Chapter 34 #3
“Yes,” she agreed eagerly. “Oh...apparently that’s odd,” she added as an afterthought, her expression tightening.
“Well, maybe I’m alright with odd.” I gave her half a smile and indicated for her to stay beside me if she wanted to.
She beamed at me, throwing herself back onto the bed so violently that the whole thing bounced.
I released a laugh and put my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes again.
I tried to forget the fact that she was so close to me while my cock continued to make its ideas on the matter known, the silence somehow making me all the more aware of the needs of my flesh and the proximity of hers.
I bit my tongue to stave off the desire she was igniting in my flesh, reminding myself forcefully that even if she could touch me, she had told me to my face on multiple occasions that she thought I was ugly.
Regardless of that, she probably wasn’t even made of skin and bone like me, I doubted she even wasted time on emotions like lust. She was magic embodied.
Of course she was beguiling, but she was also off limits.
I closed my eyes and worked to forget she was there, but it was damn difficult with the soft sound of her breathing just a few inches away and the sweet scent of honey blossom reaching me from her skin.
I ground my jaw, ignoring my cock and the urge to shift closer to her, forcing my mind from every sordid idea that came to it and blowing out a harsh breath as the torture of her proximity proved impossible to ignore.
Eventually I started to drift off and her voice reached me again just as I teetered on the edge of sleep.
“I know,” she muttered to herself. “But I think I like him despite his face.”
I bit my tongue in irritation against responding to that comment and forced myself to concentrate on getting to sleep as my cock practically wept in disappointment and I was forced to endure the bite of her fucking rejection yet again.
I really didn’t give a shit that she wasn’t attracted to me anyway. I had a princess and endless riches waiting to be mine, and I refused to let the less than flattering opinion of one crazy, alluring, magical being affect me.
* * *
“What the hell is this?” Cassius’s furious voice roused me some time later and I pushed myself upright as I blinked the sleep from my eyes, my dagger in my fist and my muscles tensing at the note of threat in his tone.
“Shhh, he’s sleeping!” Kyra objected as she sat up too, drawing my attention from the angry looking man in the doorway to her for a moment.
Her dark hair was a mess from laying in the bed beside me, but it suddenly restyled itself into perfect waves which fell down her back in a tumble of soft curls.
“You’re supposed to be a suitor for the princess,” Cassius growled, striding towards us with his jaw clenching so hard it looked like he might crack a tooth.
“I am a suitor for the-”
“What would people think if anyone saw the two of you sharing a bed?” he hissed.
I glanced at Kyra with a grin, fisting my solid cock and squeezing it firmly in an attempt to make the evidence of my arousal fuck off.
“Probably that she’s just had a brilliant night,” I taunted, and I swear his eyes actually flashed red with his rage.
“I did,” Kyra agreed enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on the bed which in turn made her tits bounce within the thin material of her nightdress and Cassius flushed with rage.
“You are supposed to be a man of honour,” Cassius barked. “The sort of man who the princess would be proud to call her husband. Not a lecherous fiend who beds his maid a month before their wedding!”
“Alright. Calm down there, mate, you’re going to give yourself a haemorrhage or something if you aren’t careful.
I didn’t lay a hand on you, did I Kyra?” I looked to her, then glanced away again quickly because my dick definitely wasn’t going to get any less solid if my attention was fixed on her.
I focused on the furious arsehole who had woken me up instead, aiming for that to do the trick.
“No. The only person to touch me was myself,” Kyra agreed.
I released a laugh. “Well, that’s understandable as you were sleeping beside me all night.”
Cassius glowered at the insinuation.
“I don’t understand...” Kyra frowned. “ Oh... but why would I do that? ...I know, but Master doesn’t exactly make me feel like-” Her eyes slipped to me and she promptly shut up as if someone had instructed her to.
“I’m sorry about your face,” she muttered, making irritation flare beneath my skin instantly.
“Right. And you’re still alone in that opinion,” I snapped as I stood and walked away from her, pulling on a pair of britches as I went, my cock finally seeming to get the hint that she wasn’t interested and sinking like a ship full of holes.
