by A. K. Koonce
My pace slows, and his hips no longer thrust against me as I hold myself above him, clinging to his neck and looking down on the most beautiful amber eyes. He watches me with a hooded gaze for several seconds before his lips seal to mine, kissing me with so much desire, so much passion, so much care.
My hand slips between us, and he groans when my palm glides down his thick shaft in one long stroke. He pulls back, peering down at his cock held loosely in my hand.
“You don’t have to do that.” He barely gets the words out when his eyes close as my palm rubs over the slick head of his dick before sliding back down just to repeat the motion all over again.
It’s the sexiest feeling to be in control of his every shaking breath right now. I quicken my pace, and the groan that rumbles through his chest turns me on even more. The harder he gets, the more I ache to feel him deep inside. His fingers wrap through my hair, and he pulls my lips down to his, kissing me like he knows exactly what I’m thinking right now.
Or maybe he’s just thinking the same thing.
Another deep groan hums against my tongue, and he stills against me just as warmth slips down the back of my fingers. A pulsing feeling throbs through his length in my hand.
Our gazes meet, sated and affectionate.
I’ve never experienced something so intimate with anyone before. For several moments, I stay there in his arms, naked but feeling completely safe and taken care of.
He smiles at me slowly, and before I even realize what he’s doing, he wipes my hand clean with Kais’s shirt and then wipes himself clean with that same shirt.
Kais’s going to be even more pissed than usual when he finds that shirt…and Lighton’s come.
But my virtue is intact.
And that’s the important thing, isn’t it?
Twenty-Four
Lighton
In exactly one hour, I’m going to have to sneak out of this bed to meet the Elder. And to avoid the fuck out of Kais. I’ll have to evade Kais like I didn’t rub my dick all over his No Touching Madison Rule Book and make it come and then watch shamefully while it jerked me off.
Should be easy enough.
Just pretend like nothing happened.
Simple.
Her back arches, rocking her ass against me and making me question my self-restraint all over again.
Simple. Easy peasy lemon I’m-going-to-fuck-Madison-Torrent-even-if-it-costs-me-my-dick-itself squeezy.
My arms tighten around her, and the breathy sigh she gives in her sleep makes me rock hard in an instant. I bury my nose in her thick red hair. A sweet scent clings to her locks, and I realize while I’m doing all this pretending in front of Kais, it’ll be very real for me when I have to deal with my memories alone. Madison wrapped me up in her arms and didn’t judge me for a single thing I told her.
When I sneak out of this bed and stand there in front of her and all the people I have to pretend for, I won’t have her affection to support my shitty, shitty choices in life.
I’ll fuck up. It’s what I do. It’s what I’m painfully good at.
Hell, I’m making mental reports on the girl who just jerked me off. I’ll turn those reports in later today to the Elder and maybe it won’t be today and maybe it won’t be tomorrow, but she’ll hate me eventually when she finds out.
A heavy sigh escapes my lips.
I have no idea how to fix the screwed-up mess I’m in. Elder Liddell wants Alice. The misinformed lies I keep feeding him about Madison is confusing him enough for the moment but I know he won’t wait around forever.
And I’ll keep fucking everything up in the meantime.
I can’t believe she trusted me this morning to show me the most vulnerable part of her. Fuck, she’s pure.
Good.
Innocent.
Perfect.
And I’m just the asshole who’s going to screw all this up for her.
I tense, slowly pulling my arm from beneath her. I sit up with so much carefulness the bed barely moves.
But she knows.
She pulls me back down, my back hitting the mattress flat just before she rolls her naked body onto mine. “Don’t go,” she mumbles against my chest.
It’s not just her naked curves or the way I can feel the heat of her pussy against my side. My heart stumbles from her words alone.
No one’s ever wanted me the way Madison does. For over a year now, I’ve never made an excuse for who I’ve become. But I’ve also never had anyone stand up for me and want the person I’ve become to stick around.
My palm skims up her smooth arm, and my lips press to her forehead. Her breaths even out once more and maybe I won’t go. Maybe I’ll lie here in the nude and greet Kais with a wave of my cock and just see how he takes the news from there.
Or maybe I’ll keep my balls intact and sneak out of here before the angry rabbit gets home.
A flash of movement has me nearly jumping right out of the bed. The pounding feel of my heartbeat urges me to take action, and I grab the lamp off the table and wield it like a baseball bat at the intruder standing in the bedroom doorway.
“Relax. Just checking on my dear sweet sister-in-law. I did expect her to be a bit less naked, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.” Rotter rakes his gaze all over Madison, and I manage to pull the sheet across her body while still holding the lamp. With my dick out.
Doesn’t feel nearly as threatening as it should when he glances from the lamp to my cock and then back again with a bored expression.
Of all the people Wanderlust accepted, it had to accept this murdering fuck. I have to admit, there aren’t a lot of people I respect, and there are even fewer people I hate. When a lying sack of shit murders your friends for the fun of it, you tend to hate them.
“Get out.” I growl the words, and it’s my tone alone that seems to wake Madison.
She peers up at me before looking back slowly at the man leaning casually against the wall.
