Tangled Web by Crista McHugh

She dipped another piece and tried it. “And to think, we almost wasted this.”
    He said nothing for a few minutes and allowed her to feed him the various delicacies that had been laid out for them the night before. His desire eased in sync with the hunger in his stomach as the morning’s agenda filled his mind. He’d almost forgotten about the luscious woman behind him until her long brown leg snaked across his thigh.
    “Care to tell me what has you so tense?” She poked a finger into the knots that had formed in his shoulders and began slowly massaging them.
    He leaned back against her with a sigh. “I was just thinking about all the things I need to do today.”
    “Such as?” Her fingers continued to work their magic as they eased down his shoulder to his upper arms. A tingle raced along his skin. If she continued to touch him like this, he might just forget about his worries.
    “Nothing you should worry about.”
    Her hands froze for a second before she began working on his neck. “I overheard your friend mention something about the barrier.”
    By the gods, she wasn’t going to give up, was she? A brisk retort stood poised on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason, he didn’t tell her to mind her own business. Perhaps he could discover if she knew anything about it. “The barrier seems to be weakening along the northern border.”
    Her breath caught, and her fingers tensed. “How long has this been going on?”
    “Since a few days after my father’s death.”
    She resumed rubbing the tiny circles into his skin after a few seconds. “But it hasn’t fallen?”
    He shook his head. “I’m able to summon enough magic to reinforce it, but every day, it gets more difficult to do so.”
    When she said nothing, he turned around to see her reaction. She bit her bottom lip, and her eyes stared at something in the distance. A crease appeared between her brows. He almost laughed. She seemed more intent on helping him find a solution than most of his advisors. He stroked her leg, and she jumped.
    “Do you have any more of your clever ideas?” he asked in a teasing voice.
    “A few.” She smiled, although it seemed forced to him. “Since I’m not a Deizian, I don’t pretend to understand how your magic works. I can just listen and see if I can help you find the problem and fix it.”
    “And does anything grab your attention?”
    “I think it odd that it started failing a few days into your reign.”
    His jaw tightened, and he jumped to his feet. She didn’t need to remind him of the same doubts that had been expressed by members of the nobility. “Are you saying I’m the reason why?”
    “No, no, no.” She stood and cupped his face in her hands. “I’m just saying I know several people want to see you fail, and this could be one of their attempts to cause you problems.”
    Her words echoed his conversations with Marcus yesterday. The nobles had become termites that gnawed away at the dais holding his throne, weakening the support beams until one misstep could cause it all to crumble from underneath him.
    She tilted his head down until his eyes met hers. A strange glow in their teal depths stirred the heat in his veins. She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. “I believe in you, Titus, but you need to believe in yourself.”
    When she kissed him again, something changed in the electricity between them. Her dancing tongue still awakened his desire, and his cock sought her warm wetness as they tumbled back against the cushions. But something else flowed from her to him, almost like a magic of a different sort. It surged from her mouth and spread over his skin like a drop of ink in a glass of water, strong at first, but delicately coiling around his hands by the time it got there. Whatever it was, it rivaled the ecstasy of coming inside her.
    A click sounded at the lock, and a gasp broke free from her lips.
    Titus bolted to his feet, not ready to be caught over-indulging in his concubine