My jaw hinged open at the sound of Noth’s warm, dark voice in my mind.
You're giving away our secret, Pumpkin.
I closed my mouth and attempted to look like I was still angry at him. Which I was, but he made me curious. If he snuck into my head, did I live in his too? A certain song Fallon taught me came to mind and as I sang it to myself, the tips of Noth’s ears grew as red as his eyes. This was going to be so much fun.
“In fact, you should all go back to bed. You can begin planning my coronation in the afternoon.” Noth spoke as if our little exchange didn’t exist.
After five seconds in the heart of Noth’s territory, coming closer to dead than Noth had ever gotten, I wasn’t mad he kept our communications secret.
Yaya stepped forward. “I will take care of them if you take the soldiers,” she said to Jax.
“Don’t risk her again,” Noth whispered to Yaya.
I always took care of myself, but I was starting to realize I was definitely in over my head. I had watched Evie take to being Queen of her territory with relative ease so how hard would it be to stand by Noth’s side? I lookedaround. Then again, Evie’s territory acted a good bit calmer than the Elven one. I had underestimated my sister once again. I could just bluff my way through this, right?
“Show’s over,” I crowed and felt bad as Noth flinched.
Damn, I was really going to have to learn how to do this better.
The assemblage moved off into the growing morning light and Noth took my hand, steering me through the palace I now had time to appreciate, to the room that was definitely his. As far from the gold gaudiness of Brad’s room as possible, the space dressed in calming grays and blues. Hints of magenta that would show off a little alcove for Gertrude gave it some personality. The warm, dark wood furniture and massive bed might have been bare, but at least they hadn’t destroyed the bones of the space.
Noth tossed me onto the naked mattress and followed me down until he pressed me into the luxury of it.
“You were beautiful and terrifying. I have never wanted to claim you more. The garden is gorgeous.” He kissed up my neck. I noticed his pause and heard his unspoken ‘but’.
“Just say it,” I told him, while I still had some of my wits about me.
He didn’t take the coward’s way out. He looked me in the eye as he said, “You can go home if you want. My parents raised me to do this, but it’s not fair to you. The Council will have to admit they were wrong and weretaken advantage of in some fashion and it will not go easy with them for the foreseeable future. Brad might have been the worst of the worst, but my own people are no trip to the Venticular Falls. Usually, they're just not quite so obvious about their discontent.”
I wanted to take his warning seriously and not rush into the first ‘no’ that came to mind. “Where do I fit in all this?”
His slow grin slipped into my girly bits and did a little slide. “On my cock. Want to try it out?”
He was deflecting, but instead of hounding him for an answer, I decided we both needed a little grace after the night’s and month’s events. And I really did want to try it out again. It was definitely one thing we did well.
“I guess I might give it a spin. See if you’ve improved any.” I almost swallowed my words. If Noth improved his fucking anymore, I would never get out of this bed.
He kissed my nose. “I love you too.”
My heart skipped. Hehadheard me. No one had ever said it back. It was simple, undramatic by Noth standards and somehow arrowed directly into my chest. So easy to believe it in our nest of two.
I took his bottom lip in my teeth, purposefully not biting. “I know.” He pinched me. “I mean, me too.”
“Then we can work out the rest, Pumpkin.”
And then Noth treated me to the very best version of his cock as promised.
~~~~~~~
2 monthslater
I wasn’t supposed to be here, but I had taken to wandering around the palace as by myself as I might get with Noth’s three guards tailing me. Still, they didn’t stop me when I took the key from the Elves on watch and opened the door to the dungeon.
It radiated silence. I liked to meditate and try out new spells on Brad before Yaya put me through my paces. The flickering lamplight gave me something to focus on as I rolled out the mat I kept here and sat in position.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Why do you have to tell yourself to breathe every time? You’re already doing it.
