CHAPTER XVII #3
The Prince pulls me closer to him and brings one hand to the back of my neck, stealing a kiss without hesitation. His lips part mine as I kiss him back for all I’m worth, taking what I know will be mine as well.
“This dress is properly finished,” I grin against his lips, feeling his greedy hands moving under the fabric. I pull away and look down at the disheveled gown that is pulled in every which direction, truly feeling no loss for how well it’s been used.
“I’ll buy you new ones,” Keane presses his lips into my neck, “I’ll hire the Warrior girl to fill up a full armoire for you because apparently she knows your body just as much as I do.”
“Gail,” I laugh, “she works wonders.”
“She does.”
Keane archs his hips into mine and pulls me back in for another kiss. His tongue is demanding, fierce, and pushes into my mouth as his hand fists my hair in a tight embrace. I let him take hold and settle into his body, my own hips rocking along his length as it starts to harden with ease.
Ancients, that shouldn’t be possible.
I lean up breathless and let both of my hands fall to the side of his head as I look down to his now hard cock. Keane follows my gaze and gives me a small smirk, his hips thrusting up again to prove the thought wrong.
“You know her,” I bite my lip, battling the desire to keep this night going until we both pass out.
“I know of her,” he nods, hand skimming up my spine.
“Thank you for giving her a chance in the castle.”
“There is nothing to thank,” he brushes his hand back down, “her mother was one of Gaumond’s best. It was an easy decision to make when the ladies presented the arrangement to me, and now I’m thinking it was one of the better decisions I’ve ever made.”
I laugh and catch his gaze, “she’ll be booked until fall now. I doubt she’ll have the time to spare.”
“Then I’ll buy her out,” Keane grins, hand cupping my ass and giving it a firm squeeze, “I’ve been wanting a change in my own wardrobe as well.”
I gasp at the implication. That would be huge for Gail.
I stare at him in silence and then remember the bath I called earlier.
“Will you wash with me?”
Keane holds my gaze, his chest rising and falling as he nods with another grin, “yes.”
I slowly sit up on his thighs and flush at his hard cock still waiting for me there. Keane chuckles and brings both of his hands straight to my breasts, his fingers pinching at my nipples in a perfect tease.
“Bath,” I scold, hastily moving to stand up.
Keane smirks and sits up in bed, that wicked smile piercing into my back as I stop just shy of entering my bathing room. I hide my own smirk and reach for my dress at my waist, slowing pulling it down my rear until it pools at my feet.
“This goes without saying, Alexis,” Keane says as I look over my shoulder, meeting his gaze, “but your body is remarkable. It’s everything I need. I think of you naked in my room more often than I care to admit.”
I flush and reach a hand up to the tie at the bottom of my braid, tugging it off softly as my hair falls scattered across my back.
“Turn around,” he commands.
I comply and set my shoulders straight, proudly presenting myself to the Prince laying in my bed. Keane is out of the sheets and standing at my front before I can even release a breath, his hands reaching below my ass as he picks me up.
“Every damn thing I need,” he groans.
His eyes fall on my breasts that are flushed against his bare chest and take them in with hunger. I moan and let him walk us into the small room, feeling as he drops my feet casually in the water.
“Turn around,” he tilts his chin, pointing me to the end of the tub. I lean towards the edge and then groan out loud, my head once again darting over my shoulder as I see the faint pink mark Keane’s hand just left on my ass.
“You like that,” his eyes find mine purposely.
“I do,” I nod without shame.
A little pain with the pleasure. He can slap my ass any time he wants.
“Fuck,” he looks down at me in approval, “the things I’m going to do to you, Alexis.”
I flush and sink into the water, gaze following his hands as he reaches for his waistband. My eyes land on the impressive outline of his length as he slowly starts to pull down his pants, his naked body standing proud before mine as he lets me take him in.
Ancients, he’s breathtaking.
And Ancients, he really is ready for round two.
There’s no way.
No way in the Old World that someone can be built with that kind of stamina, no way that his cock will-
Dear Ancients.
My mouth is one thing, but it’s going to be a stretch to take his cock when that time comes.
The blush that creeps up my neck is uncontrollable. I fall farther into the water and finally look back up, catching Keane’s gaze as he gives me a sensual, knowing nod.
“I will be giving you a lot under the Shadow Oak, Alexis. All of myself for all of you. It will not be a one and done deal.”
