“Come and kiss me,” she said softly, running a finger from her mouth and trailing it down her body.
Brody climbed on the bed, crawling until he was between her legs. He kissed her softly. Ava’s lips were warm and tasted sweet. He lay his body on hers and found her hot to the touch. Their tongues slid together and then Brody was kissing her hungrily. He wanted to be romantic and take it slow, but he couldn’t. This woman drove him wild. She responded in kind, her tongue tangling with his and her body and hips sliding needily against him. He realized that the wait had been hard for her too. He didn’t torture her any longer. She shifted her hips so his swollen member was right at the entrance, and he slammed inside her. She arched her back and screamed in absolute pleasure as he went in full tilt, using the weight of his large body to press against her. He pumped his hips hard as he wrapped his arms around her and ravaged her mouth with his. He groaned as his pleasure built and his rhythm became more intense. He couldn’t control himself.
Ava was writhing in ecstasy, wrapping her legs around him tightly and using her hands to guide his butt as she lay underneath him, receiving him with thrusting hips. She moaned against his mouth when she came, running her hands along his back and bum, and biting his lip. Brody slid into her a few more times before he exploded, pushing deep inside her and groaning his release.
He fell on top of her, enjoying the feel of her soft, sweaty body against his. He kissed her neck and nibbled at the bones in her shoulder. She giggled as he ticked her. He felt warm and safe inside her. Nothing could harm him as long as they were together. She was a smart, strong woman, and he was pretty sure he loved her.
He knew he was heavy so he rolled to the side and gathered her to him. She sighed as she hugged his chest, putting her head on his shoulder and one leg between his splayed ones. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it over them. She was running her hand along his stomach and over the tops of his thighs, stroking the fine hair there and playing with his bellybutton. She kissed the edge of his jaw then bent and swiped her tongue against one of his pink nipples. He could feel himself hardening again, and Ava reached under the covers to check.
Brody laughed, which changed to a groan when Ava grabbed him under the blanket and started to stroke.
“It was a bit fast,” he said softly, almost in apology.
“I needed it fast too,” she replied, moving up to kiss his lips.
He held her head and slipped his tongue in her warm mouth. He loved the way she tasted. He kissed her thoroughly, pulling her on top of him. After a bit he was ready to conquer once again and she was sliding on top of him.
“Before we start,” she said gaspingly, between kisses. “Put on your vintage warrior-knight gauntlets. It’s time to play.”
Yes, he thought happily. He loved this woman.
Oh God, he was in so much trouble.
Chapter 27 – Doran and Seraphina
The day after the ball was hell.
Everyone was hung over, really hung over, as in most of the young men participating in the hunt organized for that morning were hung over their horses, green. After the third man had thrown up in the courtyard (and all over Doran), and two had fallen off their horses and tried to sleep on the cobblestones, Doran had cancelled the activity and sent them all to their rooms to sleep it off. King and his buddies just laughed. They didn’t look the worse for wear considering the amount of alcohol they’d consumed the previous night. Mounted on their horses, they just took off galloping away across the fields. All Doran could hear was, “Let’s go kill something!” He didn’t want to know anything about it.
After changing his clothes, and stopping in the kitchen to speak to cook about keeping the menu light due to sensitive stomachs, he realized that he had the day to himself. With the hunt postponed until the next day, he was completely free. Excitement rushed through him. He could spend it with Seraphina! Whistling, he went out the kitchen door to the garden and picked a bouquet of fresh, spring flowers. As he rustled through the blooms, he heard Daisy yell from inside.
“Doran, you had better NOT BE PICKING MY FLOWERS,” she said ominously.
Looking at the large bunch of flowers in his hands, Doran decided to circle around the castle and re-enter through the main doors. “I’m not!” he yelled, sneaking away. “Just looking!”