“Why are you here, Alixx?” Her hands hold the tattered white sheet over her breasts as she looks up at the deadly man. He takes his time walking over before settling down in the arm chair at our side.
Alixx. She uses his name like he’s a person instead of a bloodhound for the King.
“We have a date today, you and I. Oh, and our betrothed. Those two will be there too, I suppose. Tell me, does the King know you’re fucking like rabbits in his most trusted advisor’s home?”
“I’m not fucking anyone,” she says, narrowing her eyes on the murdering psychopath.
“That’s a shame. You really should. Don’t waste yourself by saving yourself, Alice.” He steeples his fingers, the sneer on his lips on prominent display.
He’s good. He’s good at making everyone around him hate him.
Including the woman he saved just yesterday.
“I’m not wasting myself, and I’m not saving myself, Alixx.”
“Why don’t you call him Rotter? He’s a fucking murderer. Don’t feel the need to treat him with respect. He clearly doesn’t have any for anyone else.” My jaw hurts from how tightly I’m clenching it, and my anger just seems to make him even happier.
“Actually, I’m an assassin.”
“What’s the difference?” The hate in my tone grows stronger by the second.
“An exchange of money, of course. Otherwise, it’d just be a hobby.” He lifts his hands in explanation, and his attention drifts when he realizes I’m still pointing the lamp at him like a loaded gun. “Besides,” he adds, “I like when she calls me Alixx. Don’t ruin a good thing, Spy.” He says that nickname very pointedly.
The lamp in my hand dips with surprise, but I level it right back out.
How does he know about that?
“I wish there was just one morning that I could wake up and not be surrounded by craziness, you know?” Madison looks from me to Rotter, and for once, he and I share an equally confused look. She crawls from the bed and wraps the sheet securely around herself before leaving Rotter and me alon
e while she roams around upstairs, probably looking for something to wear.
I’ll just be here with our guest. Casually naked.
“You really didn’t fuck her? Not everyone can get the job done. Don’t feel bad.” He doesn’t look at me. He acts like he doesn’t care at all for the topic he brought up.
Everything Rotter says is a trap. And I fall face fucking first into it.
“I can get the job done just fine. Madison happens to think I’m above average actually.” I don’t know why I just said that like he can’t see it for himself right now or why I felt the need to verbally rub my cock in his face.
“I’ve seen better.” Rotter shrugs, and it shouldn’t make me as crazy as it does, but he’s the second person this week who’s said that.
Why does everyone keep saying that to me?
“And, she is a slender girl,” he says. “Hundred and forty pounds at the most. I bet a grain of rice looks like a mouthful to her.” He nods to himself, and it takes me two seconds too long to realize he just compared my junk to a fucking grain of rice.
I stand slowly, and I don’t even know what I intend to do. Have a weird cock duel with this fucker just to prove myself?
Because I’d win.
Luckily things don’t make it that far. Madison slinks down the stairs in a tight black dress. It hugs her slim frame and pushes up her breasts while leaving miles of her long legs on display.
“You look sinful this morning.” Alixx gets this look in his eyes, and I’ve never in my life seen the prick look genuinely interested in anyone or anything before. He holds his fucking arm out for her, and when she takes it, this caveman part of me wants to rip his limbs off just so he never has another opportunity to hold her hand again.
“Have fun,” I blurt instead, smiling like a jackass the entire time.
Madison pauses, her head tilting just slightly like she knows everything about me. She slips out of Rotter’s reach, and her small hands press to my chest before she leans forward and brushes her lips against mine. My fingers tangle through her hair, turning the fiery red locks back to blonde once again. I hold her to me, deepening the kiss until my cock is shamelessly hard again in a room full of one too many people.
It shouldn’t feel like I’m marking my territory.
But I fucking am.
I bite her lip just before I pull away, and the gasp she gives makes me want to kiss her all over again.
“Thanks, Light,” she whispers strangely. “Thanks for this morning.” Big green eyes look up at me with so much lust.
A half-smile pulls at my lips because I don’t think any girl has ever thanked me for getting them off before.
Damn, she really is sweet.
And then that sweet girl walks off with the deadliest man in the entire Kingdom.
Twenty-Five
Madison
We spent the early morning and into the afternoon touring the nicest parts of the Kingdom of Wanderlust.
There weren’t many. The lane of shops that runs through the center of the village was the nicest part, and we lingered there for hours. It wasn’t much. But the King did spend time with me. And his sister. And Alixx.
It’s a bizarre relationship the four of us have together, and I don’t think it’s going to get any easier in the years to come. The entire day has been exhausting with the constant companionship the twins have together. It’s tiring to try to keep up and be a part of. But this is the final stop. A speech on the far side of the Kingdom in a clearing in the forest is the very last thing for today, and I couldn’t be happier.
The name Alice is a chanting song that attacks me with every step I take. The villagers surround the King’s high standing podium, and he keeps his hand held firmly in mine to show a sense of unity and pride: he did bring his people their Alice after all.
“Alice, Alice, Alice.” Over and over and over again that name is thrown at me, and I smile through it all.
