.
“Tell me you’re sober enough for this,” he demanded as his mouth left her own again to trace her breasts.
“I’m pretty sure all the alcohol evaporated the moment you touched me,” she groaned as his long fingers slipped under the hem of her thin cotton underwear.
“Good. I want you to remember every place I’ve been,” he murmured before plunging into her. She moaned and he set an unforgiving pace with his hands. It was mere minutes before stars were blurring the cellar ceiling and she was whimpering his name.
He pulled his hands free from her and slipped her underwear down to her thighs. His hands were replaced by something much larger, much thicker, and she groaned as he slowly sank into her.
“Is this okay?” he asked and she nodded, unable to find the words.
His fingers dug roughly into the swell of her hips with a bruising hold that was sure to leave marks tomorrow and every thrust was like a bolt of lightning coursing through her body.
Her moaning had become loud, so loud all those outside the cellar must surely have heard every sound, and she was falling apart around him. Her thighs trembled with the exhaustion of supporting her and her head tilted back as the wave of pleasure washed over her. Cardan’s gaze was locked firmly with hers as he followed, her name on his tongue like a prayer. They stayed entangled for a long moment, her head resting against his chest, his chin supported by her head.
When they pulled apart, gasping for air still, neither looked at each other while pulling their clothes back on.
“Forget this ever happened,” she said callously.
“I believe if I were the mortal and you were not, you still could not compel me to forget this,” said Cardan with an airy tone betrayed only by his wobbling tail.