Pleased by the Knight (Loving the Knight Book 4)

by Sadie Dane

  She heard a harsh curse and then, "Fucking knots!"

  The moment Gia felt space around her wrists she flung forward away from the fire. Corbin appeared from nowhere and was now using his shirt to pat out the fire at her legs. Cool water poured over her burns but Gia was afraid to look. "You could've just said you were sorry the normal way," Corbin said, panting. “No need to set yourself on fire.”

  "Corbin, no time. The blonde potential, she's on her way to kill the king."

  "I thought so."

  "You what?"

  "The moment you left and I could breathe again I started thinking rationally about the whole situation. Who doesn't know coal dust is flammable? Plus, no one in this world is really that sweet."

  "Great, you are very smart. Now, the king!" Gia tried to walk on her own. She could, but just barely, and the moment called for speed. "He's my father!" she pleaded.

  Corbin sighed and turned from her. "You mean, like a father," he muttered before running from the Discipline Plaza.

  Chapter Five

  Corbin didn't want to leave Gia in the plaza. She was hurt. So why was he sprinting towards the palace trying to imagine the shortest route to the dining hall?

  He spotted two guards and breathed a sigh of relief. He'd let them know and then return to Gia. She'd looked like she would need an ointment for her slight burns. "Your king is in danger," he warned them. And then he realized his mistake.

  This, right here, was exactly why Corbin loathed irrational, crazy actions. And most of what he had done since he arrived in Atvia would definitely be classified that way. When you acted irrational and crazy, people treated you like you were irrational and crazy. He experienced this now, one guard tensing at his declaration as the other rolled his eyes.

  Corbin gave up on them and ran, his second mistake. The declaration itself had been silly, but combined with how he now furtively sprinted towards the dining hall made it seem like he was the one who meant the king harm.

  He tried to stay calm and think rationally even as the guards gave chase. The little blonde was cunning; she'd fooled an entire kingdom. She was also smart. Whatever she had planned, she would do it in plain sight where the finger could never be pointed in her direction.

  Corbin continued his sprint. At this point he was fucking tired of feasts. He'd disliked them before, but the ones in Atvia had turned him off of them completely.

  He burst through the double doors of the dining hall, as the guards behind him yelled out for him to stop. Corbin surveyed the room, catching sight of the king who narrowed his eyes in hatred when he saw Corbin, but Corbin was so far past that. If he let the king die, Gia would never forgive him. He searched for the blonde. She'd been sitting, innocently smug, with the other potentials. She eyed the king as he was in the process of reaching for a glass that a wife was handing him. Corbin was positive that it was poisoned.

  Just then, the guards reached him and attempted to grab Corbin's arms. He spun under their arms, using a move that he would never admit he learned from watching Gia. He snatched a guard's bow and yanked out an arrow. He notched it as quick as the wind and let the arrow fly across the dining room. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the king's wide-eyed reaction as the arrow whistled towards him and pinged against the goblet in his hand. It fell to the ground, the contents splattering against the stone floor. But before Corbin could explain himself, he found himself being wrestled to the ground. Not your best plan, Corbin thought dryly as he felt a blinding pain at his side and saw a fist hurtling towards his face.

  #

  Corbin blinked. He knew where he was. In Gia's bed. But that didn't explain why it was the king's face that peered down at him. "This is a really weird dream," he croaked.

  "I'm sorry you've been stabbed," the king replied without preamble. Not even a, 'Hello, how are you,' to soften the blow.

  "Where is Gia?" Corbin asked.

  The king narrowed his eyes, Corbin wasn't sure what to make of the expression. "She is with the murderer, doing the thing she is second best at."

  Corbin had a very good idea what that thing was.

  "How long have I been out?"

  "All of the night and most of the day."

  "You saved my life," the king said begrudgingly. "Gia arrived after you had been knocked out and explained everything. The contents of that glass you shot out of my hand had been poisoned."

  Corbin had no response, so he didn't give one.

  "You're going to take her from me," the king accused, but not with anger.

  "Yes," Corbin replied.

  "And I suppose you think I have to let you now that you've saved my life?"

  "No, I think you would have eventually anyway. Because, in some fucked up way that I don't understand, you love Gia as much as I do. Not in the same way, I don't think, but it is love."

  "More, foreign prince. I love her more."

  "We will have to agree to disagree on that."

  "How long do I have?" the king asked. For the first time since they'd met, Corbin felt pity for him. Now that he was able to think a little more clearly-stab wounds generally did that to him-he realized that under different circumstances he might have come to like the king. He wasn't too much older than him, and if it weren't for Gia, they might have even been friends. In that moment, the king was nothing more than a loving father who wasn't ready to say goodbye. He saw that now.

  "It doesn't have to be forever. She is the hora after all and I'm sure you'll need her to train her replacement. We could make regular trips back here and you would be more than welcome in Ceravique or even Harrington, since it is closer."