He tied the bouquet with string then went upstairs to find Seraphina. He’d taken Joss’ advice and was charging into the field of battle to fight, and win his love. He just had to figure out how. Last night had been a good start. He’d been up for a couple of hours trying to sober up the boys for the hunt before giving it up as an impossible task. He’d only slept a couple of hours himself having only left Seraphina at the crack of dawn. He remembered the taste of her mouth and her soft body against his. He hurried to her room. He knew she would still be sleeping, but he wanted her to see the bouquet when she woke up.
As he arrived at her door, he placed the flowers on the floor and then heard a noise. Walking quietly down the hall, he watched in shock as Ava quietly closed the door to Brody’s suite. She was still dressed in her evening gown, but her hair was a mess. She’d very obviously spent the night with Brody.
Ava turned and squeaked in surprise when she saw Doran. Her eyes grew wide with dismay, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
Doran sighed. This was going to be a problem.
Seraphina woke slowly and stretched luxuriously. She ran her hands down her body and smiled. She remembered Doran’s passionate kisses, his body pressed against hers, and especially the thrilling hard parts of him that had rubbed against her, every motion a caress against her body through her paper thin dress.
She hopped out of bed to wash and dress quickly. She tidied up her hair, which Doran had tangled with his fingers, and dashed out of her room in search of him. She stopped when she saw the bouquet at her door. She lifted it and smelled the pretty blooms. Doran, she thought lovingly. She wondered idly if cook had skinned him for touching her flowers. She hoped not. She put the blooms in her washbasin of water and left the room. One of the maids would put them in a vase for her.
She ran down to the breakfast room, hoping he’d be there.
He was there, pouring coffee from the sideboard. He turned when she entered and smiled. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around him. He held her tightly and kissed her hard and fast before letting her go and glancing nervously toward the open doorway. “Someone might see us,” he cautioned, looking at her beautiful face.
“I don’t care,” she said haughtily.
He smiled. He knew that stubborn expression well. “You’re lucky. I postponed the hunt until tomorrow. Otherwise, I’d be in the woods right now with a bunch of hung over, and dangerous, testosterone-riddled giants.”
“You had plenty of testosterone last night,” she said softly, smiling as she poured herself some coffee. They sat together at the table, side by side. She put her hand on his leg and he covered it with his own, curling his fingers with hers.
“Have you been here by yourself all morning?” Sipping her coffee, she reached for a cinnamon roll from a pile on the table.
“No, Ava was here a few minutes ago,” he said, looking thoughtful.
“How’s she feeling?”
“Pretty good, by the looks of it,” he said wryly. “Actually, what’s bothering me is the way our fathers are behaving. They’re out riding,” Doran said worriedly, looking out the window.
“So? How much trouble can four old farts on horses get into?” Seraphina laughed.
“A lot, I’m afraid. Something’s up with those old buggers,” Doran said. “I don’t trust them one bit. Mark my words, Seraphina, they’re planning something. I can feel it.”
“I’m sure they are. Most of them haven’t been away from their wives for a while. They’ll raise a little old-man hell in the village and get it out of their system.”
There was nothing old about the cunning, fiery intelligence burning in King’s eyes. Doran shuddered.
Doran perked up and was about to get up when a loud voice boomed through the hall, its owner making an appearance at the door.
“There you are,” Brody said jovially, coming in and helping himself to coffee. Doran and Seraphina tried to move out of his way as he crowded them near the coffee pot, but he ended up jostling Seraphina, who spilled her coffee into Doran’s lap.
“Gah!” he yelped, jumping up as hot coffee scalded his crotch and thighs.
“Oh, Doran, I’m so sorry!” Seraphina exclaimed.
“Ouch, bro,” Brody said, completely unconcerned.
Doran had a brief, satisfying vision of beating Brody to a bloody pulp. Instead, he sighed, irritated. “I’ll go change.”
Seraphina looked at Brody sideways. “Okay, then we’ll continue my lessons.”
Doran choked, and Brody turned to slap him on the back.
“Don’t touch me!” Doran exclaimed, stepping back.
