“Damn, woman,” he hissed when she licked at the tip. “You will be the death of me.”
Laughing, empowered by his declaration and emboldened by her sexual awakening, she opened wider and took him all the way in. He stretched her, filled her, but not unpleasantly. What she couldn’t take into her mouth—because he really was quite large—she held tight to, and her bobbing and squeezing at the same time seemed to make him come unhinged.
His back bowed and his hand dropped to the back of her head. “Just there, love. Just… just…”
And then he stopped talking because he was growling and she laved and licked at him as if he were the sweetest dessert she’d ever had. She wasn’t sure what made her do it, but she hummed, and that was the catalyst that seemed to finally do him in.
Shoving her off him, he howled, and she placed a hand on his back to feel the spasms ripple down his spine.
“Rumpel, are you okay?” She frowned, worried that he’d shoved her off because she’d somehow done it wrong.
But then he was laughing and pulling her into his chest and kissing her brow and temples. “Fine. Amazing. That was—”
“Fun,” she finished for him and she licked her lips.
Their sexual frenzy detoured into a hot-and-steamy session of petting and kissing afterward, nuzzling and cuddling, and apart from the mask that was driving her completely insane, she never wanted to leave this moment.
“I do not want to let you go,” he whispered against her hair.
She sighed. “Once you shift, we cannot touch this way.”
“Unfortunately”—he spun a length of her hair around his finger—“we cannot remain here forever.”
Leaning up on an elbow, she grinned. “Why not? It’s the most fun I’ve had since coming here.”
For a moment he didn’t answer and curiosity burned her. What was he thinking? Was he angry? Annoyed? Ready to toss her back to her room?
“Shayera, I do not want you to leave, because the moment I change, I feel I cannot be who I truly am.”
It was more truth than she’d ever expected to get from him, and humbled, she sat up. “Why not? Why can’t you just be yourself at all times with me? I enjoy this, with you. I know in my village that men and women engage in these acts and they do not require an utterance of lifelong devotion. I am not asking that from you, Rumpel. So why make it difficult?”
He sighed and the sound of it was so sad that she ached to hug him. “Because I am a prince, I am the broker, there are sides of me and they are all me and all demanding of my time. But who you’re with now, this is me too. A side I’ve not let loose for far too long. A side I can never indulge for long because…”
“The rest take priority,” she finished.
“For one so young,” he said, his hand framing her face, “you are very wise.”
“You sound surprised by that.” She smiled, nipping at the finger closest to her mouth.
He chuckled. “I am.”
But she knew the moment he said it that their time had come to an end. “It’s time to change isn’t it?”
“Mm.” He moved away from her and already she missed his warmth.
“Will I at least get to see you one day? The real you?”
Sulfur surrounded her and she yanked at her mask, knowing he’d changed. Somehow, in the brief moment between him holding her and moving away, he’d changed and was once again fully clothed. As she now was.
“No, you can never see me as I truly am. You would be forever changed for it, Shayera, and I would never ask that of you.”
Slipping his hands into his pockets, he looked back toward the castle. “I will dine with you this night and every night henceforth. We will talk and laugh and I will be the best companion you’ve ever known. But what we did today, it cannot happen again.”
Those last four words were like a blow to her heart.
Chapter Thirteen
Standing before the full-length mirror, Rumpel took his time dressing. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this. She’d never seemed to mind his jeans and rock-concert shirts before, but after what they’d done this afternoon, he felt it only appropriate.
Giles returned from the closet with a long, navy-blue tailcoat draped across his arm. Laying it gently down on the bed, he took a lint brush to it.
Glancing at his man in the mirror, Rumpel rolled his eyes. “You can go ahead and say whatever it is that’s on your mind. Your mood is a stench in my nostrils.”
Showing no reaction to the obvious goading, ever the proper butler, Giles continued to brush as he said, “You seem well.”
The fact that the two of them never made small talk said it all. Something was obviously on the man’s mind. Rumpel shoved a gold cufflink inscribed with the rune of his clan through his sleeve. “I’ve know you long enough to know that is not at all what you meant to say.”
Finally looking up, Giles slicked down the side of his neck, then tugged at his bowtie before nodding. “It is only that I’ve noticed lately you seem more your old self.”