Chapter 10 #2
‘You’re assuming he won’t simply kill her to get the throne back!’ Kyor bites back, but I’m only half listening to his response. Something else has caught my attention.
‘How do you know that time is of the essence for me?’ I say, looking at Magnus.
It is. Of course it is. Because I need to find a way to protect William before those patterns spread and become visible to everyone in Wrohelm, but even Kyor doesn’t know that. So why would the king assume we’re in a hurry?
‘You told me your sister was with child, did you not?’ Magnus says, his eyes locked on mine. ‘I assume you wish to be there for the birth? The birth of my first great-grandchild.’
He speaks the words with such reverie that a bolt of guilt strikes my chest. He was thinking of me – that was all it was.
An older adult – a family member – thinking about my needs is definitely going to take some getting used to.
Not that I haven’t experienced it before.
After all, Dinah has always been there. And my mother was before she died, her lies only unearthed since her passing.
But this is different. This is a man with whom I have a clean slate, and I don’t wish to tarnish it. Yet I must lie all the same.
‘Yes, yes, you’re right,’ I reply. ‘That’s it. I do wish to return for the birth, and as such, time is of the essence.’
‘Regardless, you are not having Stefan train you,’ Kyor barks stubbornly.
With my jaw locked, I turn to face him. I want to point out that he is not the boss of me. He’s not even technically my prince anymore.
I don’t say any of that though, because that’s an incendiary I don’t want to throw.
‘We will talk about this later,’ I say instead. ‘Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed. It’s been a very, very long night.’
‘I have already relit the fires in your room,’ Ylva says as she guides us upstairs. ‘And there is plenty of wood, if you need it.’
‘Thank you,’ I respond with a smile as she moves back down the corridor and takes her place in the chair at the top of the stairs, confirming it was indeed placed there for our …
guardian. A chaperone – a guard – even though I’m a princess?
Something about that feels wrong, but I can understand Magnus’s reluctance to trust us, even if it does cause a faint sting of hurt.
I am family, after all. I proved it by walking through fucking fire.
In the corridor by the bedrooms, Caz wordlessly heads into Thessa’s room, leaving two doors still empty. I guess she changed her mind about bunking with Benny now that Loch is being taken care of by the healers.
I waste no time in bathing, washing the blood and gore from me. I dry myself on a towel that is surprisingly soft and pull on a simple shift dress.
‘You know,’ I say quietly to Kyor as I towel-dry my hair, ‘with the boys down at the healers with Loch, there are two empty bedrooms. We could take one each if you wanted a little space from me tonight. We’ve both got a lot going on. I wouldn’t blame you.’
Insecurity rises. I’m the princess of his sworn enemies. How can that not change things between us?
He lets out a low growl, his hands settling on my hips as he jerks me towards him. His eyes narrow, and his contained temper is painted in the tightness of his jaw.
When he speaks, his voice is low and gravelly. ‘You’d better be joking, sweetheart.’
Relief floods me. ‘Is that a no?’
‘Very much so.’
I let out a small laugh of relief, only for him to tilt his head down and kiss me with such fervour that it causes my heart to burn. My mind, which only moments ago was flooded with thoughts, is immediately emptied.
It doesn’t matter that everything is in turmoil around us. His father, the defectors. The vows that stand like walls between our truths. Not to mention my heritage. We have so much we need to discuss and yet, as our mouths collide and he presses his body up against mine, that all washes away.
Instead, all that matters is the moment.
With his lips still on mine, all I can focus on is his touch, currently so all-encompassing that I can barely tell where he ends and I begin.
Static runs up the centre of my thighs. It could be his power, or it could just be the intense yearning filling my body.
My lips are still on his as I reach behind me and open the door, stumbling backward as I struggle to keep a hold of him.
The instant the door is closed, I go to remove my dress, only for him to catch me by the wrist, the pinch point enough to make a hot spark of heat roll through me.
‘There’s no rush, Thorn. Not tonight,’ he says. ‘Which means I get to do everything I’ve dreamed of doing while we’ve been on the road together.’
The air trembles in my lungs.
‘Such as?’ I say breathily.
‘Well, I’m going to start by tasting every inch of you,’ he promises as his fingers work my buttons one by one.
‘But you’re going to have to be patient,’ he adds, pulling down the woollen shoulder and skimming his hand over my chest, my nipples already rock hard.