  The king looked up at Corbin from under long, dark eyelashes like he was trying to hide his hope.

  #

  Two weeks later Corbin had his hand up Gia's skirt and two fingers inside of her. She wrapped one leg around his body as they embraced in the corner of the tent. It was his first graduation ceremony and Corbin was trying his hardest to fit in with the Atvian customs. It was his fiancé’s world after all. She humped his fingers and moaned loudly, not caring to muffle the sounds of lust from her throat as they simply added to the symphony of groans around them.

  The graduation ceremony was a decadent display of pleasure ranging from exotic and delicious food and drink to the more carnal variety of exotic and delicious pleasures. Corbin had to be forced from the piles of chocolate dusted with cinnamon. Then he'd gotten to put something just as delicious in his mouth.

  Early in the ceremony the brides were presented to the king. Thankfully their business proceeded in a section of the tent that was blocked by a thin sheet. Corbin didn't think he would've gotten over seeing the king's cock. What the hell would he have done if it had been bigger than his?

  "What are you thinking about?" Gia asked sharply, punctuating her question with a bite on his ear lobe.

  "Diving my face between your legs."

  "Liar."

  He fell to his knees and licked her wet center. He'd show her how very honest he was being. Her hands clung to his hair, pressing his mouth harder against her. Corbin continued to fuck her with his tongue and fingers. She moaned and he removed his coated fingers, thrusting them in her mouth so that she could taste her own arousal. She greedily sucked them clean.

  Corbin let her push him down on his back. She was completely clothed, but that just made it sexier as she pulled her skirt up enough for him to slide inside of her. They paid no attention to the other inhabitants at the graduation ceremony, and they did the same. Gia rode him hard. Her climax came quick. His own was only moments away when she flipped around, riding him still but with her beautiful ass in his face. The jiggling globes of perfection proved to be too much for his stamina and Corbin exploded in orgasm.

  #

  Gia was nervous. Why was she so nervous? Probably because she'd never been out of Atvia before, not since the moment she entered it. That had been so many years ago Gia was shocked by how green the rest of the world was. And cold.

&nbs
p; She'd put on every single piece of clothing she owned. Corbin had watched her, unable to control his laughter, as she'd attempted to scrambled back on her horse in a puffier state than usual.

  Corbin kept her hand in his as they shuffled into the room he always stayed in when he was at Harrington Castle. Apparently, his sister Queen Georgianna, was eager to meet her and if the idea of meeting her didn't terrify Gia then nothing in the world would. Foreign women didn't normally like her. But, she was the foreigner.

  She inhaled the crisp ocean air. Corbin had sworn to take her to the beach the moment the sun rose. As it was, they were both so dog tired from the long journey that they hadn't even told anyone other than the guards when they'd arrived. There was no way they could stay awake through introductions so Corbin had just taken them straight to his room.

  She sat there now on an imposing log bed, as Corbin coaxed a fire out of the fireplace. He'd rejected the suggestion of servants coming to them, saying it was too late to politely wake anyone up. She smiled at that thought. Sometimes this man could be so civil.

  He got the fire going and then wordlessly grabbed Gia around her middle, dragging her onto the bed. Once her head hit the pillow she was out.

  Gia's eyes snapped open when she heard a creak. She panicked for a split second as she tried to remember where she was.

  She felt Corbin asleep behind her. That meant the bastard sneaking around her room right now was not her future husband. Gia tensed her muscles, preparing for the spring. Wishing she wasn't wearing so many layers, she wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the dagger under her pillow that the king had given her as an engagement gift, and leapt out of the bed with a high-pitched battle cry.

  "Fucking fuck!" came the startled reply.

  Gia wrapped her arm around the large man and pressed the blade against his throat. "Don't move," she growled.

  "Hold on, wait," Corbin called out in the darkness. "Gia, don't kill anything yet."

  She heard him shuffling and stayed her ground. A muted, blue light filled the room, so different from the orange glow of the sun in Atvia. But light was light. She saw Corbin at the wooden window pane looking back at her and her captive with an amused smile.

  "Could you call her off?" the deep voice rumbled. She had to hand it to whoever the man was, he wisely had not struggled.

  Corbin looked at her and winked. "Down, girl."

  Gia didn't know if she liked that or not, but she relaxed her hold all the same. The man turned around. He had dark, wild brown hair and deep, black eyes.

  "Gia, meet my friend, Sir Edward Caldwell. He is actually the reason I had to make that torturous journey to Atvia in the first place."

  Gia remembered the story of the potential that never was. She had wanted to meet her but a part of Gia still disapproved of her story, for her father's sake.

