I glanced at him sideways. “You can stop saying that now.” He’d been doing it all evening, ever since accepting the Water King crown. “This is supposed to be your night, not mine.”
“Oh, but it is my night,” he murmured, his palm resting against the small of my back. “And I intend to celebrate accordingly.”
“Yeah?” I asked, allowing him to guide me through the threshold and into his bedroom. “What did you have in mind, Your Highness?”
“Mmm, I like those words from your mouth, Claire.” He pulled me to him, kissing me long enough to have me consider the need for breathing. “Say it again.”
“Your Highness,” I repeated, batting my eyes up at him.
He chuckled, closing the door behind him with his foot. “That gives me delicious ideas for later, when I have you on your knees.”
“You’ll make me kneel?” I feigned shock. “How degrading, King Cyrus.”
“You’ll enjoy it,” he promised, his palm sliding down to smack my ass. Hard. “Besides, we love when you go to your knees, little queen.”
“We?”
He smiled. “I told you that I intended to celebrate accordingly. And I would prefer to go down in history as a giving king.” His gaze lifted over my head. “What better way to start my reign than to share my coronation night with those I value most.”
“I love that dress on you, Claire.” Titus’s warm voice caressed my exposed spine, his heat radiating from somewhere behind me.
We were all waiting on the balcony, Sol explained into my mind. Cyrus wanted it to be a surprise.
I smiled. Consider me surprised.
While all my mates had attended the coronation, there’d barely been a moment for me to spend with them. Exos hadn’t lied when he warned me Cyrus’s ascension would be a grand affair.
Several Elemental Fae were in attendance, including Aflora. She’d worn a flower dress fit for an Earth Fae Queen but didn’t seem quite herself. I suspected it had something to do with Glacier. From what I’d gathered, he was supposed to be her date and had chosen to stay with his parents the whole time instead.
Sol was right about him. The jackass didn’t deserve Aflora. I’d wanted to talk to her, but Kols had distracted me with a giant hug. I’d known the Midnight Fae Royals would be in attendance. His easy candor still caught me off guard. However, it was a brief encounter because not two minutes after embracing me like we were best friends, he’d left me to pursue Exos and Cyrus’s Fortune Fae friend—Gina. I’d only seen her in passing, just long enough to receive a glimpse of a smile and the approval radiating from her expression.
Cyrus said it was typical, that Gina probably stopped by to ensure the future she prophesized had come to fruition. And it must have, because I didn’t see her again after that. Mostly a result of me being too wrapped up in meeting fae from all over the world to notice much else.
One thing was for sure: I still had a lot of learning to do about this fae world. Because there were a hell of a lot of kingdoms I’d never heard of.
But now was not the time for such explorations.
Not with the growing warmth at my back as all my mates entered the room from the balcony outside.
Cyrus’s palms skimmed up my arms to the dainty blue straps at my shoulders. “Hmm, I don’t think Titus wants to destroy your beautiful gown, little queen. Shall I help you remove it for him? Before his passion burns out of control?”
I shivered and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Whatever you wish, Your Highness.”
His lips curled. “Oh, Claire.” He hooked his thumbs beneath the sapphire fabric. “If that’s how you want to play, then that’s how we’ll play.” He slid the silky strands to my biceps and lower, the Grecian-style dress falling with his movements to pool at my waist. His gaze followed, the icy ring around his pupils thinning as he took in my exposed breasts. “Do you know why I chose this gown, little queen?”
“Because it flows like liquid over my skin,” I replied.
His lips curled. “Yes. And because I knew you wouldn’t be able to wear anything beneath it.” With a slight tug, he caused the garment to fall to the floor, leaving me clad in only a pair of silver heels. “Knowing you were naked beneath that dress was the ultimate tease for all of us.” He pressed his lips to mine, then turned me to face my suit-clad mates. “Again,” Cyrus murmured softly. “May I present Queen Claire?”
Four pairs of hungry gazes roamed over my body as if seeing it for the first time, their arousals all slamming into me at once.
Standing naked in a room surrounded by five males in formal wear was certainly one way to seduce a woman. Because fuck, I could hardly stand beneath the need assaulting me from all angles.
Cyrus grasped my hip with one palm, his chest a comfort against my back, and dipped his opposite hand into the damp heat between my thighs. “Mmm.” He nuzzled my neck. “Our Claire is quite ready, gentlemen. Shall we indulge our little queen?”
Exos leaned against the wall beside the fountain, in his hand a glass of bronze-colored alcohol. “Yes,” he agreed, clearly not in line to be the first to touch me.
No.