‘Because I have no intention of rushing.’ He grinds against me again and his sexy smirk is enough to have me dripping so much that I’m certain I’ll come the instant he touches me.
I fight it, the heady desire rushing through me, and valiantly try to steady my breath. Try to be patient. Like he told me to be. Even though my every nerve is firing hot.
With a single hand, he drops my dress to the ground and draws his tongue around the edge of my areola, hardening my nipples even more, which I didn’t think was possible. He nips my breast lightly, eliciting a deep moan from me.
‘That’s it, Thorn. Let me hear how much you like this.’
As my head tilts backward, I reach out for the hardness I can already see straining against his trousers, but he shifts away from me.
‘No. Tonight’s all about you. The only part of my body I’m planning to use is the same one I’m using to speak to you.’
I can see in his eyes that he means it. Frustration flares hot and heady. I need to get hold of him! Need to feel him inside me.
I reach for him again, and with a low sound in his throat, Kyor sends us tumbling backward onto the bed, his body braced above mine.
I moan. ‘You’re enjoying this.’
He laughs. ‘Damn right I am.’ He drags his finger through the soft skin at the apex of my thighs and groans at the sheer wetness he finds pooling there.
I flush as he brings his fingers to his lips and licks the taste of me off him.
He grabs my legs and throws them over his shoulders so that I’m open, splayed before him.
‘Your shoulder,’ I pant. ‘It’s still not healed properly.’
A dry laugh cracks from his throat. ‘Even if I were half-dead, I’d still find a way to touch you.’
To show that he’s not joking, he bends down again, sucking and licking at the bundle of nerves that makes me vibrate with need.
Fuck. The word echoes around and around in my head. I know what this man is capable of doing with his tongue. How easily he can use it to wreck me. And Gods know how much I long for it.
With my legs trembling, I sink further into the mattress.
‘You’re so wet, Thorn.’ His voice is low and gravelly.
‘Yes,’ I moan back. How the fuck he thinks we’re going to keep this going all night, I have no idea.
‘I think you should open your legs a little wider for me.’
I oblige and a low groan resonates from his throat at the sight of me, glistening wet and totally exposed to him.
“Good girl.”
‘Fuck!’ My back arches as the heat of his mouth envelops my clit. It’s beyond pleasure as his hands reach around, squeezing my backside with just enough pressure that it draws me closer to him.
But he’s not done. With every lash of his tongue comes the sparks across my skin, dancing over my nipples and deep within me.
‘Let go,’ he murmurs, lowering that talented mouth once more to my quivering flesh.
As much as I want to hold back, make it last at least a little longer, it’s impossible.
He’s working his sparks and tongue with such expertise that I know I’m about to unravel, but it doesn’t change the yearning to have him inside me, to feel that friction as he slides deeper and deeper into me, more than anyone ever has before.
‘Let me feel you stretch me,’ I try, my voice almost pleading. ‘Please, just for a moment, let me feel you inside me.’
A rumble of a laugh rattles through him and in turn through me, which, combined with his sparks, is almost enough to push me over the edge.
‘Nice try,’ he says before returning his tongue to my clit with a new sense of determination. With every movement of his mouth, the muscles in my thighs lose more and more of their strength, so I give up trying to fight it. Nothing can stop the ecstasy from engulfing me.
‘Fuck!’ I scream as one pleasurable wave after another hurtles through me, each spasm stronger than the last. I don’t know how the fuck he’s doing it, but rather than the intensity ebbing, he somehow increases it. The final surge erupts through me, consuming every fibre of my body.
A blinding flash of light follows, along with a thousand shards of ice flowing out from me.
‘Fuck!’ My heart is pounding in my ears as my eyes fix on Kyor. ‘You’re okay, right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?’
‘I’m fine,’ he says, his hand on my cheek. ‘Gods, I don’t think there’s any sight in the world more beautiful than seeing you do that.’
‘Minus the ice,’ I mutter. Now that I know he’s okay, my heart rate lowers by just a fraction.
But as I lean in to kiss him, I shiver and notice how my skin is covered in goosebumps.
For a second, I assume it’s just from the lack of clothes.
After all, he’s still fully dressed and I’m completely naked, but then I see the fire has gone out, extinguished by my accidental burst of ice.
‘I guess we’re going to have to get Ylva to relight it.’ Kyor smirks. ‘You want to tell her how you put it out?’