  Another man who looked much like Sir Edward Caldwell appeared, seemingly from the shadows. His wary eyes slid around the room as he gathered information on the situation: Gia’s dagger, Corbin’s smile. He made some quick motion with his hand and a small, cute woman stumble-tripped inside the room behind him.

  Corbin simply continued introducing the influx of people. "And this is Sir James Caldwell, Edward's brother, and James’ wife, Kalista and..."

  Gia felt her heart stop. She didn't want to turn towards the door and see who she assumed had just come in especially not in her current state, wearing every outfit she owned, her hair wild and crazy, holding a dagger that had moments before been pressed against the throat of someone who the queen probably considered a dear friend.

  "My sister, Queen Georgianna."

  The queen was a picture of beauty, with the same dark, fairytale good looks that Corbin had.

  "Gia," she smiled. But then a wrinkle formed on her brow. "Princess Gia? Ms. Gia? Lady? Hora Gia? I'm afraid I'm not exactly sure how to address you," she said with a friendly, but apologetic tone.

  "Please. Gia is fine, your highness."

  "Shush with the, your highness," she said and embraced her in a surprisingly strong hug.

  "My husband, King Braden," Georgianna said. Gia noticed the queen hadn't even turned around to ensure the imposing royal figure stood behind her. She had just known.

  "Your majesty," Gia curtsied.

  "Welcome to Harrington." He cocked his head to the side. "Though, you do look familiar, don't you?"

  "I thought the same thing," Sir James Caldwell said quietly.

  "I'm sorry I can't offer much information as to why," Gia replied. "I was sold as a child around the age of five to the king."

  "Can't imagine why someone with such a lovely shouting voice and violent disposition would've been sold off," Sir Edward muttered.

  Gia felt her skin tighten. He was making fun of her. "I may be loud and angry but at least I don't have a head of sand," she retorted. "Who sneaks into someone's room?"

  "Someone who missed their dear friend?" he replied loudly but there was no real anger to his words. His eyes twinkled. Gia only noticed then the red-haired, fragile beauty who had silently navigated to his side. She had the most flawless skin Gia had ever seen, save for a small, puckered scar on her cheek.

  "I apologize for my husband," she said. "I hope you and I can become friends despite him."

  She must have been the near-potential. Gia thought she would've fit in perfectly.

  "But don't you remember anything from your life before you were sold?" Sir Edward asked.

  "Come on, people. I bring a girl back to the castle once and within minutes you attack her and ask her embarrassing personal questions?" Corbin said with frustration.

  Gia smiled. "I don't remember anything useful, nosy." The other Caldwell chortled at that. "I remember my real father was a fat man. That is as much as I can remember of him. I don't think he had much of a hand in raising me as I don't have many early memories. I think there was a wet nurse, but all I remember is how she used to sing this horrid song."

  "Is it the one you hum after you…?" Corbin snapped his mouth shut and blushed.

  Gia smile. “Probably. Like I said, I think it was my wet nurse who used to sing the lullaby about a cat losing its legs."

  "And searching for branches to replace them?" Sir Edward asked. There was something strange and tight in the tone of his voice. His brother came up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The two dark haired brothers stared at Gia with expressions she didn't understand. She instinctively stepped back to the familiar safety of Corbin.

  "But…that's right," she said from his side. "Is that a common song in this area? No one in Atvia had ever heard of it."

  "No," the quieter brother said. "It isn't."

  Sir Edward stared at her. "Annabelle?"

  Every person in the room except Corbin, Gis, and the two brothers made a shocked sound.

  "I don't get it." She turned to Corbin. "Is this some weird ritual you didn't tell me about?" But even he was looking at her strangely. "Who's Annabelle?"

  "Our sister. We believed she was dead but had always suspected our father had had something to do with her disappearance. If I had known…" Sir Edward sounded so sad and strangled Gia almost wanted to hug him. Almost.

  "But, are you trying to tell me that you two are my brothers?"

  "There is a resemblance," King Braden said from the doorway.

  Corbin draped a reassuring arm around her waist. "I knew you looked familiar," he said with no small amount of wonder.

  Gia couldn't believe what was happening. Later, there would be time for endless conversations to confirm what she was quickly beginning to believe was true. Their coloring and features were so similar. And then there was the almost instinctual annoyance she felt towards the younger brother.

  She had a family, more than the one who had bought her or the one who had earned the title. Corbin kissed her on the forehead and smiled wide. She'd almost lost this moment, if he'd left when she'd told him to she would've died never knowing she had a real family.

 
"Thank you," she said to him quietly.

  "My pleasure."

  The End

  Sadie Dane

  Sadie Dane lives in the beautiful Northwest where she dreams up sexy men and feisty women for her stories. She is happiest with her laptop on her lap and a cup of coffee at her side. Sadie is new to Blushing Books but hopes for many more stories. You can visit her blog at:

  http://sadiedane.wordpress.com/

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