Chapter Forty-One
KAEL
I want to slit his throat. The thought is immediate, visceral. My dagger is an inch from my palm. I could have him on the floor in a pool of his own blood before he even finished smirking. My body begs for it—violence, swift and clean.
But her breath is still trembling under my hands. Her moan still hangs in the air. And it reminds me to play my part. To keep up this act. For all of us. For her.
So I smile instead. Slow. Wicked. The smile of a man paid to ruin women and laugh while doing it. “You’re costing me coin, soldier,” I drawl, my voice pitched into something lazy, indulgent. “Unless you’d like to pay for my time instead? I cost triple the usual rate.”
The guard bristles, stepping closer. My tether thrums hot with Elyssara’s nervous energy, her trust, her surrender. It’s a knife at my throat—because I can’t fail her, not here, not with his gaze drinking in every detail.
His eyes dart to her exposed legs, then back to me. I glide my hand along her thigh, tugging the robe across her hip. Silk moves, skin hides.
I force my posture loose, as though this interruption is nothing more than an inconvenience in my night’s work.
As though his gaze on my woman doesn’t bother me.
I angle my torso to block him, but he shifts around.
Trying to take what isn’t his. Inside, I’m a storm—violence snarling against my ribs, desperate to rip him apart limb by limb.
But I smooth my hand over her hip, tender, reassuring.
It’s just you and me—escape into me. I send the words down the tether like a promise, gripping her hips in a vow of pleasure.
Her hands find mine, squeezing me back.
I already am. She moans down the tether.
Her head tips back in carnal want, and my mouth finds her neck. Dressing it with slow, unhurried kisses.
Her breath catches, then steadies. She arches into me, blind trust offered up on a silver platter. And Stars curse me—I’m undone at the sight.
“What’s wrong with you, lad? Can’t wield a blade or smith a weapon? Had to use your cock instead of getting a real trade?” The guard laughs with haughty arrogance, and the sound grates against my fucking bones.
My hands itch to tear his throat from his neck, but I wear the mask of a seasoned courtesan, lifting my face in a flirtatious grin.
“People pay more for cock than they do for steel, sir. Perhaps I’m simply strategic,” I quip, and my soul aches as I shove down the desire to run my blade through his heart.
He seems satisfied with my answer, nodding in understanding, though he looks down at me with disdain.
“And the woman? Who’s she?” the guard asks, his eyes still lingering on her.
I shuffle the robes again, angle my body more to the right, concealing her.
“A regular with a husband who leaves her… unsatisfied,” I explain, leaning into Elyssara’s neck. “Isn’t that right, darling? You always come for me, don’t you?”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, sucking in a breath of arousal.
I slide my hand between her legs, palm pressing against her clit over the robes and she grinds into me, legs spreading wider for more friction.
She’s not performing.
She’s lost to pleasure.
I lean forward, shoulders presenting like a wall between them.
More. She pleads down the tether.
But not like this. Not with them so close.
I cup her breast with one hand and keep my other palm pressed to her clit over the robes, blazing languid, hungry kisses into the skin of her torso. I chase my way up her body until I’m between her breasts.
“Yes,” she moans, tangling her hands through my hair and pulling me down, desperate for more.
She’s under the spell of my touch, the lingering stares and entitled men are secondary to her own intoxication.
The guard almost looks satisfied, but he hesitates. His gaze sweeps us one last time. Suspicion still lingers, sharp and ugly, before he says, “Remove her blindfold.”
Elyssara doesn’t stop working her hips, hungry from me, but her breath hitches in an unnatural pattern, and I notice.
Keep going, Duskae. We’re almost there. I encourage, but my stomach turns to lead.
“No,” I reply simply. “Anonymity is part of our deal. I take it off, I don’t get paid. And nothing stands in the way of my coin. Respectfully, not even the king’s men,” I snap, and I feel sick at offering respect to these throne-lickers.
My palm craves the hilt of my blade, hovering over the dagger at my thigh, keeping my other hand on Elyssara, never abandoning the act.
“We could always make you,” he spits, and the broadsword sings free from its sheath—metal rasping the air.
These men couldn’t make me do anything, steel or not, magic or not.
But I play the game, leaning into the cunning of a long-standing courtesan.
“I thought men of the king would have a healthy respect for other men earning coin, especially if it comes from pussy,” I counter, with a smirk, hating the words as they leave my mouth.
The guard’s laugh barks from his throat, condescending, hateful.
“Better than the rats who infest the other side of the Stream, I’ll admit,” he rasps, but he lingers one heartbeat too long.
My hand twitches toward the dagger hidden beneath the silk robe, but then another voice cuts through the haze—Amarisse, from across the parlor, dripping honeyed charm.
“Gentlemen, this way. I’ve prepared your usual table,” she offers. “A few new treasures arrived just this week—untouched, unspoiled.”
My stomach roils at the offer she’s just made. She’s offering untouched girls to these pigs?
The guard hesitates. His gaze sweeps us one last time. Suspicion still present, but finally he jerks the curtain shut and stomps away, seduced by the offer of virgins.
I exhale slowly, unclenching my fists from where they’d curled into her skin. She exhales, pulling the blindfold up to reveal the emerald-green eyes that possess my dreams.
“Will you take me now?” she asks, eyes hooded and sinful.
“Are you okay?” I ask, needing to make sure she’s not taking herself away from here. From me.
Without hesitation, “Yes.”
Gods save me. But if they touched her, I would’ve torn the world open just to make a grave big enough for all of them.
I press a gentle hand to her cheek, cupping it like she’s sacred. She leans into me. I tip her chin up and claim her mouth in a kiss that eclipses performance. No, this is no act—it burns like truth.
Amarisse’s voice cuts through the incense like a blade as she peeks through the curtains, “Rubi’s made an elixir to put them to sleep—we’ll send them across The Barrier, and they’ll wake up in their homes.”
I stare at her, relieved at her words, but shocked at the audacity of the plan.
“Don’t be surprised, Your Highness. I’ve been running this establishment since you were a child. Our network and systems are sophisticated. Stay the night. Upstairs. Rest easy,” she says, throwing me a key, before disappearing into the haze of smoke.
My nerves uncoil, but my hunger for blood still pumps strong through my veins.
I sweep my Starbound into my arms, auburn hair cascading across my forearms.
“Let’s finish what we started,” I growl into her ear, carrying her out of the alcove and deeper into the pleasure parlor.
Because if I don’t put my hands on her right now, I’ll put them through someone’s throat.