Alixx and Konstance stand at my side, just a few feet from the podium, not touching even the slightest bit. I keep glancing at him, and he never once looks at me. He gives adoring glances to his betrothed and even she smiles sweetly at him, which surprises me. Each second they don’t threaten to spit in each other’s faces is astounding.
“She’s here, good people of Wanderlust,” Constantine finally calls out, silencing the thousands of people standing before me. There are more of them than I thought there’d be. They’re painful to look at. Since I’ve been here, I’ve sewn maybe a dozen shirts for this Kingdom.
It’s not enough.
They’re a sea of tattered clothes and gaunt faces. Big hopeful eyes and a mess of dirty hair.
My stomach sinks and twists just looking out at them.
How can Constantine smile right now?
How can any of these people smile knowing they can’t live a healthy life in this Kingdom?
“You trusted my sister and me as your Elders of Wanderlust, and we will take care of you.” My head turns to Constantine, confusion washing over my face. The Elders of Wanderlust. He doesn’t notice me but carries on. “Our Kingdom will progress now. Our future is finally here, and Alice Liddell is going to fix all of our lives.”
How? No one has said how I’m going to do that, and when I get home tonight, Kais is going to map this shit out, get me a fucking agenda with a manual and a goddamn handbook with vivid details on how the hell Alice Liddell is supposed to fix this.
“An engagement party will be held for close friends and family, and the ceremony will proceed the following day.”
I swallow back a bit of vomit stinging my throat and give the most awful form of a tense smile.
“And then, as you all know, our lives will change. Alice Liddell has arrived. And so has our future.”
Cheers erupt, echoing into the night for hours after the four of us walk off that podium.
They’re still cheering and saying that name when Constantine tells me he needs to get Konstance home. She apparently has a severe migraine, and her brother must attend to her.
“Kais will take you home.” Constantine gently holds my hand in his, and he hasn’t once mentioned the engagement party he told his Kingdom about. Or the wedding. Or how I’m supposed to really unite two fucking Kingdoms.
I smile. That’s my part to play, isn’t it? The smiling idiot who’s going to get us all killed.
If so, I’m nailing it.
Constantine leans into me, and I tilt my head up to him, wondering if our first kiss will ever live up to the expectations Lighton has set for me now.
His mouth is tense against my cheek when he brushes his lips there for the briefest of moments. I tense, and he releases me without a second glance, taking his sister’s hand and leading her to their shining red carriage.
“Love you too, sweetheart,” Alixx calls after Konstance.
Her lips thin, her shoulders stiffening so hard she visibly shakes, but she doesn’t acknowledge her betrothed or his snide remark.
“Guess it’s just you and me, Alice.” Alixx slides his arm around my shoulder, and I eye his hand when he squeezes me against his side.
Kais’s narrowed gaze assesses the two of us for all of half a second before shoving Alixx off of me.
“Ah, yes. Just the two of us,” Alixx whispers, striding away, drifting into the crowd. Really, I think he’s just testing the people here to see how fast they’ll part and dart away from the man who no one ever touches.
“That one’s got a few screws loose as well. The men here aren’t the most stable, if you haven’t noticed.” Cat sways toward me.
Tonight, her sheer black dress meets a deep pink corset that matches her hair which is piled high in big curls. Brody’s top hat isn’t even tall enough to compete with her wave of locks.
Kais storms off after Alixx, and Brody peers back at Cat before he too follows after the men. Cat’s bright eyes linger on Brody’s back as he leaves. It’s a considering look. A sexual look.
“Are you and Brody toget
her?” I lean back on the side of the stage, but Cat starts to climb the wooden beams that are holding up a “Queen Alice” banner. A big splashing red heart is behind the words, and I cringe when I think about the mess I’ve made of the whole Alice situation.
The goal was to marry the King though, make the Kingdom believe their savior has arrived.
For once, it isn’t a mess, I suppose. For once, everything is going according to plan.
The plan just sucks.
“No. Brody wishes. Sometimes I wish too. He’s just…not the type.”
“The type?” I follow after her, carefully lining up my heels with the wooden rungs. The wind catches my hair, and I’m certain the few villagers who are lingering tonight are getting a full view of the glorious Alice’s ass.
“He’s just like Kais and just like Lighton. Just like all the men here. None of them have time aside from the rebellion to really give the effort I need. I want romance. I want cuddling, and most of all, I want sex. A lot. All the time.” Preach. If we weren’t climbing aimlessly, I’d give my spirit animal friend a high five right now. “And I’m not settling to be a forgotten woman in their life. I’ve seen Brody do it to other women, and I refuse to be forgotten.” She pulls herself up and takes a seat on the thick beam, letting her legs hang carelessly off the side. Her chin tips up, and I can see how frustrated this conversation makes her.
She’s gorgeous. She could have any man in this Kingdom.
But the look in her eyes right now, I know she wants Brody. She’s just afraid of having him. She’s afraid of being pushed aside.
Is it really easier to never have something than to have something and to let it go?
It doesn’t look like it. It looks just as painful. Just as heartbreaking.
She blinks the look away and stares out at the dark horizon. The moon is a full white circle shining down on us. Miles and miles of shady pine trees peek up into the starry night sky. Among all that darkness, a single golden dot shines in the distance.
