House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2) by Sarah J. Maas

She huffed a laugh. “The party. Outsmarting my father and the whiskey will always be a repeat activity.”

Hunt sat on the coffee table, adjusting his wings around it. “It could have been a lot worse.”

“Yeah. Though I can’t think of anything much worse than gaining multiple enemies for the price of one.” That the Asteri’s appearance had only been a footnote said plenty about their night. “Though Celestina isn’t our enemy, I guess.”

Hunt picked up one of her feet and began rubbing the insole. She sighed, sinking back into the cushions. Hunt’s cock stirred at the pure pleasure she radiated.

“Can I tell you something?” Hunt said, massaging the arch of her foot. “Something that might be deemed alphahole-ish?”

“As long as you keep rubbing my foot like that, you can say whatever the Hel you want.”

Hunt laughed. “Deal.” He picked up her other foot, starting on that one. “I liked being at the party tonight. Despite all the fancy clothes and the Asteri and the stuff with Hypaxia and Celestina. Despite all the prince bullshit. I liked being seen. With you.”

Her mouth quirked to the side. “You liked staking your territory?”

“Yeah.” He let her see the predator in him. “I’ve never had that with anyone.”

She frowned. “Shahar never showed you off?”

“No. I was her general. At public functions, we didn’t appear together. She never wanted that. It would have positioned me as an equal, or at least someone she deemed … important.”

“I thought your movement was all about equality,” Bryce said, frown deepening.

“It was. But we still had to play by the old rules.” Rules that continued to govern and dictate people’s lives. Celestina’s and Hypaxia’s lives.

“So she never came out and said, Hey, world! He’s my boyfriend!”

Hunt laughed, and marveled that he did so. He’d never thought he’d be able to laugh about anything related to Shahar. “No. It’s why I was so … honored when you asked me to do this.”

Bryce studied him. “Do you want to go outside so we can get caught fooling around in public by the press? That’ll make us really official.”

“Maybe another time.” Hunt lifted her foot to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the instep. “So, we’re, like … married.”

“Are we?” She held out a hand before her, studying her splayed fingers. “I don’t see a ring, Athalar.”

He nipped at her toes, earning a squeal from her. “You want a ring, I’ll get you one.” Another kiss. “You want iron, steel, or titanium?” Wedding bands in Lunathion were simple, their value derived from the strength of the metal used to forge them.

“Titanium all the way, baby,” she crowed, and Hunt bit her toes again.

She squirmed, but he held her firm. “These little toes make me think some dirty things, Quinlan,” he said against her foot.

“Please tell me you don’t have a foot fetish.”

“No. But everything where you’re involved is a fetish for me.”

“Oh?” She leaned back farther into the cushions, her dress slipping up her legs. “So I make you want to get a little kinky?”

“Uh-huh.” He kissed her ankle. “Just a little.”

She arched into the touch. “Want to have drunk, sloppy sex, Prince Hunt?”

He rumbled a laugh against her calf. Only from her lips would he tolerate that title. “Fuck yeah.”

She pulled her leg from his touch and stood with that dancer’s grace. “Unzip me.”

“Romantic.”

She gave him her back, and Hunt, still seated, reached up to tug at the zipper hidden down the length of her spine. The tattoo of the Horn appeared, along with inches of golden skin, until the first tendrils of lace from her thong were revealed. The zipper ended before he could get a view of what he wanted.

But Bryce peeled the dress from her front, letting it drop. She hadn’t worn a bra, but the black thong …

Hunt ran his hands over the firm cheeks of her ass, bending to bite at a delicate strap of her underwear. She let out a soft, breathy sound that had him kissing the base of her spine. Her long hair brushed his brow, silken and as lovely as a caress.

Bryce turned in his grip, and—what luck—he found himself right where he wanted to be. From where it sat high on her hips, her thong plunged into a dramatic vee, a veritable arrow pointing to paradise.

He kissed her navel. Flicked her nipples with his thumbs as he licked up toward them. Her fingers slid into his hair, her head tipping back as he closed his mouth around a taut bud. He rolled her nipple over his tongue, savoring the weight and taste of it, his hands drifting around her waist, tangling in the straps of her thong. Tugging it down her hips. Her thighs. He moved to her other breast, sucking it into his mouth. Bryce groaned, and his cock pushed against the front of his dress pants.

He liked having her at his mercy. Liked this image, of her wholly naked and resplendent before him, his to touch and pleasure and worship. Hunt smiled against her breast. He liked it a lot.

He rose, scooping her into his arms and carrying her to the bedroom, his bow tie dangling around his neck.

He laid her on the mattress, cock pulsing at the sight of her heavy-lidded with desire, sprawled there naked and his for the taking. He pulled the tie free. “Want to get a little kinky with me, Quinlan?”