Cassius gripped my arm as I tried to pass him and I paused, looking into his eyes as he held me in place.
“I’d take your hand off of me if you like your face in that arrangement, Cass,” I said in a rough tone, a crocodile’s smile on my face that warned him of the monster lying in wait beneath my skin.
“You should take better care of that Blessing,” he growled, his voice low as he didn’t back down. “She’s too innocent and easily corrupted by your low morals.”
He needed to take a closer look at her if he truly believed her innocent, but his claims were unfounded none the less.
“I never asked her to come to my bed in the middle of the night,” I replied icily.
“But letting her stay there was me taking care of her. She’s been alone for fuck knows how long and she was afraid in the night for reasons I doubt either of us could ever fully understand.
She wanted company, even it was just the company of a sleeping man.
So why don’t you mind your own business and take your damn hand back? ”
Cassius held my eye for another long moment, clearly accepting the truth at last before releasing me.
I gave him a wide smile and patted his cheek. “Good boy.”
I strode away from him before the fury that blazed in his eyes could come to anything more violent, and a knock sounded at the outer door just as I reached the central chamber.
“Enter,” I called, liking the way the authoritative tone sounded in my voice. I’d never indulged in pointless dreams about becoming an upper Fae while I lived in The Den, but I sure as hell liked the feel of it now that I was indulging.
The door was thrown wide and four serving girls came in, pushing a large dining cart between them.
They kept their heads low as they moved into the room, and I smiled to myself as I noticed them stealing glances at me from beneath their lashes.
Kyra might not have thought I was attractive, but she was very much alone in that opinion.
“Your breakfast, Count Nazari,” one of them murmured as the others began to lay plates of food on the table before the couch.
I eyed the meal with my stomach growling and Cassius and Kyra joined me, her nightdress replaced with a matching jade green pair of harem trousers and a short top with gold detailing on it that drew attention to the colour of her eyes.
The guard looked like his anger with me had either lessened or had been quelled in the face of our company.
Either way, I was glad to be done arguing with him.
I was all for playing the part of a pompous count when I had to, but when the doors were closed, I was going to be myself again.
One of the servants approached me, bowing low. “Your outfit for the tournament, My Lord,” she murmured, presenting me with a folded pile of white silk.
I held the tight britches and loose tunic out in front of me as I inspected them.
“Not the most practical colour for rolling about in the dirt and getting splattered with blood, is it?” I asked her, catching her eye despite the fact that she was trying not to look at me.
“Umm...” she hesitated, clearly not wanting to disagree with me while not wanting to insult the traditional garment either. “I’m sure it will look very fetching on you, My Lord,” she said diplomatically.
“Most things do,” I agreed, and a faint blush rose in her cheeks as she glanced at me then away again quickly.
“That will be all, thank you,” Cassius said firmly, and the servants scampered from the room, bringing the cart with them before pulling the door closed behind them. “Stop flirting with every female you see,” he hissed, pointing at me.
“I’ll try, Cassius. But honestly that’s like telling me to stop breathing. Besides, I have a sex Affinity so…” I dropped down before the feast which had been brought for us and filled a plate with a bit of everything on offer while Cassius scowled.
“If you eat too much you may get a cramp during the brawl and-”
“Where I come from, you don’t ever turn your nose up at free food,” I interrupted before he wasted any more energy trying to warn me off of filling my stomach. “You never know for sure when you’ll get to eat again.”
Cassius sighed and started on his own food too. “Fine, but don’t come crying to me if it happens.”
“I’m sure the princess will be more than happy to console me while she’s wiping the blood of my opponent from my flesh.”
“Don’t get cocky, you haven’t won yet,” he reminded me.
“I was born cocky, mate. That’s like telling the sky not to be blue.”
“Would you like the sky to be orange instead?” Kyra asked, raising a hand like she was about to change it.
“No!” Cassius and I said at the same time, and I exchanged a look of amusement with him which seemed to be the end of our debate at least.
We finished our food quickly and I changed into the outfit required for the brawl. It fit me well and I couldn’t help but run my hands over the expensive fabric appreciatively.