Speaking of villains, Rían had finally appeared, shoulder propped against the doorframe, dressed head to toe in black. His piercing eyes slid from my head to my slippers, leaving fire in their wake. “You look hideous.”
“And you look villainous.”
He bowed his head slightly. “Thank you.”
I washed away my giddy smile with a gulp of disgusting wine.
Rían crossed the room in a few strides to kneel in front of the settee. “I hate this dress,” he whispered, taking my face in his hands and pressing his lips to mine, banishing the world to shadows.
All our other kisses had been stolen in secret. But this. This felt different. Possessive.
Ruairi’s weight on the cushion next to me disappeared.
“I hate it so much, I want to cut you out of it,” Rían confessed against my lips.
“You’ll hate what’s beneath even more.”
“Shall we find out?” His eyes sparkled as his hands slipped beneath my skirts. Along my shins. Over my knees.
“Rían—” I threw a frantic glance over my shoulder.There was no one there. But with everyone’s ability to evanesce, there could be at any second.
Those fingers danced along my inner thigh, higher . . .higher. . . “Yes, Aveen?”
“Someone may come—”Bloody hell. His lazy strokes against the bundle of nerves at my center were driving me mad.
He clicked his tongue. “That, my dear, is the point.”
“Comein,” I finished breathlessly.
He hooked a finger beneath my undergarments and slid them to the side. “They know better.”
My head fell back against the cushion, and I gave in to the delectable feeling of his thorough exploration, drank in the scent of his magic, not caring if we had a whole bloody audience so long as he didn’t stop.
Heaviness collected deep in my stomach, building and growing. Blossoming. Blooming. Bursting in an explosion of light and color. Leaving me panting, and Rían grinning like the cocky bastard he was.
He withdrew his hand and brought his fingers to his mouth. “I’ve finally found something that tastes better than cherry tarts.” The way he licked his fingers one by one nearly brought me back to the edge.
I reached for his belt buckle, ready to devour him.
He nudged my hand aside, rose to his feet, and adjusted himself in his breeches. “Later, greedy Aveen. We’ve kept the others waiting long enough.”
The others.
Being with him made me forget everything else.
“I thought no one could know about us,” I rasped, pressing a hand to my forehead, trying desperately to catch my breath.
He held a hand toward me. I laced my fingers with his and a jolt of lightning shot through my arm. “My brother and his pet don’t count. Besides, that dog was sitting far too close to you. He knows better than to go near what’s mine.”
“I’m a person, not a pair of slippers. I don’t belong to anyone.”
He gave my nose a flick. “Doesn’t mean you’re not mine.”
Rían kept my hand through the hallway and into the dining room, where Tadhg lounged at the head of the table. Ruairi sat to his right, his spine and shoulders as rigid as the chair beneath him.
My face burned when Rían pulled out my chair and sat down next to me. Neither Tadhg nor Ruairi looked at us, instead focusing on the silver serving platters of roast duck, carrots and parsnips, and buttery mashed potatoes that had just appeared.
I took a small portion of meat and veg, passing the dishes to Rían when I finished. All three men watched me with raised eyebrows.