Page 86 of My Faire Lady

“You’re beautiful,” she breathes.

Time stumbles to a standstill, and she lifts my skirt farther, pressing her lips to the tender skin on the inside of my knee. She holds my eyes as she presses the fabric to the hinge of my hip. “Lottie?”

My heart thrashes in my chest at the reverence in her voice, the way she says my name like a promise. “Yes?”

“Can I use my magic on you?”

I manage a nod.

She lowers her mouth to my inner thigh, skimming her teeth along the sensitive skin. “I need to hear you say it, love.”

“Yes,” I whisper, twisting a lock of her hair around my finger. “Please.”

Her gaze heats, and she tilts her head, focusing her attention on my bare leg as she traces a rune over my skin. She follows each movement with a string of kisses, and I tilt my head against the wooden post of the bed, my breaths shallow. Her magic burrows beneath my skin like liquid heat, pooling in my core as it spreads throughout my body.

“Is it too much?” she breathes.

Her fingers move higher, tracing the rune over and over again.

I shake my head, and as her magic twines through my ribs and climbs into my chest, I manage to say, “More.”

She huffs a laugh against my skin. “Be careful what you wish for.”

Her magic snaps into place within me, and she wraps a hand around the back of my right ankle, lifting it until my foot rests on the frame of the bed. The collar of her buttoned shirt gapes, tendrils of crimson hair falling beneath the neckline, and she watches my face as she drags her thumb over the center of my underwear.

I gasp and arch into her touch, my head dropping against the wooden post. Heat coils in the space behind my sternum, and she pulls her hand back, only long enough to trace a different rune against my skin. An invisible hand spreads from her touch and drags over the front of my stomach, climbing over my chest. My eyes flutter shut as it gently circles my throat and spears into my nape.

Another hand crests over my hip and settles against the base of my spine, supporting my weight as Scarlet’s mouth travels closer to the apex of my thighs. My mind clears—attention honed on her as she drags a finger beneath the seam of my underwear in one long, teasing line.

The invisible fingers drag over my skin, each touch eliciting a shiver over my entire body. Scarlet traces her thumb over the thin fabric again, and I swallow a curse, rolling my hips against her hand, silently begging for more.

“Remember,” she whispers, following her words with a gentle bite against my thigh, “when your body is full of my magic, I can sense your thoughts.”

She presses her thumb against the fabric covering my clit, dragging it back and forth, and a whimper falls from my lips.

She hums. “I can tell exactly what you want—what feels good.”

Leaning forward, she drags a fingernail down the back of my thigh. Then back up. My stomach clenches, and I bite down on the inside of my cheek.

Her eyes find mine again. “I know precisely what will drive you to the edge, and what will throw you all the way off.”

As if to prove her point, a third invisible hand drags up my core, and my vision blurs as it drags my nipple between its fingers.

Scarlet’s breath is cold against my overheated skin, and she lowers her mouth to my center, brushing her lips against me. A shudder threatens to crumple my body, but the magical hands hold me upright.

“Fates,” she grinds out as she leans back an inch.

Her pupils are blown wide, and she wraps her free hand around the back of my leg, the other pinning my skirt against my waist. The invisible hands brush over my skin, drag over my breasts, trail up the length of my spine. Each touch lights a small fire beneath my skin, and as she pulls my hips closer to her and presses her lips to my thighs, I nearly combust into flames.

And just when I think I might beg, she hooks a finger beneath my underwear and pulls it to the side. Her mouth fits into the space between my legs, and as she drags her tongue over my clit, my body melts. A low moan vibrates from the back of my throat, and I spear a hand into her hair.

She groans against me, and her finger scribbles a rune against the back of my thigh. An invisible hand curls around my leg and replaces her hold on my skirt, pinning it in place and freeing her hand.

Her fingers trail down my stomach, and I arch into her, but I don’t have to. She already knows exactly what I’m asking for.

An invisible hand combs its fingers through my hair, and I tilt my head back against the post, letting my eyes fall shut as Scarlet drags her tongue against me, over and over, until the air grows sparse in my lungs. My grip tightens in her hair, and her nails dig into the back of my leg as she presses two fingers inside me.

I cry out, rolling my hips against her. She meets my every movement, anticipating my every thought, and the hand tangled in my hair cups my jaw, putting the gentlest pressure against my throat, as a second hand trails down the back of my arm and lifts it to the bed post, pinning my wrist into place.