Chapter 46 Kieran
Kieran
The door clicks shut, and Gen and I are finally alone. There’s a tentative stillness in her body as she looks at me from across the room, her face a mix of disbelief and desire.
“I didn’t think this would be possible,” she says quietly as I move closer.
“I tried, Kieran—I tried so hard to find out who caused the rot, but we’re running out of time.
We have no leads, and the trial is tomorrow, and I don’t know what else to do.
” Her voice breaks, and it feels like my own heart cracks with it as I pull her into my chest, her tears seeping through my thin shirt.
“You’re doing so well, Princess. You’ve done everything you can.
Tonight all I want is to be with you.” I can’t tell her this could be the end of us, just as we thought we were getting a fresh start.
The reality of that is a cruel, bitter medicine I can’t bear to swallow.
Only two days ago she was mine in my own home. Now I’ll most likely lose her forever.
She pulls back, a frantic look in her eyes. “I can’t lose you again.”
Before I can speak, she goes to her wardrobe and begins pulling out clothing, piling them on the floor. Her eyes are wide, her face pale and strained.
“What are you doing, Gen?” I ask cautiously.
“We should run. We should leave Naseria, flee the country together now. We can be at the border by morning.”
I shake my head. It’s fucking selfish how badly I want to say yes and run away with her, but I know I will not run again. I will never run—not after letting myself be cast aside nine years ago.
No. We have to face this, fight our own battles, and accept that tonight may be our last night together. I won’t waste a moment of it making plans to flee.
I rest my hand on her back as she tears through her belongings. “Gen, Princess, don’t do this. We aren’t running. You have too much at stake, and I know how important the crown is to you.”
She pushes back, insisting it’s our only chance, insisting she won’t live without me—and for a heartbeat I fear that if I die in two days’ time, she might follow through on that claim.
But we both know my Gen is steel forged in the hottest fires. She’s too stubborn and too determined to lead this country into something better to lose herself over my death.
I pull her into me, feeling the fight drain from her body as she cries. Slowly, she softens, her sobs tapering into muffled breaths.
“You’re right,” she finally says. “Even if we did flee, my mother would never let us go. She’d never let us slip into anonymity.
If only because, in her eyes, it isn’t my right to live without the crown.
But, Kieran, I cannot lose you. I will fight for you until the very end.
There must be a way to free you from these charges. ”
I nod, giving her the reassurance she needs. “The lawyers are working through the night. Leland is helping, and I think they’re building a strong case that I couldn’t possibly be guilty of all these crimes. We won’t stop fighting.”
All of these things are partly true. The case still isn’t strong—not without the guilty party coming forward. Not when the queen is determined to see me convicted. Naseria’s justice system becomes nothing but a facade if the monarch has a vested interest in the outcome.
She looks at me as though she doesn’t fully believe a word I’m saying.
Good. She needs that skepticism. She should be questioning everything, because if her mother can do this to me, then what has she done to others?
No matter what happens, I need Gen to pick up the pieces and keep fighting for what she knows is right.
And selfishly, I just want to move on from this conversation long enough to savor my last hours with her.
I close the distance between us, sliding my hands around her full hips. “How do you want to spend our time together tonight, Princess?”
A shadow of a smile touches her lips, though the weight of tomorrow is still there in her eyes. “You’re right. I don’t want to spend it worrying.”
I’m not letting her off the hook that easily. I want her to say it. “That didn’t answer my question.”
A blush rises in her cheeks, a delicious shade of rosy pink. “You’ll make me answer you?” she asks, pressing her body against mine, her breasts brushing my chest. “I think you know what I’d like to do.”
I grin down at her, my nose so close to hers I can feel the warmth of her breath. “Details, Princess. I want to hear it.”
“Fine then. I want to make love to you until dawn breaks. I want to give you my body and take yours for my own, knowing it could be our last night together.”
I let out a hum of approval as I draw her into a kiss. She’s so soft, her scent sweet and delicate, and the idea of my filthy body defiling her makes shame flicker through me. I pull back, heat flooding my face as embarrassment washes over me.
“I’m filthy. Let me clean up first,” I insist as she tries to pull me back toward her. My words finally sink in—or maybe it’s my stench—because she steps back.
“Of course. I’m sorry, Kieran. I should have known you’d want a bath. You’re being treated like an animal in that prison.”
She leaves my side and walks into her bathroom. I follow without a word as we approach the large clawfoot tub. Of course the crown princess has indoor plumbing, a luxury that is rare in most homes. She turns the tap and begins filling the tub, pouring in scented soaps until frothy bubbles rise.
After she finishes with the bath, she turns back to me. There’s a quiet resolve on her face as she asks, “Can I wash you? I just… I want to take care of you, Kieran.”
I dip my head in silent agreement and begin tugging off my dirty, bloodied clothes. The warm water stings my healing wounds, and I hiss as I lower myself into the heated tub.
