CHAPTER VII #10
Keane pushes his thigh between my legs harder, pinning me to the tree as both hands heatedly grab my cloak and pull it open. He descends on my throat, lips trailing down to my collarbone as his fingers tug on my nipples, his cock rubbing perfectly against my clit as I cry out again.
“So responsive, Alexis,” he groans in approval.
Heat flushes through my whole body, every part of me loving the way his tongue and lips pull and suck against my skin. I arch my chest into his hands and let his fingers taunt my hard nipples, moaning when he gives each another tug and groans at my reaction again.
“I still want to know,” one of his hand moves down to dip below, pulling the hem of my shirt out of my riding pants, “tell me how you know I was locating you.”
“I don’t know,” I lie breathlessly, feeling his fingers skim against the bare skin of my stomach. The simple touch makes my legs tremble as I fall heavily onto his thigh for support, quickly wrapping both hands around his neck.
Ancients, Keane’s hair is so soft.
I run my fingers through the thickness and tug softly, pulling him down closer to me so he can continue his torment on my neck.
The Prince doesn’t disappoint as his lips claim me again, his hand under my shirt darting up to feel the lace that’s covering my breasts.
He groans and pulls the fabric down, fingers pulling at my nipple until I whimper in response.
“Tell me,” he demands again, his lips burning against my skin, “we agreed to keep this real, Alexis.”
We did, under the Shadow Oak.
I open my mouth to answer but find I’m unable to actually describe what I felt. My lips open in confusion and close again, thoughts scattering around in my mind as I try to make sense of the earlier vibrations.
Keane stops his torture at my neck and stills his hand under my shirt, his head tilting back so he can look at me properly. He holds my gaze in genuine curiosity before tracing small circles around my nipple, watching with a smile as my body twitches from his touch.
Ancients, he knows what he’s doing.
“I can feel you,” I finally settle on.
“I should like to think so,” he gives a small laugh, fingers tugging on my nipple again.
“No, Keane,” I moan, slowly bringing my hand over my shirt to cover his. I flatten his over my breast and will him to understand, pressing us both into my chest.
“I can feel you, when you’re locating me.”
Keane’s brows lift in surprise, his eyes locking on mine in quiet astonishment. He takes a small step back and drops his thigh from between my legs, the new seriousness of his features telling me that he’s trying to understand the depth of my words.
I loosen my grip on his hand and let it slide under my shirt, feeling his fingers slowly skim my stomach before they pull away. I straighten myself and my clothes and watch as he runs a hand through his hair in bewildered thought, his features both confused and curious at the same time.
“That’s not possible, Alexis,” he shakes his head.
“It is,” I nod, “I felt your laugh yesterday when I was questioning the woman at the inn. I thought I had envisioned it… didn’t even realize what it was in the moment. But I also knew that I felt you. I felt your voice deep under my skin, Keane. You were amused that I was asking questions...”
I take the hem of my shirt and push it back into my pants, my disheveled hair falling from its pins and into my face.
“And today, when I was talking to the boy, the feeling was there again. It’s as if you were watching the conversation through me and I felt you.
I felt your laugh under my skin. Felt it deep in my bones.
It sent such a jolt of vibration through my body that I had to look around and make sure you weren’t standing on the road with me. ”
Keane’s features have reverted back to the stoic Discerni indifference, watching as I fiddle with my shirt with slightly shaking fingers.
I ball my hands into fists and take a deep breath before glancing back up at him, my eyes searching for any hint of what he’s thinking and hating that he’s so quiet.
“I don’t know how else to explain it,” I shake my head.
Slowly, and I mean very slowly, Keane takes a step towards me, his whole being cool and calm with a serious look of intensity. I take a timid step back into the tree and watch as his body towers over mine, his hands reaching for the trunk behind my head again as his brown eyes stare down with fire.
“I could take you, Alexis,” he says quietly, “right here and now. And we’d enjoy it, immensely.”
My whole body freezes as heat courses through my veins.
