Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(18)

Someone else was trying to kill me. It looked like I had a lot of enemies in the palace and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet.





Chapter Five





“Did you want to make it to dinner?” Danny asked, staring at me. His fangs were lengthening as I smiled at him.

His eyes were on the heart-shaped bodice of my dress. It was strapless and left everything from the tops of my breasts up uncovered. The only jewelry I wore was my wedding ring and the Goddess Chain. I slipped into my four-and-a-half-inch heels. “You like?”

Daniel grinned, his dimples showing. “I hope you’re not hungry because you might not make it to the banquet looking that good.”

The way Daniel looked at me gave me just the boost of confidence I needed to make it through the night. I went up on tiptoes and planted a kiss on his perfectly sculpted lips. “I take that as a yes.”

“Oh, I like.” He leaned down to nuzzle my neck. I felt his tongue stroke the long line of my jugular vein. The last several weeks, Daniel had let his freak-flag fly high, and for me that meant dealing with his love affair with my neck. I dropped my head back and let him lick me, wondering if I was going to make it to our first state dinner. It would probably be rude to skip out on my reception because I was too busy in bed with husband number one.

“Damn, sweetheart,” husband number two said, coming up from behind. His big hands slid across the red silk covering my backside. “This is not the dress Declan picked. It’s so much sexier.” He cupped my rear and let his tongue trace the shell of my ear, eliciting a groan from me. “Goddess, you look gorgeous.”

Yep, if they didn’t stop soon I was going to miss everything.

“What made you change your mind about the dress?” Dev asked, rubbing his erection against my backside and letting me know how much he wanted me. Dev’s rubbing pressed me firmly into Daniel, who was in the same condition. I let my hands slip down Daniel’s trim waist to his rock-hard ass. “Not that I mind, lover.”

“I didn’t change my mind about the dress. Someone took it,” I admitted breathlessly.

Both men stopped and Daniel looked down at me, his blue eyes now serious. “What do you mean someone took the dress? Did they take it away because it didn’t fit you?”

I took a long breath to steady myself. If I had known they were going to get all freaked out and stop what they were doing, I would never have mentioned it. I was enjoying the whole “worshipping my body” part of the day, but I had to be honest. “No, I mean they took the dress Declan bought, unless you think he meant for me to wear that thing in the closet.”

The boys exchanged a look and Dev crossed to the closet. He held the awful dress up and shook his head. “My brother would never pick this dress. First, it’s hideous and completely out of fashion. Second, it covers your breasts. He likes your breasts, sweetheart. He talks about them all the time.”

“Remind me to thank him for that,” Daniel said sarcastically.

“I think they’ll leave me alone now.” I smoothed down my dress. It looked like I was going to make it to dinner now and I wanted to be wrinkle free. “I think the word is out that I don’t like people touching my stuff.” I said that with a pat to Dev’s behind. I turned to Daniel. “That goes for you too, mister. Some girl starts in on you and I will take her out.”

“Good to know, baby,” he said with a sexy smile. “And that thing we just started, don’t think we’re done.”

I was counting on it. This was my weird honeymoon. I’d married Dev only weeks before and Daniel and I had never been on a trip where we relaxed. We needed time together, time to bond.

“Mistress,” a small voice said from the back of the room. I looked over and realized I’d forgotten Bibi was here. I winced because I hadn’t meant to ignore the troll. I just forgot everything when my men walked in a room.

“Yes, Bibi,” I replied, hoping I hadn’t offended her. I doubted the foreplay would bother her, as trolls were open-minded, but I had yet to introduce her to Danny. She’d been introduced to Dev earlier. I made amends now and my vampire happily greeted the troll. Like me, he had a soft spot in his heart for the Huldrefolk. They were a part of our childhood.

Albert had been true to his word and now we were all happily ensconced in the east wing of the palace. Once we’d gotten rid of Mara, we’d had plenty of help moving into Dev’s part of the palace. I had a whole room for nothing but getting dressed and primping. Sarah, Neil, and I had spent the afternoon getting settled in and talking to Bibi about palace life. Neil had been right about the troll. She knew an awful lot about the nobles. She knew who was sleeping with whom and who was cheating. She knew who was feuding and she liked to gossip. Once we got her talking, she had gone on for an hour as Sarah, Neil, and I had all gotten ready.

“It’s time for you to depart,” Bibi reminded me. She had a notebook and a clock to tell time. Though her voice was quiet, I knew she was trying to take her job seriously. “You and His Highness and Master Daniel are supposed to enter last. It’s a great honor. All of the nobles want to see Prince Dev’s first meeting with his mother after so long a time.”

“You mean they want to gawk at a train wreck,” Dev complained. He was nervous. Dev was dressed in traditional Seelie clothes, the emerald color of his tunic making his eyes even more green than normal. I smoothed back the midnight fall of his long hair. It was just past his shoulders. Normally he pulled it back, but now he left it long for the more formal occasion.