“Just trying to help, buddy,” Brody said, offended.
Ava showed up next. She was in her maid outfit once again. There was a crash, and when they looked, they saw Brody had dropped his coffee cup.
“Sorry,” he mumbled as he bent to pick up the shards.
Doran now understood why Brody broke so much crockery and avoided the servants’ quarters.
Ava smirked. Doran rolled his eyes. Seraphina looked at her cousin suspiciously.
“What?” Ava asked.
Seraphina was getting impatient. She wanted to take Doran and go. They had some heavy kissing to do. She just wanted his hands back on her body and his mouth pressed against hers. Was that too much to ask?
Ava shrugged. “Doran, many of our guests are still abed, but their little ankle biters are terrorizing the dogs, who are once again running through Cook’s kitchen—”
Uh oh.
“—while other brats are hanging from the mid-level parapet or swinging from the pennants…and they aren’t listening to anyone.”
Doran sighed. “Okay, first things first. Any deaths or injuries?”
“Not yet,” she reported dutifully.
“Fine. I’ll handle the hangers and the swingers. Seraphina—”
“Yes?”
“I need you on brats, uh, children and dogs using your most terrifying intimidation tactics. The sooner we resolve this, the sooner we can get to those lessons.”
“Which lessons are those?” Brody asked, staring at Ava, who was standing very straight and was pushing out her breasts, causing them to strain against her tight shirt.
“Math,” Seraphina said.
“Dancing,” Doran said at the same time.
Brody didn’t notice. “I told you, Seraphina, I’ve got the dancing lessons. You focus on math.” He tossed his coffee back and headed to the door. “I’ll take care of the dogs. I’m good with animals. See you in the ballroom this afternoon.”
Ava disappeared around the corner after him.
Doran looked at Seraphina. “Let’s do this quick, then I’ll get changed and we can get the hell out of this madhouse.”
“Your servant,” she said, sticking out her leg and bowing. He laughed.
Doran headed to the courtyard and looked up. Yep, a bunch of human monkeys were up there. A few guards were at the bottom, waiting to catch any fallers. It was time to deploy Plan Baby Animal.
“It’s time to come down, children.”
“Did you pee-pee your pants?” one cheeky kid asked. The question echoed loudly in the quiet courtyard, the stone magnifying the sound. “It’s okay. It happens to me all the time.”
One of the guards snickered.
“Very mature,” Doran said to him.
“Pee-pee. It’s funny,” he said, shrugging.
Doran frowned at him before addressing the children again.
“No, someone spilled coffee—oh never mind. If you don’t get down right now the fun activity I planned for you this afternoon will be cancelled, and you’ll be doing lessons instead.”
An older boy looked sceptical. “What activity?’ he asked, but he had stopped swinging and had climbed back up to the balcony. All the kids were listening. None of them wanted to do lessons.
“Well,” Doran said, looking at his fingernails and rubbing them on his shirt. “I only allow well-behaved children to attend this activity. I can’t have any baby animals getting hurt.”
“Baby animals?” a little boy squeaked.
“I have four puppy litters, two bunny litters, and a playful colt waiting to be petted and cuddled today by nice children. Imagine, twenty-four puppies! Oh, and I think there’ll be some baby chicks hatching today…”
Doran looked up. They were all staring at him wide-eyed, breathless with wonder and excitement. Baby animals got them every time, hook, line, and sinker.
“We’ll be good,” the older boy said. All scepticism was gone from his face. Only hope was left.
“Great, take the stairway to your left and come down.” They all headed in the wrong direction. “Your other left!” Doran yelled. When they were all assembled in front of him he took them to the breakfast room. “Wash up, eat, then wash up again because you’ll have to present your hands to the stable master for inspection. You have to be clean to play with the baby animals.”
“Thank you, Prince Doran,” a small, five-year old girl said, after she had eaten, kissing his cheek and rubbing her syrup filled hands all over his shirt.