“I can show you what it truly means to have me under your skin. I want to. Ancients know I want nothing more… and I know you do to.”
He moves closer, letting the full of his body press against mine as my heart beats wildly in my chest.
“But when I have you for the first time, fully, it will not be here. It will not be quick or stolen or hidden, as I’m sure all the boys of Knowledge and Woodlands like.”
“Where then?” my voice is barely a whisper.
Keane smiles as he watches me knowingly, “under the Shadow Oak where you belong, Alexis. Taking my time on you.”
I close my eyes at his words and think of the tall, dark tree and the stark beauty of it, so much like the man who stands in front of me.
I feel his hands leave the trunk before he brings one under my chin and tilts it up.
His grip commands that I open my eyes and look back at him, his intense brown gaze willing me to understand the weight of his words.
“You’re the first person to tell me they’ve been able to feel me locate them,” he replies, voice still quiet, “only a few of my closest friends and family know of that aspect of my summoning and no one has mentioned anything of the sort.”
“Are any of them human?” I ask sarcastically.
“No,” he smiles down at me, eyes warming, “you will be the first.”
“Lucky me,” I bite my lip, “I get to feel you even when you’re not around.”
His thumb reaches up and brushes against my lip. “Lucky, indeed.”
I laugh and take a deep breath, smirking at him and bringing my hands up to his chest. Keane lets me push him away this time and takes a step back with a grin.
“Come on, trouble, let me show you my mills.”
The full of our group is around the table in the common room again for dinner, this time with individual servings of peppered chicken in broth, a gentle reminder that we still inhabit the Court of Warriors.
I take my seat at the table tonight at the very far edge, even opting not to sit next to Cal who is my favorite meal and drinking companion.
Golem stands near me with his back against the wall and a small canteen of water slipped under his robes, the two of us ready.
While the Prince’s tour of the toddy and amber ale mills were impressive, it still didn’t have enough people working them to justify the amount of unused townhomes in this village.
And while I still can’t unsee the sense of pride in him as he walked around and explained the contraptions and the boost in the town’s economy that the mills provided, I still planned to follow him and his Lords tonight to wherever the night road takes them. Something just wasn’t adding up.
So I remain sitting here, at the edge of our dinner table, moving forward with Golem and mine’s concocted plan.
First, I dilute my ale with water. Not the amber ale, that drink is too good to be watered down, but the normal golden ale that graces only mine and one other’s mug.
I engage in dinner as normal but stay away from Cal, Alanna and the Prince, the three of them the most likely to pry me with drinks.
I wait after dinner and watch for the signs of sleepiness to greet the table, the yawns coming from the humans first and Discerni later.
I feign my yawns with the table and wait for the first person to announce that they’re tired, every so often scowling at the breeze from outside as it slips directly into the common room through the hole in the ceiling above.
Once Bryson, a stalky human who is part of the army of three, stands up to bid everyone goodnight, I heave a big yawn with the hopes that the rest of the table sees it. Shortly after his departure I, too, take my leave, saying goodnight to the group as Golem follows silently behind me.
I go about the rest of the night in my room normally, only this time with the added bottled coffee we purchased from Margaret this morning.
I bathe deeply, as we’ll be on the open road until we reach Red Falls, and pack all of my travel bags so they’re ready for the morning.
At different intervals in my preparation Golem passes me the coffee in reminder.
I take large sips and let the caffeine do its work against the air of the forest, the two of us finally giving eachother a look once the chatter in the common room dies down.
Now comes the waiting game.
I layered myself earlier with a normal shirt under a long sleeve one and double wrapped my socks before throwing on my boots. I may be over-dressed, and I know that Red Falls will be even colder than our cool forests, but I’m a child when it comes to cold weather and love my sun too much.
Once we hear that everyone has gone back to their rooms, Golem starts making quiet trips down the hall to check if the owner has finished closing down. He finally comes back with a nod and the two of us anxiously set out, heading down the hall and to the door leading outside.