His lips brushed hers. “Liar.”
The soft, silky fabric of his suit whispered against her skin, and Kett found herself winding her arms around his neck just to feel more of it. What have I been missing? she wondered, as Bael leaned in and licked her collarbone. All this silk, it’s amazing. I’ve never been turned on by fabric before.
But then, she’d never necked with someone while wearing a ball gown before, either.
He backed her against the balustrade and kissed her, running his hands over her bare back, and Kett experienced for the first time the whisper of silk over hardened nipples. She thrust out her breasts, trying to get more of that lovely soft slide of fabric, pushing herself against Bael and loving the pressure of his hard chest through the delicate silk.
“I could fuck you right here,” Bael said against her mouth, and Kett was hit with a rush of lust so strong she had to hold on to him to keep from toppling backward over the balustrade.
“I could let you,” she whispered back, and he pulled back half an inch and looked at her, his eyes really dark.
“Don’t say that unless you mean it,” he said, his hand covering her breast, and the heat of it felt so good Kett closed her eyes.
“I mean it,” she said, and Bael groaned and turned her around in his arms, pressed her against the balustrade and leaned into her from behind. The rail was waist-high, standing on struts so thickly woven with ivy and ribbons and moving flowers that from the ballroom floor, no one could see through it.
So no one could see as Bael slid his hand under the silk at her side and caressed her stomach, dipping lower with each stroke but not quite touching the curls Kett knew were already wet. His lips were hot on her neck, his free hand brushing aside tendrils of hair as he found the spot below her jaw that made her gasp and arch her back. And as she did, she felt his erection pressing against her, thick and hard between her buttocks.
Her breath came faster. “Bael,” she gasped, and tried to move his hand lower, where she needed it.
But he pushed her fingers back to the balustrade, murmuring in her ear, “Hold on, sweetheart. If anyone looks up they’ll just see us enjoying the view.”
All those people down there. For some reason that made Kett even hotter, and she sucked in a breath, her hands clutching the marble of the balcony. When Bael’s fingers finally slipped between her legs, she bit her lip to stifle a cry.
“If anyone looks up,” she panted, “they’re going to see me really enjoying the view.”
Bael’s chuckle vibrated through her, and her head rolled back to give him better access to her neck. His clever fingers slid between her slippery folds, stroking and rubbing, just the right kind of pressure to make her gasp and push her hips back against him. His other hand rested on hers, fingers entwined as she gripped the cool marble and writhed, eyes half-closed. His fingers circled her clit, stroked gently on either side then pressed down on it, and Kett whimpered.
“That’s it,” Bael whispered. “Come for me, Kett.”
Her fingers curled into her palm, nails digging in. Stars danced before her eyes and her breath caught in her throat as the pressure built higher and higher…
“I’m going to fuck you so hard,” Bael said, and she broke, convulsing in his arms, letting out a cry he stifled with his own mouth. His fingers kept on caressing her, his free arm wrapping around her waist to hold her steady as she fell apart, and Kett abandoned the balustrade to cling to him, his body rock-solid against her back.
When she finally came back down to earth, she felt him moving behind her, lifting her skirt, freeing himself, and she braced her hands on the balcony again, waiting for him to fill her up, wanting to be taken hard and fast up here, in public, where anyone could see-
Someone screamed outside, the sound coming in through the high window, and Kett’s head snapped in that direction.
“Your parents keep peacocks?” Bael asked, his voice tense.
“No,” Kett said, and she glanced back at him. He was staring at the window too. Not for the first time since she’d woken up in that cave, Kett wished she could tune into the supersonic hearing or night vision her various shapes allowed her.
“It’ll just be-” Bael began, and then the scream came again, a woman crying “No!”, and Kett wanted to kill someone.
The ballroom below was so thick with noise, no one else would have heard the scream.
“Hell,” Kett said, and twisted away from Bael, yanking down her skirt and turning to the stairs. But the minstrels, gods damn them, chose that minute to come back up, all of them, choking the staircase. “Damn and bloody fuck,” Kett snapped, as a rather cruel male laugh sounded from outside.
“What are you-” Bael began, as Kett grabbed the railing, fighting off the moving vitalweed, and judged the distance to the ground. “There are plenty of people here who could help.”
“Yeah? Then why aren’t they?”
With that, she leapt over the balustrade, swung out into the air and grabbed the tottering decorations as they started to fall. With a tear, the entwined boughs and ribbons gave way, and Kett jumped the last few feet to the floor, her boots thudding on the polished wood, faeries scattering around her in a blinding arc of color.
People stared, and Kett remembered belatedly that she was naked under her dress. And also that ancient leather work boots didn’t exactly go with ball gowns.
The hell with it. “Get out of my way!” she snarled, and people moved, because people generally tended to move when Kett was in a bad mood.
Wrenching open one of the tall doors to the terrace, she strode out and saw nothing. But then that taunting snigger came again from the lawn below the terrace, and she took a running leap over the low wall onto the grass, freefalling a dozen feet as the ground dropped away. She ducked into a shoulder roll as she hit the ground, coming up facing the three youths who had one pretty girl cornered in the darkness.
“What the fuck?” one of them cursed, staring at her. The girl, tears glistening in the moonlight, gave Kett a pleading look, and she realized it was the girl Tane had been chatting up earlier.
“I don’t think she wants to play,” Kett said, cursing her lack of weaponry.
“Oh, I think she does,” said the tallest of the boys, grabbing the girl’s breast. Her dress was torn and, as Kett’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw scratches on her flesh, and then the glint of metal as a second boy drew his sword.
“And you’re gonna play too,” he said.
Right then, Kett would have given anything to turn herself into a big cat and play with them, but she contented herself with a snarl instead.
“Run,” said the girl, her voice shaky with tears. “Don’t let them-”
The tall boy slapped her and Kett saw red. Grabbing his upraised arm, she twisted hard and it snapped. The kid let out a scream, his friends froze and Kett felt her lips curl in a smile.
She’d heard those taunts and sniggers before. Maybe not from these boys, but she’d heard them.
It hadn’t ended well then either.
“You will shut up,” she said, “and you will listen to me. What’s your name?”
“I don’t have to-” Kett twisted his arm and his face went white. “Willifus-the Honorable Willifus Flherik Lochmarne-Lochmarne-d’Athinisha.”
“What a fucking stupid name,” Kett said, trying not to snort at “honorable”.
“You broke my arm!”
“Yep, and I’ll break a lot more if you don’t do what I say.”
“My father will hear of this!”
“I bloody hope so.”
The boy with the sword rounded on her, and she tensed to ward him off-this was going to hurt-when he suddenly stopped dead, sword in the air.
And Kett became aware of a low growl.
“Nice doggy,” said the third boy, who was holding the girl’s hands behind her back. Using her as a shield, Kett realized, the bloody coward. She turned to snap at Kett II to get the hell out of there when she realized it wasn’t her sisters’ dog, but a rather large wolf. Growling.