by Ann Denton
“Need help?” Ryan asked. His voice turned husky.
“I think they sewed this button on wrong,” I complained, trying again. My fingers slipped.
“Here.” Ryan gently moved my hands away and pulled on the button. It slid free on his first try.
“Thank you,” I said, avoiding eye contact. Humiliating. I felt like a dalcop. Being undressed like a child by a man who thought I was heartless enough to make him a spelled plaything.
Ryan’s hands were surprisingly gentle as he released button after button and slowly slid the gown off my shoulders. It puddled on the ground beneath me.
His breath caught as he eyed my cold, hard nipples through my chemise. The white fabric was soaked and did nothing to hide them. Ryan’s eyes dilated. His fingers fisted in my chemise and he slowly pulled that over my head, knuckles scraping every inch of skin along the way.
I shivered but not from the cold. A tiny part of my mind wondered if Ryan would actually have been gentle with me our first time. I’d never know.
When the chemise was gone, Ryan took my hand and led me over to the fire. “Get warm and dry first.” He stood me in front of the fire and tossed his warmed shirt over me. He yanked the hem down and fussed over straightening it, as if that mattered. But it let his fingers brush my thighs.
I gasped involuntarily.
Ryan met my eyes and his look was hard. Almost scary. “You want to earn your way back, Bloss? Without love spells?”
I nodded.
“Then drop to your knees.”
I watched his eyes closely. He had been pushed and pulled and played like a puppet by my mother. Maybe to earn his trust, I needed to let him pull my strings. Let him take charge for once. Let him be in control instead of controlled. I slowly slid onto my knees.
Ryan looked shocked right out of his dominant persona. “You did it. I didn’t think you’d do it.”
I quirked a grin at him. “Unlike my sixteen-year-old virgin self, the idea of a little rough play, dirty talk, or a finger in my ass doesn’t scare me.”
“That’s what made you run that night?”
I put my hand on my heart. “Didn’t even know that ass play was a thing. I swear. I thought you’d meant to tear me apart.”
He laughed and held out a hand. He yanked me to my feet. I was shocked. My mouth had been level with his cock. I’d been certain he’d been about to take advantage of that fact.
“Honesty gets you out of the mood?” I questioned.
Ryan winked at me and gave another booming laugh. “No. But we have an audience.”
My father Johann stood in the doorway, avoiding looking directly at me. He ran a hand uncomfortably through his stiff grey hair. “Your mother needs you. She said it was a political emergency.”
Shite.
Chapter Twelve
I threw on a pale green dress, which Ryan buttoned for me.
“I can’t believe I just said the words ‘ass play’ in front of one of my fathers,” I groaned.
“If I have my way, you’ll say a lot worse things than that,” Ryan winked.
I rolled my eyes as I slipped on dry shoes, though part of me hoped he was serious.
We ran through several secret passages in order to get to Mother as quickly as possible. When we had to take a sharp turn and go down some steps, I nearly fell. Ryan latched onto my hand and stopped me from tumbling face-first. And he didn’t let go. It might have been wonderful under other circumstances. I might have taken it as a sign. Read something into it. But he grabbed my burned hand.
“Ow!” I pulled away from him.
“What’s wrong?” he stopped and pulled my hand toward him. Not that he could see anything in the dark passageway.
“The salamander burned my hand.”
“Of course, it did. Here,” Ryan put his large hand over mine. His was so big that both my hands might have fit into his palm. A dull pink light emanated from his hand.
And my burn disappeared.
“Your magic is pink,” I marveled.
“Shut your mouth about that,” Ryan’s voice was strained. “Not the time to make fun of me.” I could feel his hand clench over mine. He trembled with restraint, trying not to crush my fingers when that’s what his body urged him to do.
“Sorry. Here.” I pushed the tiniest pulse of peace I could manage. Lime green light lit his features for a moment, and the twisted expression on his face relaxed.
He sighed. “Thanks.”
