“Please let the condition be that you’ll only do it if I let you give me another orgasm,” she says, her eyes a mixture of mirth and mischief.
I internally groan. If she continues to make jokes like that, the last shred of self-control I am uselessly clinging to will snap into complete disrepair. I meant what I told her in my study. I won’t be able to bear her regretting giving herself to me, but if she wishes to keep our hearts out of it, I will happily fuck her into oblivion over and over again.
Her eyes glimmer with lust as she watches my expression morph. I’m barely a gentleman as it is, and she is treading a very fine and very dangerous line.
I stalk toward her until I’m close enough to wrap my fingers around the back of her neck and pull her against me.
“Your orgasms are mine to take, Wildflower. Not yours to let me have. Don’t forget that.”
Her eyes flash with the sexiest hint of defiance, and I smirk.
“Is that your condition for giving me some clothes?” she prods, lifting a brow.
“My condition is that you have breakfast with me.”
47
Braxton
“That’sadeadbody.”Rhoden claps her hand over her mouth to suppress the gag contracting her abdomen. “I-is that…” her voice drifts off, so I answer her not fully asked question.
“Gravesley? Yes.”
“Wh-Ho-I…” Rhoden stumbles over which question she would like to ask first, and I roll my eyes.
Azalea said breakfast had to wait until we had this mess figured out. While Rhoden wouldn’t be my first choice in discreetly taking care of this situation, Azalea assured me she could be trusted. Still, I can’t stop myself from watching her meticulously, my hand twitching toward the dagger I snuck into my belt every time she moves too abruptly.
Rhoden hesitantly leans forward, her porcelain skin paling as her eyes scan up and down Gravesley’s lifeless body. She suppresses another gag and quickly takes a step back.
“What happened?” Rhoden fixes me with an accusatory glare.
While I would love to tell her that I did the old bastard in, I turn my attention to Azalea, giving her room to answer her friend.
“Care to fill her in, Wildflower?”
Azalea gives me a pointed look before softening her eyes and turning to Rhoden. Why the fuck does she never look at me like that? Well, I guess I know why. Still, I feel an inkling of jealousy prickle down my spine.
“I may have… well… I stabbed him.”
Rhoden’s almond eyes practically bulge out of her skull.
“But he deserved it,” Azalea quickly amends, stepping toward her friend. To my satisfaction, Rhoden doesn’t move away from Azalea, but lets her take her hands.
Even if I don’t trust her, I don’t want Azalea to lose anyone else in this castle. I know Gravesley was one of the only people she actually talked to, and now she’s lost that. That familiar feeling of frustration churns my stomach at allowing him to get as close to her as he did. Everything I’ve done is to protect her, and all the while I let one of the purest forms of evil cozy up to her in my castle, under my protection.
I shake my head clear, knowing we only have another few hours before the entire castle bustles awake and begins their duties. So far, the only people awake are those doing food preparations in the kitchen, which is mercifully far away from Azalea’s room.
“Azalea.” The mixture of stress and impatience inside me laces my tone with a hard edge. “We need to take care of this before anyone else sees.
The plan is to inform the castle that Gravesley retired. Anyone who seems suspicious of this news, or particularly interested in hearing more of the story, we plan to take note of. That’s how I’ll know who to keep an eye on and who I can trust. I’m not sure what kind of a person I am to not know my own castle staff. Partof me wonders if I was just negligent on who I let in my castle, or if this is part of the magic working tricks on my mind.
Regardless, I’m not letting another rat slip through my grasp and get close to Azalea.
Azalea nods, turning back to Rhoden.
“I promise, I will fill you in on everything, but right now, I need you to trust me.” Her voice is pleading, and she grips Rhoden’s hands tighter.
“Zel,” Rhoden leans forward dropping her voice before darting her eyes toward me hesitantly. “This isn’t like sneaking into a certain someone’s study.” My expression hardens. I should have known she was partially behind that little scheme. “This is a dead body,” she finishes, her eyes hesitantly darting back to look at Gravesley. Her complexion goes green.
