Elli found a similar fruit on the tray beside their lounge and took a tentative bite. The tender skin of the fruit gave way easily under her teeth as she bit into the sweet, juicy flesh beneath.
“Mmm—so good!” she murmured and looked up at Roke. “Try one—they really are delicious.”
Roke ate one whole and nodded approvingly.
“A lot better than the soup,” he commented.
“Absolutely,” Elli agreed. Next she tried a tiny purple fruit, about the size of her thumb. This one had a slightly harder flesh and a nutty, spicy flavor she really enjoyed. It reminded her a little of the flavor of her grandmother’s spice cake. She was just reaching for a new fruit—a bright pink one, as long as her arm and tapered on one end—when she realized that no one else in the entire room was eating.
“Here we go again,” Roke muttered in her ear. “What in the Seven Hells is he doing this time?”
Elli realized he was talking about the Crown Prince. She looked up to the golden dais and what she saw made her bite her lip.
The Crown Prince had stopped eating and was running his hands all over his Bride of the Night’s body. She was moaning as his short, stubby, beringed fingers ran up and down her sides and over her breasts with long, caressing motions. Elli could scarcely tear her eyes away but after a moment she realized that the Duke and Duchess were hissing at her and Roke that they needed to be “Mirroring His Highness” if they didn’t want to get kicked out of Supper.
“You must Mirror!” the Duke was muttering to Roke. “Whatever are you waiting for?”
He’s waiting for me, Elli thought, looking up at the big warrior. Because he promised not to touch me without my permission—unless I asked him to.
“Little priestess?” he murmured, raising an eyebrow at her.
Elli bit her lip. Normally, she would never do such a thing, she told herself. But she must fulfill her vow to do anything she had to in order to get the Healing Lattice. And there was clearly no other way to get along in the Tenebrian Court.
“Yes,” she whispered, nodding her permission. “Go…go ahead, Roke.”
“As my Lady wishes,” he growled softly. And then he was pulling her back against him and running his big, warm hands up and down her body, which was bare beneath the mostly see-through lace gown.
Elli tried to hold still, but she couldn’t help shifting restlessly against him, especially when his big, warm hands ran lightly over her breasts. He was just barely touching her—teasing her, she thought—and though she tried not to want more, she couldn’t help herself.
Arching her back, she pressed her breasts more fully into his hands, her nipples feeling so tight and achy she didn’t know how much longer she could stand it.
“Sweetheart?” Roke murmured in her ear, his hands stopping their roving caresses as Elli pressed up against him. “What are you doing?”
“Just…just Mirroring, like we’re supposed to,” Elli whispered breathlessly. “We…we have to do it right, Roke. We don’t want to get…to get kicked out of Supper.”
At that moment, the noblewoman the Crown Prince had chosen as his “Bride of the Night” began moaning and gasping, drawing all eyes to the golden dais. In a minute, Elli saw why. The Crown Prince was not simply running his hands over her breasts now—he was actually circling her nipples with his fingers and then tugging gently at the stiff peaks, drawing cries of delight from his lover.
“Ellilah?” Roke murmured in her ear again. “Do you want me to—”
“Yes!” Elli pressed up against him. “Yes, do…do what you have to, Roke,” she told him. “Don’t stop!”
“As my Lady wishes,” he murmured again and then he was copying the motions of the Crown Prince, circling Elli’s nipples with his long fingers and tugging gently, which sent sparks of pleasure straight from her tight tips to the secret spot between her thighs.
“Oh!” Elli heard herself moaning as she writhed against him. “Oh, Roke!”
“Such an eager little priestess,” he rumbled, still stroking and teasing her nipples. “Is this making you hot, sweetheart? Is your little pussy getting all wet for me?”
His dirty words made Elli blush but they sent another shiver of pleasure through her too. Goddess, she knew she shouldn’t be enjoying this but she couldn’t seem to help herself…
“Don’t…don’t talk like that,” she begged him breathlessly. “I…I’m not…I’m only doing what…what we have to do.”
“Of course you are.” Roke chuckled softly. “We both are, little priestess. It’s no fault of mine that I find pleasure in stroking your beautiful, curvy little body and tugging your tight little nipples and no fault of yours for enjoying it.”
Elli opened her mouth to answer but only another moan came out. Goddess, she didn’t know when she’d been so hot and bothered! Well, during the Christmas party she had been, but then she’d had the drugged punch to blame. What could possibly be making her act this way now?