“Not a problem,” I replied, pulling my sleeve more securely over my wrist, where a small gash had ripped open the moment I used my magic. “Was it enough?”
I think Ryan nodded in the darkness. “Yeah. First time I haven’t had to punch a wall.”
I didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Well, shall we?”
“Yup.”
We made our way quickly to the hallway where mother’s room was located. That was as far as we could go within the secret passageway. The Queen’s Chamber had to be entered through the door by everyone but herself. Ryan opened the seam on the spelled door and let us into the hall.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light, only to find his hand extended toward me.
I looked side to side to see if someone was standing nearby. Or behind me. I pointed at Ryan’s hand. “Is that for me?”
Ryan grabbed my hand and yanked me toward him. He started walking to mother’s door, pulling me along. “Shut up and follow.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ryan’s eyes glittered as he glanced back at me. “You’ll be saying a lot of that later.”
“You don’t hear it enough all day from your men?”
Ryan reached Mother’s door but didn’t open it. Instead, he pulled me close. He leaned down and whispered into my ear. “None of my men say it while they’re on their knees, about to suck my cock.”
I nearly came undone at his words. My eyelids fluttered. My thighs tightened in anticipation. Ryan had always been the dream of masculine hotness. But paired with this little dominant streak? Intoxicating. I was about to be drunk on lust. But I couldn’t let him know that. Not just yet. I wanted his trust first. Then his lust. So I pushed back. “And you think I’m going to do that? Get on my knees and suck you off?” I trailed my breath over his neck, teasing.
His grip on my hand grew tighter. His other hand grabbed onto my hip and squeezed. “Pretty sure you already showed you were quite willing.”
I grinned and pulled away. “We’ll see.”
“You have six years to make up for,” he growled. “Since the night I signed that damned contract.”
I leaned my back against the door and gripped the handle. “I know. But I don’t only plan to make up for it on my knees. I’ve learned about so many different positions from those girls at the brothel. You’ll have to be more creative than that.”
I winked and pulled open the door to mother’s room.
Ryan’s chest heaved from the caveman lust he had to suppress. I was a soaking mess. All my body wanted to do was go back to my chamber and let him toss me around on the mattress. The thought of Ryan pinning me down nearly made me convulse. I had to close my eyes and swallow before taking a step forward, clearing my mind, and approaching the Queen at the far side of the room.
My fathers surrounded her. Gorg, the stiff-neck ruler-wielding, rule-following spy master who used to punish even my smallest offenses with a rap on my fingers; Peter, the knight with a heart of gold who’d taken on Evaness’ economic matters; and Johann, Ryan’s mentor in our war games.
My mother stopped whispering with Johann when I reached the foot of the bed.
“I was summoned.” I waited.
Mother looked back and forth between myself and Ryan, who’d stopped uncomfortably close behind me, nearly pinning me to the bed frame. Her eyes may have been pleased at that, but it was hard to tell.
“There is a problem with the entourage from Cheryn.”
“Problem?” I asked. My mind flitted to robbers or carriag
e breakdowns on the road.
“The visit was initially arranged to introduce Sultan Raj’s son, Abbas, to your sister. He’s twenty-five, with four younger brothers. They’re in need of a wife.”
My stomach revolted but I kept my expression neutral. I didn’t want Avia to leave. If something happened to me and we could explain away my absence, it wasn’t a big deal. But that was a gamble. What if we couldn’t explain my absence? What if, at some point, people stopped believing I was hunting dragons? What if something happened to me publicly? Evaness would want a new queen. But I’d expressed that opinion countless times. Each time I’d been rebuked.
I waited for mother. She liked to allow tension to build sometimes. It helped her feel in control—that was my theory, at least.
“Abbas is apparently traveling with two hundred pegasus fliers.”
My neutral expression dropped. As did my jaw. “That’s an attack force!” Cheryn was an aggressive country, sure. When djin and giants were half the population, it was bound to happen. But we’d had a decent treaty with them since I was eight. Since the last Fire War.
“Apparently, additional forces have been gathered at the border, awaiting some kind of signal.”