The water is deep enough, and the bubbles ample enough, that most of me is covered.
I expect Gen to kneel beside me, but when I look over my shoulder she’s shedding her own clothes before slipping into the bath as well.
The water sloshes over the rim, making a mess of the marble tiles.
She reaches back to turn off the tap, then faces me with a washcloth in hand.
“I wasn’t expecting you to join me, Gen. The water will be dirty from me.”
She huffs softly. “That doesn’t matter. I need to be close to you, and I’m not going to miss an opportunity to join you in this tub.”
Legs outstretched, she settles across from me, and I feel my cock twitch awake at the contact, at the way her breasts bob beneath the warm bubbles.
Slowly, she leans forward with the washcloth and begins wiping it across my skin. Her bare body glides against mine in a tantalizing rhythm as she works the bubbles over me. Fuck, how have I lived without her touch? How can I die knowing how much time we lost?
She bathes me with a tenderness and attention that makes my heart ache. It’s as if she’s memorizing every part of me, storing up this precious time for the moment when it’s gone for good.
Her hands slide to my shoulders, turning me so my back rests against her front. She massages her fingers through my hair, scraping gently down the nape of my neck. Frothy water pours down my shoulders before she turns me again, guiding me back until my head rests against the edge of the tub.
I let my eyes fall closed, her touch soothing me, until I hear the soft slap of the washcloth hitting the floor.
Gen’s hands take over where the cloth left off, exploring and memorizing every part of me, from my forehead down to the tips of my toes.
The slow, deliberate mapping of my body under her palms has me growing greedy for her touch on the one part of me she’s avoided.
Finally, Gen’s hands wrap around my aching cock, pumping firmly enough to drag a groan from my lips. She teases the tip before sliding her hands down to the base, the slick soap making her strokes threaten to unravel the last thread of composure I’m clinging to.
I lose the restraint I’ve been trying to hold onto and bring my hands to her hips, rocking her forward so my cock grazes her bare clit. My grip tightens on her ample ass as Gen sloshes water over the edge of the tub, rubbing herself along my length.
“I’ve never done this in the water,” she says breathlessly.
“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”
She reaches down and wraps her hand around my cock, her grip sure as she gives a quick shake of her head. “No. Show me.”
I haven’t even touched her slit yet, but she’s already shifting into position, my cock nudges against her sweet heat.
Water isn’t conducive to this, especially with the tub’s sides restricting our legs, but she’s already so wet for me that she lowers herself onto my shaft, her core taking me in as she moves with shallow thrusts.
“Fuck me, Gen—you don’t need any instruction. You’re perfect, Princess.”
She gives me a smirk, though her heavy-lidded eyes can’t hide the lust burning there. The shallow cant of her hips grows more exploratory, more desperate, and I meet her rhythm, water sloshing over the edge with every movement.
Our fit is tight, and I’m still not fully seated in her. I don’t know how much more I can take in this position as Gen steadily notches me deeper.
Finally, I can’t stand it anymore, and I lift her off my throbbing cock as I stand.
Gen lets out a soft cry of surprise as I grab a towel to dry us.
Then I pull her into my arms, her ass in the air, and carry her from the tub into her bedroom.
I let her fall onto the bed with a gentle thump before caging my body around hers.
Gen spreads her legs, welcoming my hips as I slide home, fully sheathing myself in her tight core in one stroke.
We both gasp at the shock of it, the perfection of our joined bodies, and I take in the sight of her naked form beneath me, my cock buried deep.
“Kieran!” My name breaks from her lips like a plea as I pull out, only to drive into her again and again.
Her hands grip my back, fingers digging in, and from the strength of her hold I know she’ll leave marks.
I welcome them. I need them—need to be branded by this woman who holds my heart, who I may very well lose again in only two days’ time.
I can feel the exact moment Gen lets go—the pleasure pulsing around my cock, my name torn from her lips—and I let myself come with her, both of us lost in our shared need for one another. Both of us desperate for this final connection.
Because nothing is guaranteed tomorrow.
After I pull out of her, I lower my head to her soft belly and watch my seed spill down her thighs. This cannot be the end of us. I cannot lose tomorrow.
“Kieran.” Gen’s voice is only a shred of what it was moments ago, a whisper where a shout had been.
“Yes, my darling,” I answer.
“I can’t lose you. I don’t know how I’ll survive it. Come back to me.”
I want to promise her I’ll beat this, that I’ll fight my way back to her no matter the cost. But she knows the stakes. She knows exactly what I’m up against, and I won’t give her false hope.
Instead, I tuck her beneath the covers and draw her close. “I’ll love you always, Gen. No matter what happens tomorrow.”
Before the darkness fades to silvery dawn, I leave my love’s side, knowing my fate is no longer with hers.