Thank God he hadn’t changed. Seraphina just smiled. Her charges had already been seated when he had arrived, looking suitably terrified.
They washed and Doran took the kids to the stables where George, the stable master, was waiting for them.
After their initial meeting, which involved George yelling at Doran in the middle of the courtyard the day of his arrival, they had become great friends.
He was a big, forbidding looking man with shaggy black hair and a thick, fuzzy beard. He was at least six and a half feet tall and loaded with brawn. He stared down at the kids, his black eyebrows in a stern frown as he inspected each child’s hands carefully.
The man was a big softie, and the kids knew it. They giggled as he ticked their hands on inspection.
“Well, you look just fine, kids. We’re going to go through the stables to the small barn at the back where the baby animals are. There’s no screaming, crying, or running. Do you hear?”
There was nodding all around. Their eyes were glazed with anticipation.
“Okay, then. Let’s go. Follow Pete over there. I’ll be along in a minute.”
He looked at Doran. “You pee yourself?” he asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide the huge grin spreading over his face.
Seraphina burst out laughing.
“Of course not,” Doran said, aggrieved. “Forget my pants. How long can you keep this bunch?”
“As long as you need. Someone can come get them for lunch.”
Doran assigned that task to Ava and went to get changed while Seraphina got some things together for their ride.
Chapter 28 – Trevan and Murdock
Unbeknownst to Doran and Seraphina, at the stable they were being observed by very hostile eyes. Trevan stood at a window of the guardhouse. Murdock had just introduced him to the castle guards, indicating that he was a personal, private guard hired for Brody’s protection.
“What does Prince Brody need protecting from?” the head guard asked seriously.
“There are many threats to Prince Brody’s life!” he replied imperiously. Murdock wasn’t popular with the guards.
The head guard looked at Trevan. “You said your name was Smith?”
“That’s right.”
“You look familiar, like I’ve seen you before. You ever live in Gold River?”
“No, I come from Silversmith Crags. Lived there my whole life.”
The guard grunte
d and narrowed his eyes, looking back at Murdock. “We’ll house him, but maybe you should explain these threats a bit more so we can provide Smith here with some backup, in case he needs it. After all, Brody’s the fourth son, not in line for the throne, and the nicest guy you could ever meet. Not sure why there would be threats against the boy.”
“The threats are none of your concern! When you need to know, I’ll tell you,” Murdock said angrily. He hated it when his authority was questioned. That’s what happened when you go from being a favoured councillor to a babysitter. Bah!
The guard took a deep breath and looked at Trevan. “You can put your gear in cell nine.”
The guards’ cells ran along the inside of a second floor corridor that had windows on the outside wall. Trevan heard Doran’s voice, and that had drawn him to the window to observe. The princess was with him, the little bitch that had blown his cover in the end. Word had spread that he had robbed and murdered the people he had supposedly “helped.” His need for revenge burned through him as he stared at the two youths, but patience won out. There was no point in ruining his plans now that everything was ready. He would bide his time and watch. Doran was going to die very soon, very painfully, and his death would serve two purposes. It would satiate his honour, which Doran had ruined by besting him that windy night a few weeks ago. It would also devastate the princess, for life.
That would be the best revenge of all.
Chapter 29 – Doran and Seraphina
They headed out to Doran’s favorite spot. She laid a blanket in front of the small stream. They were hidden from plain view, the trees providing shelter from prying eyes. She sat down hesitantly, watching Doran hobble the horses for grazing.
It was a beautiful day. The sun shone through the trees. The young leaves were glowing a luminescent green in the light. A warm breeze filled with the smells of spring flitted through, causing the dappled shadows and sun patches to dance. Doran joined her on the blanket and lay back. He sighed with pleasure. The peace after the chaos of the castle was a blessing. He eyed Seraphina, who was eyeing him back. She had scooted closer to him so their bodies were touching. She lay on her side, her hand resting lightly on his stomach.
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