I had trouble breathing. Unconsciously, I leaned back into Ryan. He put his hand on my shoulder to steady me. And he didn’t remove it.
“Why is this the first we’re hearing about this?” Ryan demanded. “I didn’t have any reports this morning.”
“They were just spotted at the border half an hour ago,” Mother said.
Johann turned to Ryan and grimaced. It made the scar on his cheek wink like a dimple. “Apparently, they’ve been slowly moving troops dressed as civilians to their border towns for months. This is not some hasty maneuver.”
My eyes flickered between Johann and my mother as they shared a look. And suddenly, everything clicked.
“What do they want? Have they made demands?” I asked.
“None,” Gorg answered, his face as hard as granite.
I bit back a smile. They all played their parts so well.
“I can’t believe this. Should we prepare for invasion?” Ryan turned to Johann.
“No,” I responded, before my father could answer. I gazed straight at my mother. She stared steadily back, waiting to hear what I’d say. I took a deep breath and went with my gut. We’d planned for contingencies and scenarios like this for as long as I could remember. She’d always taught me to divide the work. Give everyone a job in a crisis so they have no time to panic.
I applied that strategy. “We wait. We receive Abbas cordially. The ball is still on. In the lead up and during the ball Connor and his diplomats can feel him out. Quinn’s spies will tell us the difference between what Abbas says and what they see.”
I glanced up at Ryan. “You can tell the local militias to assemble using Quinn’s contacts. I also believe the ambassador to Sedara is angry at Cheryn. Perhaps, Declan could speak to him, with Connor’s help. Feel out their interest in an alliance. If Sedara seems agreeable, Ryan, you’ll need to go to Sedara yourself to ensure coordination in case this gets violent. While we house the pegasus fleet, we can feed them sycamore seeds to give them muscle tremors and make it difficult for them to fly. That will effectively remove them from the equation and keep this to a land battle.”
I turned and glared hard at mother. “Avia stays here. She starts training for my position immediately.”
“What?” my fathers all turned to stare at me. Ryan’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. I didn’t look at him.
“I thought you were staying,” Peter said.
“If war breaks out, I’m the biggest target. I’m also likely to—” the geas cut me off. I just pushed past it. “We need the second heir. She needs to be prepared.”
There was a long moment of silence. Then a single clap. My mother smiled at me from her bed. “You see? I told you all that four years wouldn’t lessen her strategic thinking. She’s still sharp as a whip.”
I didn’t smile back. I’d never liked these tests or her methods. Instead, I gave her a sharp nod. I didn’t bother to tell her that her look to Johann had given her away. In a true crisis, my mother never made eye contact. Connor taught me that about her. Even when we’d been eight, before his powers had fully developed, he’d been incredibly perceptive.
“Where did the pegasus poisoning come from?” Peter asks.
“Spent some time on a farm with horses,” I shrugged. I turned back to mother. Now that I’d passed her test, I wanted to discuss real issues. “This morning, a fire salamander was in Avia’s room.”
“Declan’s told me,” Queen Gela responded.
“The creature ran after Avia and only Avia. I’d like extra guards on her.”
“Abbas will take that as a personal offense when he arrives. He’ll think we don’t trust him.”
“I’d like a woman who works for Quinn on her then.”
Mother nods. “Done.”
I swallowed a smile and gave her a nod of thanks.
“Good. Well, I believe I have a long list of current events to catch up on.”
“Yes, and the royal dressmaker will be visiting to help create your ball gown.”
I curtsied and Ryan bowed and we left the room.
Back in the hallway, Ryan ran a hand over his buzzed hair. “She always test you like that?”
“Since I was nine.”
He blew out a breath. “Damn. I thought that was real.”
“We’re supposed to treat it as if it is. Once or twice, she’s given me a real scenario and enacted my advice.”
“What happened?”
“Considering the first time, her lesson was that my actions cost lives … nothing good.”
