“And seductive.”
“Why would you think that?” I asked, blinking wide eyes.
“Your breasts are inches from my face, Sera.” His gaze dropped and then returned to mine. “I don’t think. I know. And it’s not going to work.”
“Your failure to keep your eyes from straying to inappropriate places is not a reflection on my actions,” I told him, tipping my head and letting my hair fall forward onto his hand. “But if I were trying to seduce you,Your Highness, it would most definitely work.”
“You think so?”
“I don’t think.” I smiled then, bright and wide. “I know.”
That muscle began to tick in his jaw. “Well, you wouldknow how to be successful in that endeavor, wouldn’t you?”
“Ouch.” My fingers pressed into the smooth surface of the desk. I’d most definitely opened the door and walked right into that comment.
“Did that offend you?” Those wisps in his eyes swirled.
“Not really. It’s true,” I said, glancing down. “I know all the ways to…” My eyes narrowed on the book. I frowned. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it not odd that so many with the same exact name died today?”
Nyktos said nothing.
A grin tugged at my lips. “You were pretending to still be writing names, weren’t you?”
“I thought you’d realize that I was busy and decide to be less distracting,” he told me. “Obviously, that didn’t work.”
Losing the battle against a smile, I let out a throaty laugh. “Maybe I will find someoneelse todistract,” I taunted, pushing off the desk.
I didn’t make it far.
His hand snapped out, closing around the nape of my neck. My breath caught as my gaze locked with his. “I want to make one thing perfectly clear, Seraphena.”
The pressure he used was slight, only enough to force me to place my hands on the desk as I bent until we were at eye level, our mouths inches apart. My pulse skittered recklessly. His hold wasn’t painful. I could slip out of it if I wanted to, but I didn’t. I’d wanted his attention, and now I had it.
“As long as you’re my Consort,” he said, his tone deceptively soft, “you will be very selective about how you spend your time with others.”
“I assume when you referencehowI spend time with someone, you’re speaking of what typically comes after the act of seduction?”
The Book of the Dead slammed shut and slid across his desk. Neither of his hands had moved. “You know exactly what I’m speaking of.”
“Then I’m confused,” I said in the little space between us. “You said I was to be your Consort in title only.”
His gaze dropped again, just for a brief second, but I knew where he looked. “I did.”
The breath I inhaled was all him. My blood heated and myskin flushed. “Then what of my needs?”
“Your needs?” he repeated, his voice smoothing to a decadent drawl that I wasn’t even sure he was aware of.
“Intimacies. Touching. Skin-to-skin contact. Sex. Fuc—”
“I think I get it.”
“So, what of them?”
He curled his arm, and it stretched me even farther. There was a really good chance my breasts would exit the gown. His head tilted. It was only a slight move, but it lined up our mouths perfectly. If either of us leaned forward an inch or two, our lips would meet. “I’m sure you can resist those desires or handle them yourself.”
“Because you watched me do it.” I wet my lips. Nyktos said nothing, his gaze now on my mouth. “You watched me last night. Youtouchedme,” I whispered, feeling a faint tremor in the hand on the back of my neck. “I felt you. Inside me. That was highly inappropriate of you.”
“More inappropriate than you fucking your fingers while you knew I was watching?”