My eyes widen before I sink my head fully under the water.
Fuck. Me.
Keane’s smug chuckle vibrates from above the surface as he steps into the tub. I try to still my beating heart and ignore the way his powerful presence settles in at the other end, but his hands reaching for my legs give me no reprieve as I come back up to the surface.
“You knew my room?” I ask curiously, settling for anything that will take my mind off his body.
Keane moves my feet into his torso and narrows his eyes, “you should know by now that I always know where you are, Alexis. Always.”
I nod in acceptance and reach for the bar of soap next to the tub, thinking of the night.
“I didn’t know,” I glance back at him, “I didn’t know if you wanted me to take that walk with him.”
Keane shifts and brings his hands down to my legs, massaging my calves. “I meant what I said tonight. The decision was yours to make.”
“Were you upset?”
“No,” he shakes his head, “though I don’t much care for seeing your arm in another man’s.”
My heart thuds in my chest as I run the soap down my arm.
“I don’t trust him,” I say quietly, “nor the man from that night, Edam.”
Keane nods in agreement before his brows pull into a barely-there frown.
“You truly see something in their hair, don’t you?”
“It’s there,” I nod, “only in the Princes’ hair as far as I’ve seen.”
I look up from my wash and hold his gaze hard, “they’re snakes, Keane. I don’t know how else better to describe them.”
“I believe you,” he scowls, “they did something to you…”
I look at him in confusion, “what do you mean?”
Keane grips my calves and watches me with intensity, “you were staring at Isham’s hair for far too long, Alexis. Almost as if you were entranced. I had to pull you away.”
I remember Keane’s location summoning pulling at my chest, but I wasn’t staring that long…
“I barely glanced at the snake,” I shake my head.
“No,” Keane says quietly, eyes still holding mine, “you were watching it for a while, and the Prince was watching you. The whole exchange was not natural.”
“It only seemed like a blink.”
“It was far longer,” he grimaces.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing,” he narrows his eyes again, “I see braids, Alexis, nothing more. But then he all but admitted to what you both see when he named one of them…”
“Rivian,” I tense.
“Yes,” he nods.
“They move,” I tell him softly, “all of them move as if they have a mind of their own. The one I was looking at, Rivian… it had eyes. It watched me all night, even when I wasn’t near the Prince.”
The ground below the tub begins to tremble.
“I don’t trust him,” I repeat again, “and I know he is not a good person, Keane. I get the impression that he plays as someone who wants to be an ally. At least his brother didn’t act at being the good guy…”
“Neither of them should be trusted,” Keane replies quietly, “and we have no reason to travel to Livyatan.”
“You heard the full conversation?”
“Everything,” he nods.
He reaches for the soap and takes it from my hand, then lifts up one of my legs and runs the bar towards the inside of my thigh. I shift under the water and let him ease the tension from my body with the simple motion, sighing in contentment as I lean back on the tub.
“Golem says your father will give us information on the Council that was called two hundred years ago. That will certainly give us more insight into the Leviathans…”
Keane leans forward with a small nod but doesn’t say a word, inching the soap farther down my thigh.
I narrow my eyes on him and catch his gaze darting below the water, his own eyes watching quietly as his hand drifts over my skin.
He brushes the bar perfectly between my legs before running it down my other thigh, smiling to himself when he hears the slight exhale that leaves my lips.
“Princess Clair referenced the same Council when we were with her…”
Keane purposely runs the bar against my sensitive clit, ignoring me again.
My hips jerk under the water in reaction, watching as his body moves even closer to mine as he leans forward with determination.
I gasp when he brushes a finger down my slit, then runs the bar over the same area more slowly.
He lets go of my legs and pushes one of my knees up to my chest, then does the same with other as he swipes the bar back up to my clit.
“Horrible atrocities committed by the Leviathans…” I breath heavily, feeling my mind wander from the foreigners to the man right in front of me.
Keane drops the soap and grips the inside of both of my thighs, spreading them wide as he looms even closer.
I grab the edges of the tub and moan when his fingers find their way back to my center, one hand tantalizing my already sensitive clit while the other dips just past my entry.
He presses a finger against the other tight muscle hiding there and smiles again when I jerk on surprise.
He doesn’t relent, only circles both areas even more, watching his hands move as a yearning so foreign calls to every curiosity within me.
“Keane…”