At the corner, I could see Quinn leaning against a wall, nonchalantly reading a letter. But I had no doubt he’d been listening, probably to every word in the Queen’s chamber, too. He pushed aside his black hair when he stood and slipped the letter into an inner vest pocket.
“Hale,” Ryan grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“Yeah?” I turned to look up at him.
His face was earnest. “If you think Dec needs practice controlling his powers, I’ll help.”
I held his eyes. I heard his words. But it seemed like his eyes said even more than his mouth did. He was offering to help me. Me. The bitch who’d left him high and dry for six years. “You’re sure?”
He nodded. “Better for him anyway. If something ever happened. He should be prepared. Right?”
I couldn’t help the smile that flitted over my face. “Thank you … sir.”
Ryan groaned and threw his head back. “You’re evil.”
“Suppose you’ll have to punish me … sir.”
He laughed. “Quinn, get over here and take Bloss away before I drag her back to my room and keep her there for a month straight.”
I leaned up on my tiptoes and pressed my hands against Ryan’s chest, “If you did that, I’d miss Abbas’ visit completely. No ball. I vote for lock up.”
Ryan laughed and pulled my hands off, passing them to Quinn. “You’re gonna kill me.”
Quinn took my hands and spun me out and then back in, as if we were dancing. He pulled my back to his chest, his bearded cheek rubbing against my cheek, arms entwined with mine.
Ryan walked off, smiling and shaking his head.
Hello, wife. Quinn’s sultry mind-voice flitted through my head.
I twisted so I could meet Quinn’s eyes. “You are in trouble.”
He grinned. And his grey eyes sparkled with mischief. So are you.
“What? Why am I in trouble?”
You agreed to consider Lady Agatha’s son, Willard, as a suitor.
Chapter Thirteen
“But … but … I’m already ‘married,’” I whispered as a healer swept down the hall toward my mother’s rooms. My eyes followed the man as he slipped inside. She hadn’t looked bad when I’d seen her. But she wouldn’t have told me about her discomfor
t anyway. The man wasn’t racing. I’d just seen her. I convinced myself it was a routine visit and turned back to Quinn. “If you all are bound to me … I thought no one could be added after a marriage ceremon—”
You don’t have to speak out loud to me, you know.
Oh.
With the bead, you can just think something … and project it.
I pictured Quinn prostrate on the floor, bowing repeatedly to me. Like that?
You’re more creative than that, I’m sure.
I closed my eyes and imagined Quinn draped in fur, with homemade paper bunny ears clipped into his hair. He sat on Willard’s lap. The chubby man bounced him on his knee and handed him a carrot. “Suck it,” Willard demanded.
Quinn laughed silently, his shoulders shaking. That was a good one. His hand stroked mine as he moved me to his side and tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow, so he could escort me properly.
“I’ve had the unfortunate privilege of seeing something similar in real life,” I forgot to speak in my mind.
Thank you for sharing that trauma with me. I’ll treasure it forever.
I was furious at you this morning, you know. I thought I was delirious. We both paused to nod at Baron White admiring a painting as we went through the main gallery.
I know. Why do you think I avoided you until now?
I pinched the skin near his elbow and he started but didn’t pull away. I sneaked a glance and he was still grinning. That shite. I’d get revenge on him.
Did you hear everything Avia and I talked about?
Do you mean, will I be making my manservant test all my bathing products? And clothing? And brushes? And food? And double check under my saddle for tacks? Yes.
Damn it all. I hate you a little bit.
No, you don’t. He glanced down at me, eyes filled with amusement, and something more.
That something more sent a shiver of nervousness down my spine. I wasn’t quite sure why. Goosebumps rose on my arms as Quinn stopped walking.
He brought his hand up and stroked my cheek with the backside of his fingers. I’ve waited so long to talk to you.
Yes. Four years. He’d shown up to the castle and found no bride. You hate me for leaving, too. I’m sorry. I swear, I didn’t know my mother would block you from other relationships. I never knew. Ryan just told me. I wouldn’t have let her do that to you.
