The King’s Maiden (Camelot Court #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

QUINN

L andon got back after midnight, and the subject of my pesky virginity didn’t come up again. He showered quickly and went to bed, and I slept on the chaise even though he’d offered again for me to join him if I’d be more comfortable.

The next morning, I woke up tense and agitated, finding Landon already dressed in a pair of black track pants and a fitted black shirt and looking fresh as a fucking daisy.

He slipped his feet into his sneakers before glancing toward where I slept. He smiled when he saw I was awake, and I stamped down the butterflies that took flight in my stomach.

“Oh, good. I didn’t think I would catch you before I left.”

He rose from the edge of the bed, stretching his arm over his head in a way that bared and tightened the muscles of his waist. I averted my gaze to the mattress, but that didn’t help one bit. It only filled my brain with memories of last night and flooded my cheeks with warmth.

I scrubbed at my face with both hands, as if wiping the sleep from my eyes.

“I’m heading out for a run.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and removed a card from the front slot before setting it down on his desk. Walking over to me, he held it out to me. “The party is tonight. I have your dress, but use this for anything else you need.”

I stared at it like it was a venomous snake ready to bite me. When I didn’t move to take it from him, he set it on my lap. He patted it on my thigh before withdrawing his hand.

“The Maidens usually go get their hair and nails done during the day. Or you can go out to eat or buy, um, accessories or whatever.” He scratched behind his ear. “Just be back by five.”

I stared blankly at the black Amex nestled atop my blanket, blinking away sleep and feeling like the pretty female hooker in that movie where the rich guy picks her up off the streets. Frowning at the card, I pinched it at the corner and inspected it. It had Landon M. Scott inscribed on the back— not Kingston D’Arthur this time.

Landon shifted uncomfortably at my reaction. “You could grab some books to read while you’re here?”

My eyebrows rose.

The offer intrigued me, but it sounded a little too good to be true. With my luck, he meant books for research on Arthurian legends. Or how-to guides like Serving Your Lord and Master: For Dummies and A Good Girl’s Guide to Preserving Her Virginity.

I side-eyed him. “What sort of books?”

He huffed a laugh. “Any books you want, Maiden.”

At that, I perked up immediately. I’d whore myself out for a set of special edition hardcovers if the offer was on the table. No shame. I picked up the card before he could rethink his kindness, sliding it into the pocket of my sleep shirt.

After huffing my way to the chaise last night, I’d gotten back up when I couldn’t sleep and put one on just to annoy him. He’d laughed, his eyes still closed from where he’d been resting on the bed. But the way he wrinkled his nose when he eyed the garment now made me feel much better.

He grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like burn them all as he turned to leave the room.

“Thank you,” I called out. When he turned around, I nodded toward my pocket. “For all the books.”

He nodded in return and left the room.

An hour later, I was dressed, armed with iced coffee, and surrounded by a pile of books I’d had on my Tbr list for the last year.

It was literal heaven.

And yes, that word did mean what I thought it meant.

Gia popped by during a break in her summer class schedule. Skin flushed from the hike across campus, her honey-blonde hair fell out of her scrunchie as she weaved through the bookstore to join me. Taking a seat on the floor beside me, she held out her hand expectantly.

I dug into my pocket and passed the heavy black credit card over.

“You’re telling me he just handed this baby over to you and said go buy any books you want?”

I nodded, biting my lip.

“Damn. That’s it. Marry him. Wife him up. Let him have your babies while you take his name and this card and build your dream library. There’s really no other option.”

“Gia!” I laughed, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Good point. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all have those.” She stuck out her tongue. “No need to buy the bull when you can get the black card from his friends.”

I was pretty sure that was a joke. But the whole thing with Landon’s credit card made me more uncomfortable the longer she stared at it with stars in her eyes. Glancing down at the large pile I’d collected, I couldn’t help but feel like maybe I was taking advantage a little.

Since that feeling would pass when she left and I no longer had to think about it, I pushed it aside. No self-respecting smut reader walked away from a hot guy offering free books, right?

“Gia, I might be in over my head here.”

“How so?”

I gestured around me. “Unlimited spending on books? Too many orgasms to fucking count? I mean, if he were just trying to lure me to the dark side with cookies, I’d be able to resist. But this?”

“So much better than cookies. Mixed metaphors aside, he found your kryptonite.”

“Exactly. And it doesn’t help that he looks like he fell off the pages of Dark and Broody weekly. I lost the battle in resisting him sexually, but if he finds and exploits all my weaknesses, I’m going to catch feels.”

“Who could blame you? After this, I might be in love with him.”

I buried my face in my hands.

“Calm your tits, Gia. I’m not talking about love. But getting attached is becoming more and more of a real possibility and that would be so incredibly stupid of me.”

She tilted her head to look at me in a way that reminded me so starkly of Landon. I groaned, blinking away the image of his face that popped in my head.

“Would it really be so bad? I mean, if he feels the same, maybe this could lead to something between the two of you.”

Before she could bottle up and sell the eternal optimism I wanted to drink right now, I faced facts. “He’s just doing his job. Training me for The Quest. When I told him he could have his way with me, he kindly said no thanks.”

She shot me a pointed look.

“I’m paraphrasing, obviously. But either way, metaphorical hymen still fully intact over here.”

Gia laughed and pulled the hand I’d shot into the air back down to my lap.

“Did he say why not?”

