Chapter Two #3
Cool eyes regarded him from underneath dark lashes, wickedness tugging at one corner of Iver’s mouth.
William thought he was prepared for anything, but when Iver placed one splayed hand on his back, the other on his chest, William bit his tongue to hold in a moan.
Iver exerted more pressure than necessary, turning the touch from a search into something more possessive.
Cold seeped out of his questing hands, but all his touch did was heat William.
He didn’t want to enjoy Iver’s hands on him, but he did.
That was a good thing if they married, William reminded himself, but that didn’t stop the anger at his own reaction from twisting his stomach.
Nobody treated him like this. Just as he drew in a breath to protest, Iver began patting him down.
William’s knees went weak. The decisive pressure from two sides was so proprietary.
And yet… Underneath, there was a strangely protective quality.
William would be damned if he admitted he liked it.
Iver’s hand roamed his chest, and William’s nipples inescapably hardened under the brief, assertive touch.
Against his will, William thickened between his legs. Clenching his teeth, he tried to force his growing erection down with the power of his thoughts, but with Iver’s hands simultaneously on his stomach and the small of his back, this wasn’t a fight he could win.
Iver ran his fingers up and down his sides, and William closed his eyes in bliss. Goosebumps danced over his body, and a surge of pleasure rushed over him. Why did Iver searching him feel better than the purposeful touch of half a dozen concubines?
“I told you it wouldn’t hurt,” Iver said quietly as he came so close that his lips brushed William’s cheek with every word. “If I put my mind to it, I could play you like a violin.”
With that, Iver sank to his knees before William, dragging his hands down the length of William’s left leg.
Tingles raced over William’s skin wherever he touched him.
Iver was eye level with his crotch, where a visible bulge tented his breeches.
He gazed up at William, his expression betraying nothing.
Then he let go and clasped William’s right calf, repeating the process on the way up.
There wasn’t much of William’s body left that Iver hadn’t touched. He’d put his hands there too, and William’s cock, now fully erect, twitched in anticipation.
“You didn’t lie,” Iver said and stepped back. “No iron.”
That was it? Iver had dragged his hands all over him just to stop when it was getting interesting? But William hadn’t wanted him to put his hands there, had he?
“You didn’t do this just to feel me up?” William asked.
“Of course not.” As if nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them, Iver detached himself and returned to his end of the table. He was regrettably far away.
The distance made William uncomfortably aware of the cold.
He could’ve sworn it had been worse with Iver next to him, but somehow, it had bothered him less.
Now he shivered, and he wrapped himself in his fur cloak.
He would ask a knight to help him back into his cuirass later and blushed at the thought of how she might assume it had come off. William took a sip of his wine.
“Am I right to presume that the incorporation of Silverlight Castle into the faerie realm is in both our interests?” Iver asked.
“Yes,” William said too quickly. Iver had caught him off guard.
Iver smirked, having clocked his first victory in the negotiations, which, William belatedly realized, had started. “Excellent.” That bastard. Iver didn’t stop to breathe. “I have one non-negotiable requirement for our arrangement to proceed: I want children.”
It was no surprise—Iver’s letter had left William with the impression that an heir was of utmost importance to him.
“I have no objections,” William said. “In fact, I have written assent from my cousin, Charlotte, that she is willing to bear a child for us.”
“Good,” Iver said, sounding pleasantly surprised.
“And,” William said, eager to sweeten the deal before he launched his demands, “I’m willing to have my seed impregnate your sister…” What was the princess’s name again? “…Silenia.”
“No!” Iver snapped, his features contorting. He caught himself quickly but with visible effort. “I welcome your offer, but Silenia won’t carry my heir. My youngest sister, Ailenor, agreed to bear our child.”
William decided against asking why Iver so vehemently rejected Silenia. No need to get entangled in a sibling rivalry.
“Very well,” William said. “But I’m sure you’re aware that no child of ours will be able to inherit the throne of Vale.
