Inked

who gave him a reason to fight.
    I placed my hands on his shoulders, feeling the well-toned biceps that were hidden beneath the meticulous tunic.
    Trillian waited, his luminous blue eyes gazing down into my own dark ones. The invitation was there—unspoken, but there.
    As I raised up on the tips of my toes, pressing my lips against his, he wrapped his arms around me and I surrendered myself to his embrace.

3
    HIS caress enveloped me with the most glorious glow I’d ever felt, and his lips were soft, like golden taffy. He gently parted my lips with his tongue and all thoughts as to why this might not be a good idea fled.
    As he tightened his embrace, I could feel the outline of him pressing through his trousers, hard and eager, but he didn’t push, didn’t grind against me like some men would have.
    After a moment, I needed to catch my breath. As if reading my mind, he loosened his pressure on my lips. I quickly gulped air before once again, his mouth was on mine, his tongue playing lightly over mine. His touch navigated a serpentine path up my spine as he pressed his hand to my lower back. Then, slowly, he began to withdraw, easing his hands off me, pulling back inch by inch.
    I caught a ragged breath and stared at him. What the hell? I’d never felt such an intense kiss. Out of my mind with lust, I wanted his hands on my naked body, his fingers to slide over my breasts, along my stomach, to whisper their secrets between my thighs. The thought of him inside me electrified my body, and every muscle began to ache, I wanted him so much.
    He held up one hand. “Before this goes any further, let me warn you. If you sleep with me, you may find it hard to walk away. I’m one of the Charming Fae. Our bodies are saturated with sexual magic, and very few are immune to the effect. Make no mistake, if you fuck me, this will be more than a casual bedding.”
    I didn’t know what to say. I’d heard the rumors but they’d seemed exaggerated. Now, I wasn’t so sure.
    As he stepped back, part of me ripped away with him. “Don’t answer. I can wait, and I refuse to hurry your decision. Go do what you need to do, and tonight, when the sun sets, meet me at the front entrance of the Marketplace. We’ll find your prey and take him down.”
    He leaned in for another kiss, then stopped. When I moved toward him, he shook his head. “Not yet. Think it over, and then think it over again. The choice is yours. I want you, make no mistake about it. But you’re the one who has to extend the offer.” And then he turned and quickly slipped out the door.

    I caught up with Delilah and Menolly a few hours before dinner. Mother kept an anniversary clock from over Earthside on the mantel and though our time-telling system was different, we had learned both and used them interchangeably.
    We strolled down the street toward Lake Y’Leveshan, which was located at the southeastern end of the city. Midwinter and midsummer holidays were spent around the lake. Huge, it stretched so far, the other side was a distant blur. Boats dotted the surface, their crews angling for fish to sell in the markets.
    The shoreline was surrounded by lush vegetation. Long-bladed grass, knee high, grew thick around the lake, and the clearing was dappled with copses of maple and weeping willow, birch and rowan and wild camaz trees. The buzzing of gnats and bumblebees filled the air, along with the ever-present birdsong. A lazy spell held sway around the docks.
    Delilah swung herself into the lower branches of a nearby oak tree. She dangled her legs over the edge and brushed away a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I love afternoons like this. I just hope the agency doesn’t find out we’re slacking.”
    “Who gives a damn?” I asked. “I don’t care anymore. They’re squeezing us by the balls. If they fire me, I’ll just say good riddance. But listen, I think I’m actually on the heels of Roche.”
    I wanted to tell them about Trillian, but somehow I didn’t think the news would go over big. Especially if Father found out. Maybe it was best to let it rest until I knew just how far this relationship was going to go.
    Menolly stretched out in the grass and propped herself up on her elbows. Her shift was loose and filmy, and her hair cascaded down her back. Nobody knew where her red had come from, but the copper curls gleamed in the sun as she closed her eyes against the warmth of the light.
    “I love days like today,” she said, sucking