Chapter 14 #2
I pulled the note he’d been carrying from my pocket and handed it to Vannesh as I explained the rest of what had happened.
“That stupid bitch,” Palchur snorted under his breath. “Mmm, my apologies, Your Majesty.”
“No, it’s fine,” I chuckled. “I’ve thought the same thing at least twice tonight. We need to bring this information forward to the other leaders.”
“Yes, we do.” Vannesh nodded.
“We should wait until morning, sire,” Palchur added. “No one will be pleased to be disturbed at this late hour, and I already have men watching the queen’s moves.”
“Good, that’s good.” I rubbed a hand over my tired face. “Thank you. Yes, we’ll wait until morning. I wanted you two to look at everything and organize what you have with this new information, so we can present everything to the others tomorrow.”
“Of course, sire,” Palchur said. “May I ask, what is your goal here?”
“What?” I stared at him in confusion.
“Do you wish for Queen Sybil to be executed?” Palchur offered. “Simply imprisoned? Or do you wish to reveal her betrayal and let the gathering decide her fate?”
“Oh, fuck,” I breathed. “I just want to provide the facts for everyone. I want her to be faced with the truth and for there to be no way for her to argue out of it. Then we can all decide together what to do with her.”
“Very good, sire,” Palchur said.
“I think that’s the wisest course,” Vannesh agreed.
“Go get some sleep, my king,” Palchur said.
“Yes,” Anders agreed. “I’ll go with Master Palchur and Vannesh to answer any further questions they may have about the events of the evening.”
“Thank you, Anders,” I said.
The men gathered together to discuss where they would go, and I caught just enough to know they’d be in Palchur’s tent and that they’d be bringing Drezzen’s body with them.
I turned to Carissa, and she looked about ready to fall into bed.
“You were incredible tonight,” I said.
“I was simply doing what I could to help.” Carissa shrugged a shoulder like it was no big deal.
“No, don’t downplay it like that,” I said. “What you did tonight was huge. Thank you.”
A pretty blush spread across her cheeks, but it did nothing to hide the dark purple circles under her tired eyes.
“Now, I insist you go get some sleep,” I said. “We’ll deal with everything in the morning.”
Carissa stared at me like she wanted to say something else, but after a second, she shook her head once and shuffled off toward her tent. I stood there and watched her go until she slipped inside.
Finally, I marched off to my tent and slipped inside. I kicked my boots off before I realized I wasn’t alone in the front section of our tent.
Someone was sitting in one of the chairs in the dark, and they stood up when I let the tent panel slip closed behind me.
“Shit,” I hissed as my heart jolted into high gear.
Tanell stepped forward, and her golden-blonde hair shone in the bit of moonlight that managed to seep into the tent.
“Sorry,” Tanell murmured. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Why are you still awake?” I held my arms out to her, and she stepped right into my embrace. “You should be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sleep.” Tanell’s breath fanned out across the base of my neck and sent a pleasant shiver down my spine. “I was worried.”
“About me?” I ran the palms of my hands up the length of her arms. “You shouldn’t have, I was fine.”
Tanell was wearing a silky white robe that covered her from neck to toe, but her nipples had hardened under the thin fabric. The sight of the hard buds chased off any lingering tiredness that had been in my bones like a shot of espresso.
“I’m worried about all of it,” Tanell said. “Not just you. I know you’re doing everything you can to keep us safe and bring the nations together so we can face the threat, and I trust you to lead us…”
“But?” I prompted.
“But it’s still a lot,” Tanell sighed and looked up into my face.
Her piercing blue eyes were filled with worry and tension, and there was a sort of yearning as well. I could see the burden on her shoulders, and I’d come to know her well enough to know what she was asking for.
“You just need a little reprieve from it all,” I murmured and shifted my hands to cup the sides of her narrow waist. “Don’t you?”
“Mmmhmm,” Tanell hummed.
Her eyes closed as the heat of my hands soaked through the thin silk of her robe, and I stroked along the bottom edge of her ribcage with the pads of my thumbs.
“Please, my king.” Tanell’s blue eyes pleaded with me as she placed her hands on my chest. “Will you take my mind off it for a while?”
“Gladly,” I said.
I ducked my head to catch Tanell’s plush lips in a long kiss. Desire pumped into my blood like lava. It was slow and steady, but it lacked any of the urgency the rest of the day had held.
I’d been rushing around for hours and hurrying to solve problems, but now all I wanted was to take the scenic route with my golden-blonde queen.