So while I will partake in the joy of raising our children, none of them will be my heir.
I need you to compensate me for that. In exchange for voiding my line’s access to the throne, I want your troops protecting Vale; your knights fighting the orcs.
They will be under my command first, then yours. ”
God, he hated being so calculating. It went against who he was.
But negotiating with a fae, he had no choice.
If he didn’t press for as much as he could, Iver would take advantage of him.
Fae always repaid their debts, but they did so on their terms. What a fae considered fair compensation could be far from what a human did.
The Winter Court troops were his chance to get James off his back. If he sent those knights south, James could hardly complain William wasn’t supporting him.
Iver regarded him blankly. For a moment that stretched uncomfortably long, he said nothing. Then, full of disbelief, “My forces. Under your command.”
“I’m giving up my line’s claim to the throne. It could plunge Vale into political chaos,” William said, surprising himself as he thought on his feet. He wasn’t used to this.
Iver’s discomfort was plain. Why? They were trying to forge an alliance.
“You’re asking me to give up a lot to make this arrangement work,” William said. “You will have to do the same.”
“Fine.”
William swirled the wine in his glass. He was pleased to be holding his own.
“But,” Iver said through clenched teeth, “there will be no romantic or sexual relations outside our marriage.”
“Huh?” What did that have to do with William commanding the Winter Court troops? And wasn’t the whole point of a marriage of convenience that they’d benefit from the alliance while remaining free to seek pleasure wherever they wanted?
“You heard me.”
“You want me to dismiss my concubines?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
William frowned. Sex was one of the many delights he liked to immerse himself in. If he didn’t get the chance to unwind and release tension… His eyes flicked over Iver. The contours of his muscular body pressed against his tight leather armor.
William licked his lips. Iver was decidedly attractive.
He imagined that lush white hair fanning out on a pillow, the rough sounds Iver would make as William drove into him…
William had never restricted himself to just one bed partner, but he could.
If that was what it took to secure control over the Winter Court troops and never receive another letter from James, he’d do it.
“Would you prefer sharing me?” Iver asked when William didn’t respond straight away.
Oh damn. The freedom to sleep with others would go both ways.
William had always been the center of attention and hadn’t considered that if he rejected fidelity, the resulting freedom would also apply to Iver.
He pictured him with a concubine of his own, perhaps a young, graceful winter fae girl.
No, William decided, that wasn’t what he wanted.
“All right. No extramarital affairs. You will have to provide for my needs then.”
“Oh, I will.” The look in Iver’s eyes was smoldering. “And you’ll have all iron removed from Silverlight Castle.”
“Sure.” William saw no harm in that. Except… “I want an iron dagger.”
On the other side of the table, Iver went still. His eyes bore into William. “No.”
“But—”
“Why would you want an iron dagger?” Iver asked. His voice was deceptively calm.
“Because you’re a fae, and I’m human. You—or any fae of your court—could overpower me. I need insurance.” A wound inflicted by an iron blade was often lethal to a fae, even if the injury itself wasn’t.
“An iron weapon is out of the question.”
“King Malorn of the Autumn Court gifted his husband one as a sign of trust.”
“I’m not Malorn.”
William stretched his arms in an exasperated gesture. “Then how am I supposed to defend myself? I’ve heard about the dangerous and twisted side of the dark fae. I might come to trust you, but I won’t be able to say the same about your entire court.”
Iver pinched his lips and crossed his arms, studying the icy surface of the war room table. When he looked up, his expression betrayed nothing. “I can offer you a different kind of wedding gift that’d serve the same purpose. You might find it even more appealing…”
“And what’s that?”
A smile crept across Iver’s lips, and William had the distinct impression that Iver had planned this, had feigned hesitation, holding back a secret trump to bargain with. “In my private garden at the Winter Court, something special has come to fruition.”
William’s jaw dropped. Iver couldn’t be referring to…
“The winter faerie fruit has grown and ripened. How about I gift you that?” The smirk on Iver’s face said he knew the answer.