Stretching her arms above her head, Clio indulged in a drawn-out yawn. She went limp again, sprawled beneath the silk sheets. The drapes were drawn most of the way around the canopied bed, allowing only a strip of sunlight to leak in.

Yawning again, she rolled onto her stomach and stretched her legs. Her muscles were sore, though not in an unpleasant way. She couldn’t imagine an unpleasant feeling today. Contentment should be her middle name.

She wondered if all women felt like this after a night—or rather, two nights and an entire day—in bed with an incubus. Somehow, she doubted it.

I’d love to be obsessed with you like this every day for the rest of my life.

Her stomach swooped wildly at the memory of his words. It wasn’t quite a confession of love, but she wasn’t going to be picky. He didn’t believe incubi could fall in love or stay in love, and maybe he was right. Maybe he would eventually get bored with her and move on. But she was willing to try—and she was unbearably relieved he was willing to try too.

With a final languorous stretch, she swung her legs off the bed and sat up. The red silk robe she’d attempted to don several times lay on the floor where Lyre had last discarded it. As she pulled it on, she wondered with a wry smile how long it would last this time. Now that he’d gotten her out of her clothes, Lyre was on a mission to keep her in a permanent state of nudity.

Tying the belt, she ambled out of the curtained bedroom. Warm light blazed across the space, the late afternoon suns glowing above the sandy horizon. Unexpected clouds dotted the desert sky.

Lyre sat at the desk, tapping a charcoal pencil against his chin as he stared at his notes. The moment she appeared, he turned toward her and his amber irises deepened to bronze. Her stomach fluttered with renewed acrobatics. He was insatiable.

Amazement washed through her. Despite all the warnings, all the fear, she had given herself to Lyre for her first time. In the moment, she hadn’t remembered to check if he had his aphrodesia under control. But he hadn’t lost control, hadn’t hurt her, not even once.

After that, he had spent the night and the whole next day making up for lost time. It was all a euphoric blur of mind-blowing pleasure. His touch, his mouth, every new sensation, every explosive climax where all she could do was clutch him to her.

He turned on his chair as she approached, and the moment she was within reach, he pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him. His warm hands slid up her thighs, then he was unknotting the belt of her robe.

“Lyre!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “I only just put it on.”

“Why do you keep putting it on?” he complained, pulling the garment open. “You don’t need it for warmth and it just gets in the way.”

She didn’t have a chance to answer before he drew her mouth to his. Her lips parted instantly and his tongue stroked hers. Liquid heat gathered low in her center. His hands slid up her sides and caressed her breasts.

It was an effort of will to tear her mouth away. “Lyre,” she panted. “Maybe I could eat first?”

“Mmm.” Unable to reach her mouth, he kissed her throat. “I suppose I could allow that.”

“How magnanimous.”

His hands curled over her backside and he pulled her down as he pushed his hips up. She gasped, thoughts of food evaporating from her head. Sliding her fingers into his hair, she guided his mouth down lower. His lips teased across her breast.

“I could eat later,” she suggested breathlessly.

“I guess it depends how hungry you are.”

He stood up, letting her slide down his half-naked body. Despite his newfound aversion to her clothes, he was wearing pants again, though that might have something to do with the food that kept arriving periodically. He probably didn’t want to distract the maids.

Spinning her around, he pushed her down into his chair, then knelt between her knees. His scorching eyes caressed her body as he parted her robe again, and she had to fight a blush. He’d seen every inch of her already, but she couldn’t help it.

He ran his hands up her thighs and back down, then guided her legs apart. Leaning into her, he trailed wet kisses down the center of her stomach, heading lower.

“Lyre,” she gasped.

“Mmm.” He hooked his arms under her knees, pushing them up so her feet were off the floor entirely. “Are you objecting?”

All she could do was grip the seat of the chair as his mouth moved even lower. It took her a moment to find her voice. “No, no objections.”

He slid his lips along her sensitive inner thigh. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“No.”

“Mmm.” His tongue flicked teasingly against her skin. “Well, if you’re sure you—”

A rap on the door interrupted him. His head came up and he glanced across the room, then turned back to her.

“Should you answer that?” she asked reluctantly.

“Hell no.”

The rap came again, louder this time. Annoyance flickering in his dark eyes, he released her legs and stood. She hurriedly covered herself and dove behind the bedroom curtain. Hidden from sight, she listened to the door handle clack.

Lyre muttered something, and a male voice answered. A moment passed, then the door shut again. Lyre’s footsteps, almost silent, retraced his path to her. He stepped into the curtained room, pulled her close, and kissed her ravenously. She arched into him, arms sliding around his neck.

