“
I might be a shameless flirt, but at least I don't have a horrible temper. You should come tend to my wounds from our squabble in the snow. I'm bruised all over thanks to you.
Something clicked against the nightstand, and a pen rolled across the polished mahogany. Hissing, I snatched it up and scribbed:
Go lick your wounds and leave me be.
The paper vanished.
It was gone for a while- far longer than it should have taken to write the few words that appeared on the paper when it returned.
I'd much rather you licked my wounds for me.
My heart pounded, faster and faster, and a strange sort of rush went through my veins as I read the sentence again and again. A challenge.
I clamped my lips shut to keep from smiling as I wrote,
Lick you where exactly?
The paper vanished before I'd even completed the final mark.
His reply was a long time coming. Then,
Wherever you want to lick me, Feyre.
I'd like to start with "Everywhere," but I can choose, if necessary.
I wrote back,
Let's hope my licking is better than yours. I remember how horrible you were at it Under the Mountain.
Lie. He'd licked away my tears when I'd been a moment away from shattering.
He'd done it to keep me distracted- keep me angry. Because anger was better than feeling nothing; because anger and hatred were the long-lasting fuel in the endless dark of my despair. The same way that music had kept me from breaking.
Lucien had come to patch me up a few times, but no one risked quite so much in keeping me not only alive, but as mentally intact as I could be considering the circumstances. Just as he'd been doing these past few weeks- taunting and teasing me to keep the hollowness at bay. Just as he was doing now.
I was under duress, his next note read. If you want, I'd be more than happy to prove you wrong. I've been told I'm very, very good at licking.
I clenched my knees together and wrote back, Good night.
A heartbeat later, his note said, Try not to moan too loudly when you dream about me. I need my beauty rest.
I got up, chucked the letter in the burbling fire, and gave it a vulgar gesture.
I could have sworn laughter rumbled down the hall.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))