“No. Not really. Stuff about not rushing, but I don’t know if I should buy it. I’m pretty sure he knows something happened between Kingston and I at the Maiden Selection. If he knows Kingston is into me, that’s probably a line he won’t cross. I don’t know much about him, but it’s not hard to guess that’d be a deal-breaker.”

She hummed as she thought that over. As she scanned my book pile, her mouth twisted and brow dipped. She picked up the first book in a particular favorite series of mine, a why choose dark romance by Tate James.

Flipping the special edition over, she arched a brow my way. “What would MK do?”

“Um...Fall in love with the best friends and taunt the holdout mercilessly until he pulls his head out of his ass?”

She snorted, holding out the book to me. “Might not be the worst plan.”

I laughed as I took it from her. “Not exactly the same situation here.”

“Isn’t it? You’re stuck living in a house with all of them. They’re all fucking hot. They want you, whether they’re all willing to admit it right now or not. Dye your hair pink and go be the bad bitch who gets all three of them.”

“Two of them. Max Dread is an ass. And a liar.”

I filled her in on what happened with Max and his father, sharing what Landon had told me, too.

She considered all of it, but she wasn’t convinced. “Wasn’t Merle the guy you thought dismissed you on day one?”

“Yeah, but Kingston swears they were together. And Max found me out on the lawn with Brutus. Kind of convenient, don’t you think? What if I blurred their voices, and it was really Max on the intercom telling me to leave?”

Gia shook her head. “Nope. Not even considering it.”

“Because it would put a damper on your why choose dreams for me?”

“Obviously.” She nudged my side. “You know I’m a sucker for the Dark Knight trope, too. My money is on there being more to Max than meets the eye.”

I snorted. “You date him, then.”

But even as I said it, possessiveness flared inside me. I scowled at the foolish organ in my chest.

Gia laughed, picking up on my reaction without me saying a word. “He’s all yours, Princess.”

Climbing to her feet, she stared longingly at my pile of books and setup for the day before begrudgingly tightening the strap of her backpack on her shoulders.

“I have to get back to class but keep me posted. I want to hear all about the party tonight, too.”

“Will do. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She waved and took off, leaving me alone with my books and my thoughts. But since I could probably spend hours going back and forth over the three guys occupying my mind, I picked up another book and pushed the thoughts aside. There’d be plenty of drama waiting for me tonight, surely.

But there was one thought she planted in my mind that I couldn’t let go of…

I just needed to fit in some time to stop by the hair salon next door before five.

I stepped out of the bathroom, ready for the party and refusing to acknowledge the dangerously high hemline on the dress Landon had picked out for me. It clung to my body like a second skin, ruched fabric pulling the black skirt tight over my hips until it stopped at my lower back.

Right above my fucking ass.

I’d curled my hair and let it fall, covering my exposed skin while also revealing what I’d done at the salon.

Streaks of scarlet red peeked out between the dark strands.

Twirling one strand around my finger, I waited for Landon to turn around from the desk, reminding myself not to drool when he did. His sharp black suit hugged his body like it had been made for him. Safely assuming it had been, I sent a few quiet thanks to his tailor.

Because the sight of his perfectly toned ass in those pants filled me with the sudden, inexplicable urge to bite it.

When he turned around, my mouth actually watered.

Head down, he fastened the buttons on his jacket while I prayed for mercy. With a crisp black shirt beneath his black jacket, he looked like a dream.

Or a nightmare, if I had to resist him.

Adjusting the cuff links at his wrists, he lifted his head and saw me standing there.

His hands froze, mouth parting as he stared at me, too.

He raked his gaze up my body from the way-too-expensive red-soled heels he’d left out to where the halter top of my dress cinched tightly around my neck. Slowly drinking in every line and curve, he finally reached my face and spotted the color in my hair.

Eyes widening, his throat bobbed with a slow, deep swallow.

I stepped closer to him, waving a hand over my appearance. “Will this do, Sir?”

He nodded, moving as if pulled by gravity until he was close enough to pull a strand of my newly-dyed hair between his fingers. Toying with the crimson curl, he couldn’t hide his reaction to seeing his color on my body.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he tugged gently on the ends, applying tension to my scar without realizing it. My scalp tingled, and my body warmed under his heated gaze.

“You look perfect, Maiden.”

I blushed, brushing my hand down his lapel. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Buns.”

His eyebrows rose. “Buns?”

“Short for Bunny, obviously, or Honey Bunny if I’m cross with you.” I winked, delighting in the way he closed his eyes and dropped his head back with a groan. “Good! You remember.”

“I’m not responding to this.”

“Oh, come on, Buns. Don’t be like that. With the dress you put me in, things are feeling extra bouncy over here.”

I did a slow twirl, considering my new cutesy nickname for him was payback for it. As predicted, my ass jiggled with the slightest movement thanks to the ruched spandex barely keeping it concealed.

“Yeah, extra boun—” He cleared his throat. “We should get going before we?—”

“Decide to skip it altogether?”

His throat worked as he considered that, and I wouldn’t have minded at all if he wanted to. After last night, the thought of him losing control had been hard not to think about, especially as I tossed and turned on the chaise. I would’ve been lying if I’d said I wasn’t eager for it to happen.

But, not surprisingly, his sense of duty won out. “We don’t want to be late.”

“Lead the way, oh gallant Knight of mine.”

I stepped to his side and looped my arm through his, unprepared for his response and the way it caught my breath in my throat.

“As you wish.”