neysuckle, something muskier beneath. Velvet hung in thick folds over the tall windows, sealing the room like a memory, and the women of the House of So

e sat

her gaze traced the rim of her glass as though reading a fortune in the shape of the red wine. She was not looking a

Ro

yone s

ored black, the collar slightly dusted from travel. His boots were leather, unscuffed. His jaw was lined w

his eyes did not ma

ere to

f waiting

ine-thick voice-but he did not glance at her. His eyes found Jasmine without hurry, witho

rl," Jasmine murmured, swirl

is head sli

ooking fo

itched. "Only if she's as

not to watch. Elora stood in the far archway, unreadable, her fingers

he silk at her chest to shift. "And w

sive," he said. "A

lken. "That's because no

as trying to catch her slipping. Like he wan

lded her le

rs of the room like perfume. She walked past him, brushing her fingers across the back o

d

he did, s

cr

erformance. A calculated frost. But there, in the flicke

there was almost no space. Her

e whispered. "Or yo

l si

th changed.

throat shift

rosity usually reserved for clients who

't move

Ah. So you're the kind that lik

eyes flared, but s

e leg over the other. Let her robe fall open at the knee,

oked a

aid, "tell m

tth

low. Rough. A

"You've been trained no

ce was hi

ng the fabric at her c

d velvet. "Every time your eyes drop, I'll ask y

nger up the insi

'll stop

s didn'

he tension in his jaw told her he was barely holding it.

you here,

use keeps locked in

od a

s gaze

t o

of her mouth,

pped sp

. A few of the girls watching now gi

. His hands were clen

onds, Jasmine ro

caugh

owed the move

her

er si

e air inches from his body, never touching. When

want to

es

you w

N

y n

. "Because you h

epped

" she breathed ag

ll wait,

e it

cr

wa

way his lips parted when she reached up and ghosted her fin

ke the others,

er are

reath t

tween them

sat down again-like the moment hadn't

rice of a loo

him with a fli

dn't

part that thr

scent, her voice, her rhythm. She had dismissed him-but the tension

tracing her fingertip along the rim of her wineglas

ot mos

ked in honey. She let the silence stretch lo

water following its own path, her gaze dark-lashed and h

n kn

Lazily. Like she di

he

he

s coat fell open around his thigh, and his hands stayed at his sides

.. circled again. But this ti

touc

neck, down his shoulder. She watched the way his breath

brushed

u with one word,

ank you

d against

g. Even the other girls had forgotten to giggle. Elora, silent in her corn

red, stepping around him to face him

caught the faint sheen of sweat along his collarbone

n cr

pped like ve

gh for her to know he'd ne

ss in lace, and for one heartbeat..

his han

the o

s clicking softly against

hat had been pretending to be a man. Jasmine's breath hitched-not visibly, but she f

f her, still on his knees, she

atthias...... the House of Solace doesn't

nt simple,"

. "Because I don

rned her b

wine-colored silk trailed after her, b

dn't n

he woul

alway

of them cr