“Ah,” Tanell gasped softly as I released her lips.
“I hope you don’t mind going slow,” I whispered into her ear. “I want to enjoy you slowly, one little bit at a time.”
“Yes, pleeeaaassse,” Tanell mewled. “I want you to make slow, sweet love to me.”
“Careful,” I chuckled as I imagined all the ways I could tease her. “You might regret that.”
“Never.” Tanell grinned up at me. “Take your time. Play with me until I can’t stand it any longer.”
“Happily.” The word was little more than a soft growl from the depths of my chest.
I captured Tanell’s lips in another searing kiss, and I locked my hands around her ribs just below her perfect breasts without actually touching them. She arched up on her bare toes and looped her arms behind my neck, but I didn’t touch her anywhere else.
My tongue dipped into her open mouth, and I let the tip mingle with hers. The flavor of her arousal was strong on my tongue, and the level of her desire for me was the most delectable drug in the universe.
Heat pumped in my veins, and I slid my thumbs a fraction of an inch higher until I found the supple underside of her tits.
“Mmmm,” Tanell moaned into my mouth.
I pulled away from her lips long enough to shush her gently.
“We don’t want to wake anyone else up,” I whispered. “Now do we?”
“No,” Tanell said with an adorable little pout. “No, we don’t.”
“That’s my good girl.” I smiled. “If you want me to keep playing with you, then you need to stay quiet for me.”
“Yes, my king.” Tanell bowed her head a little and looked up at me from under her thick eyelashes. “Whatever his majesty desires.”
“Fuck,” I gasped at the wave of desire her words sent through me.
Tanell shot me a genuine grin at our playful exchange, and then she adopted the demure mask once more as she sank down to her knees before me.
“Allow me to repent for my most disgraceful behavior,” she murmured.
“And how do you plan to do that?” I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea already.
“By showing you how truly grateful I am,” Tanell said.
She slid her hands up the fronts of my thighs until she reached the waistband of my pants, and she popped the buttons free with a few deft flicks of her fingers. She kept my pants from falling to the ground by pinning them with her palms against the front of my hips.
My cock was rock-hard and ready for her, and I twitched against the front of my pants.
“Mmmm,” Tanell hummed, but she didn’t move.
I grabbed my shirt and pulled it off over my head while I waited to see how long she was going to tease me. I tossed the shirt onto one of the chairs and caressed the back of her head with my right hand.
Somehow, we’d ended up in a little game of Chicken, and I was eager to see who would break first.
To distract myself from the heat of her hands just inches from where I really wanted her, I let my eyes roam over her entire body.
Tanell was tense with desire. Her breath was coming in a shallow rhythm as she stared right at my cock where only the material of my pants separated me from her mouth.
She was on her knees with her feet tucked under her ass and her thighs spread wide.
The silk of her robe had fallen to the outside of her legs, and the creamy skin of her legs was on full display for me.
A soft moan vibrated out from her throat as I inspected the angle of her hips.
She had her lower back arched, and I imagined lying underneath her.
She would have been able to catch the tip of my erection with her pussy lips in one shift of her hips.
Then it would have been easy for her to sink down and impale herself on my cock.
“Ahh,” I groaned despite myself.
My right hand clenched a little in her hair, and Tanell’s eyes closed in ecstasy.
“Kennn,” Tanell moaned. “I want you inside me.”
“Then open your mouth,” I replied.
Tanell’s lips spread in a wide grin, and she dropped both of her hands from my hips.
My pants fell to my ankles, and my queen didn’t waste a single second. She locked her lips around my tip and gave a little suck.
“Mmm,” I hummed.
The wet heat of her lips zapped through my system and ramped the pleasure up another notch.
She paused there for several seconds until I put my other hand on the side of her face.
That’s when she finally looked up at me, and I’d never seen anything as beautiful as Tanell’s face with my cock between her lips.
She kept her piercing blue eyes locked with mine as she breathed through her nose and slowly took the entire length of me into her mouth and down her throat.
“Ah, fuck,” I gasped as her throat tightened around me.
Tanell kept her hands folded politely behind her back, and something about the submissive position made me feel like I was on fire.
My hands cupped around the sides of her head, and she gave me a tiny look from her eyes that told me to go ahead, so I started to guide her. I moved her head slowly and gently so I wouldn’t hurt her, but I pulled her mouth down onto my cock and away at a steady pace.
Tanell hummed in pleasure as I made her suck my dick, and there was a flash of pure ecstasy in her eyes that made it hard to keep the rhythm.