Pulling back, he sighed. “That message was for you. Rouvin and his entourage are expected at sundown.”

Her face flushed. Considering she’d abandoned her room for upwards of thirty-six hours, she could assume Miysis—and her nymph guards—had deduced her location … along with what she’d been up to this whole time, locked in a bedroom with an incubus.

“You have about two hours to prepare,” Lyre said. “I guess you’re expected to join the welcoming committee.”

“Oh, yes. I suppose I should.”

He laughed at her reluctant tone, and the husky sound sent heat diving through her. She hooked her hands around the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down.

“I think,” she breathed after thoroughly kissing him, “I can spare a few more minutes before I get ready.”

“A few minutes,” he agreed, that deep purr sliding back into his voice. Shivers ran across her skin. “Or maybe a bit longer than that.”

This time when he untied her robe, she was the one to pull it off and throw it aside. He was right. It did just get in the way.

* * *

Clio kept her eyes turned toward the horizon beyond the open city gates and hoped her dreamy state wasn’t too obvious. Thoughts of Lyre spun through her head, and she had no ability whatsoever to focus. All she wanted to do was run back to his room.

Beside her, Miysis stood at attention with his hands behind his back and wings folded tight, his military background obvious. He looked as impressive as he had when she’d ridden into this plaza, his red and gold garments standing out even amongst the vibrant colors.

Unlike last time, this welcoming party was less threatening. There was still a plethora of soldiers, but they were in ceremonial dress, and the prince hadn’t brought his opinaris to guard him. A line of nobles and city officials waited off to one side, and her troop of nymph soldiers waited on the other.

Long shadows stretched across the plaza as the sky gradually darkened. A sharp wind blew across them, tugging at the layers of fabric she wore, and the puffy white clouds from earlier in the afternoon had thickened, picking up the bright oranges of the sunset.

On the horizon, a cloud of dust was growing larger. She shifted her weight, her thoughts drifting back to the last two nights.

Miysis cleared his throat quietly. “Clio, may I step outside my rank for a moment?”

She blinked. Was he asking to speak plainly? “Yes, of course.”

His yellow-green eyes flicked to her, his expression oddly neutral. “You’ve been thrust into a new role—a new life—in which you have little experience. Commoners, if you’ll excuse the term, are accustomed to a certain degree of privacy in their lives, but that’s a rare luxury for members of the nobility.”

She nodded cautiously.

“You’ll soon learn that nothing you do will remain a secret for long. I hope you will take this advice to heart: treat every decision, no matter how private, as something you may have to publicly defend later.”

A blush crept into her cheeks. Miysis was referring to her spending two nights in Lyre’s room, and she fought her embarrassment. She was wearing her nymph regalia again, but not the mask, meaning her blush was visible to everyone nearby.

Miysis casually scanned the plaza. “My guards and messengers will not repeat anything they saw or surmised, and I had your visitors turned away before reaching the guest hall, but—”

“Visitors?” she blurted. “What visitors?”

He gave her a sideways look. “Nobility flocks to nobility. They want to learn more about you, insinuate themselves into your circle, and uncover what advantages they can gain from your favor. They’re unbearably curious about the mysterious new Nereid—and greedy, of course, but that applies to all nobles.”

She pressed her lips together, letting that sink in.

“As I was saying, my people will not gossip—I have ensured that—and I’ve kept Aldrendahar’s nobility away, but I advise you to speak to your guards as soon as you can.”

“Speak to them?” she mumbled.

“Request—or demand—their discretion, otherwise they might bring their gossip straight to King Rouvin’s attendants, and from there …” He gave a faint shrug. “Rumors are an unstoppable contagion.”

Her jumping into bed with a daemon the moment she arrived in Aldrendahar was already unseemly, but her guards had seen Lyre. They knew he wasn’t a nymph—or a griffin. Had they recognized him as an incubus?

“I appreciate your advice,” she said weakly.

Miysis looked from her to the open gates, where the approaching dust cloud had manifested into thirty mounted daemons and three low carriages on runners pulled by teams of tachies.

“I would offer one more word of caution,” he murmured, lowering his voice even more. “I don’t know your intentions, but if you plan to take Lyre with you … know that with all eyes on the new Nereid princess, hiding him in Irida will be impossible.”

At that moment, a soldier called a command and all the griffins in the plaza snapped to attention. With a deafening clatter, the king’s entourage swept through the gates, and Clio had no chance to reply to Miysis’s ominous warning.