“Are you sure you don’t want to try?”

Lexia smirked playfully at Axis, surely with all her lipstick smeared across her face. Her carefully applied eye makeup was likely melted under her eyes. Her hair was the first thing to fall, tangled in his fingers during their passionate lovemaking.

Axis, the man Lexia would marry, peered curiously at the leather restraints in her hand. There was a hesitation—a caution—to the openness in his face which tugged at her heart. He said, “It’s not that I don’t want to…”

Lexia understood. She dropped the restraints and crawled naked on her hands and knees across the floor to Axis where he sat on the edge of the bed. No part of her wanted him to regret saying ‘no.’ Also gloriously naked, he watched her come to him, lust washing away the hesitation.

Good.

Lexia went to her knees between Axis’ legs, and she kissed the side of one knee, then the other. He brushed his fingers through her hair again, and oh, how she longed for him to pull it. To arch her neck for him.

But Lexia was happy for the beautiful smile on Axis’ face. She would make him feel good if only for the smile to stay. She kissed her way up the inside of his thighs, and he kept his eyes on hers with feverish desire. When she drew almost the entirety of him in her mouth, he looked toward the dome with his eyes rolled back. “Lexia,” he breathed.

This was enough for her. Maybe after they were married, Axis would feel safer and more adventurous, but Lexia would never push his boundaries more than he was willing to stretch. They’d shared one another this way since their first time when she was seventeen, and neither had sought pleasurable company elsewhere. They were all each other needed.

After round four, a knock sounded on the door of Axis’ apartments. He didn’t employ any servants, so it was up to him to dress and answer the door. He did so clumsily, and Lexia laughed at how he tripped into his pants. Especially as Axis confessed, “I can’t feel my legs, woman. What have you done to me?”

It was late evening, almost time for Lexia to go home, so she listened curiously as to who was at the door.

“Young Master Flicker.”

Lexia sat up in the bed. That was Gauge’s butler. The rest of their exchange was too soft for her to hear, and she was dying to know what was said. So much so that when Axis walked back into the room, she couldn’t contain her curiosity.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“What is it?”

Axis peered down at an open envelope in his hand—a copper leaf envelope. He leaned in the doorway as he read it, saying, “It’s a gambit, and a poorly chosen one at that.” With little regard for the expensive paper, he tossed it on the bed for Lexia to read.

Which she did.

Eagerly.

“Will you go?”

Axis folded his arms and licked his lips, slowly, lost in his thoughts. With him shirtless, it was rather distracting. He said, “I’ve already told Jan I would. Do you wish to go, Lexi?”

She smiled. “I’ll be in your corner the entire time, but what puzzles you so?”

Axis shook himself out of his thoughts. “I’m trying to understand him. It makes no sense for him to challenge me unless he’s planned something to shake my footing.” At the last, he finally met Lexia’s eyes.

Oh.

“You’ve nothing to worry about. I’m sure he doesn’t know about the incident at the factory.”

“Oh, I’m sure he does. In fact, I’m counting on it.”

As Lexia let Rhyme drive her home that night, she sat in the backseat of the steam-powered car and fiddled with the restraints in her dress pocket. She did so with the same hand bearing Axis’ timepiece. It swallowed her petite forearm up past her elbow and made her think of sleeping in his sweater. Same experience; more significance.

Soon, they would be married and sharing a bed every night. No more of Gauge’s silly curfew—

The second the Copper Count entered Lexia’s thoughts, she reflected on the evening with her dance partner. Were his eyes as piercing as people said? Was it her imagination or had he held her tighter than required by etiquette? Why did his smile linger in her memory?

But more importantly, what game was Gauge playing?

Count Snow never came across as malicious or inappropriate, but he maneuvered people like pieces on a board—Just as Lexia’s father had said. Politics. A delicate balance. Even though the music had stopped long ago, the dance was still on.

Lexia smiled to herself.

She kinda liked it.

Only then did she realize she’d forgotten to tell Axis about the union models. Lexia bit her lip. Would he approve of her spending time alone with Gauge? Would Gauge approve of her inviting Axis, certain he would be interested in the prospect? Could the three of them work together—It was so inevitable in their future. Valve would die, drowning in his own blood, as he deserved. And Leon would retire to a quiet life overlooking the fields, as he deserved. Axis, Lexia, and Gauge would oversee Winter together.

So why did they feel worlds apart?

Lexia wished she could talk to her mother. Her chest squeezed so tight at the thought that a small sound escaped her.

“Are you all right, Ms. Tempest?” Rhyme asked with a glance over his shoulder.

She lied. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Very well, miss.” He did not sound convinced.

Mother would’ve approved of Rhyme. And she’d loved Axis so much.

Lexia frowned as something tugged on the edge of her memory.

“Do something, Leon. That monster will kill the boy.”

“We have no means to interfere. The best we can do is let him stay here out of Valve’s way.”

“That’s not good enough.”

Lexia stared out the car window as it trundled down Tempest Boulevard. She might not see eye-to-eye with Gauge about policy and intrigue, but she agreed there were some crimes only copper could remedy.