There was a blush in her face. Her hand brushed against him, her eyes heavy-lidded. Duada could read the male’s face like an open book, too. He liked her, and there was genuine appreciation in his eyes, not mere lust. They truly seemed to enjoy each other’s company, he thought. Was this what the humans called ‘chemistry?’
In some ways, he thought he should be appreciating his handiwork. There was many a human matchmaker who couldn’t set up something as functional as this, and he had even surprised himself with the quality of man that Bill seemed to be. He was perhaps a bit shy, shyer than Duada would have been by a long shot, and he didn’t have the same status as Duada, of course, so there was really no way to compare—
He stopped himself, pursing his lips. Why was he comparing himself to the likes of that human? Not that there was any comparison to be made—
Duada knew himself damn well to be matchless.
Maybe he was just concerned over Jasmine’s well-being, he realized, and the thought was… surprising, though not as unwelcome as he might have thought before coming to Newark and meeting this resilient human woman.
And resilient she was, he admitted to himself as he watched her eyes look after Bill’s car as it pulled away a few moments later. Maybe Duada had been too harsh on the woman when he first arrived. He rather thought his teasing was all in good fun, but in hindsight, Jasmine had been a lot more patient with him than he might have been in her situation.
And her patience had paid off in the end, it seemed. She really seemed to like Bill, and despite Duada’s best efforts, he couldn’t think of very much in the man that should be considered a ‘deal-breaker.’ He’d known that when he picked William out for her, and picking out such a man for her entailed knowing quite a bit about Jasmine herself.
He folded his magazine under his arm and stood up with a huff, turning to start walking away from her apartment and further down the street towards the hotel where he was staying.
He should be pleased with a job well done. He’d just watched Jasmine finish a perfectly good date, and he could read the satisfaction in her eyes as plain as day. By all rights, he should be zipping over to her door and gloating about his success in front of her for a while before asking that she free him from his guardianship. And just like that, he’d be back where he belonged, enjoying every pleasure the Summerland Court had to offer and rubbing it in his aunt’s face that her little ploy to have him make a fool of himself had backfired. He’d exceeded his own expectations, even, and he had high expectations.
Why, then, did he not feel an ounce of the exhilaration he expected to be feeling? He stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked; his eyes roving over the streetlights around him cast a faint light on everything. The world of humans was so radically different than what he was used to. So much bustle, so much machinery, and so much haste to get anything done or go anywhere. It was a noisy, hot mess, but even he had to admit, it wasn’t without its charms.
Maybe he had come to enjoy the little back and forth games he had been carrying on with Jasmine these past few days. He smiled. It was more than a little amusing to see her frustrated or flustered, and it would be an awful shame for her to go without all that once he was gone. But then another thought struck him. What if she could find the same kind of amusement without him? What if this Bill character did turn out to have a little depth to him?
He shook his head again, frustrated at his own wandering mind. What was getting into him? He was a prince of the fae, damn it. He could exude so much sexual magnetism with a flick of his mind that he could have most fae women fawning over him in an instant, and most certainly any human woman he could possibly want. Setting up Jasmine with someone good for her was what he’d been working towards this whole time. He could be free now. He could go off and fuck whomever his heart desired. Hell, he could have even been doing that his whole time, couldn’t he have?
So why wasn’t he?
He reached the lobby of the hotel and stepped through the doors like he owned the place. He very well could, in fact, but that was a trifle he couldn’t be bothered with. As he made his way across the lobby, his eyes roved around, watching the young woman at the reception desk subtly letting her gaze flit to him every few moments. She was pretty enough, and she probably deserved a little time to unwind.
It would be the easiest thing in the world to chat her up for a few minutes before inviting her up to his room and showing her a time unlike any other. Maybe that would even unknot some of the tension he felt in his chest. On any other day, he could envision himself stripping her top off, letting his hands play across her sensitive skin as he whispered into her ear.
But something about that just didn’t click for him. And that made him more irate with himself than anything else. And it was get
ting harder and harder to ignore the nagging thought that kept poking at the back of his mind.
Jasmine.
Duada banished his thoughts again, shoving his hands into his pockets as the elevator brought him up the floors to the penthouse suite, and he stared into the elevator security camera that would only register him as an ordinary looking, albeit attractive, human. Why was the thought of her date invading his attempt to enjoy all the pleasures he could be taking from this damned world of humans?
He entered his room and took a deep breath as he looked around at his handiwork. Even this suite was far below his personal standards, so during his stay; he’d taken the liberty of refurbishing it fairly liberally. The place looked like a veritable sheik’s palace now, with luxurious furniture and damask curtains all around. He flopped back onto the bed after slipping his shoes off, and stared up at the ceiling as he took a deep breath.
Maybe this was all just something to do with watching his handiwork in practice. Every great craftsman had to say goodbye to their work after a time, no matter how much of their heart they put into it.
That thought gave him pause. Just how much of his heart had he put into his work with Jasmine?
He had told himself when he landed that this would just be a bit of fun. A nice way to pass the time while he let the Queen get her fill of watching him struggle to endure the human world. Now that he’d fulfilled all that though, he felt a certain…connection to her. Maybe it was no more than what the Queen saw in Jasmine that made her admire the human from afar the first time.
But the Queen didn’t really know Jasmine, not like he did.
The thought of getting to know a human like this had unsettled him at first, but now, well, it seemed…unpleasant, just leaving her alone like that. Perhaps he ought to see things through a little longer, make sure this William guy really was everything she ever wanted?
And yet, as he started to drift off into sleep, he wondered whether he really would like watching the two of them grow closer.
Seven
Her skin is warm against his hands as they explore her body. The sight of her full, gorgeous figure kneeling there on his bed was absolutely irresistible.
“Are you sure you humans don’t have some kind of glamour of your own?” he whispered into her ear as he leaned forward, pressing his stiffening cock against her ass as he wrapped his hands around her waist. She leaned back into him, a soft hum of pleasure escaping her as she tilted her neck to expose it before him.
He turned his head and brought his lips to her neck, kissing the sensitive flesh softly, reveling in every bit of it, how it felt, how she smelled, how she sounded as his teeth grazed her flesh.