“You took my control,” he continues with narrowed eyes, “you let me do that to you. Had I known…”
I shake my head at him and hold my grin, willing him to understand my next words.
“I trusted you, Keane, when you told me you’d fuck me senseless. It made me excited. And I trust you to do it again.My whole body is still aflame by your possession.”
I move towards him sensually and let my nails glide down his chest, “do you see me right now, Keane? Do you see how hot my body is for you? Bend me over any time you want, Your Highness. I liked the aggression and I want to experience more of it.”
Keane brings his hands swiftly to his chest to grip my wrists, looking down at me with his intense brown eyes.
“There is a line, Lady Alexis,” he says, making sure I understand his next words as well, “a line that can only be crossed together. We came close to it just now, but we need to find it together so I know how far I can go with you.”
Those are Warrior words.
He speaks of a line of fucking that I expected to see at the first night in his court, where men took women relentlessly and were fueled by their own lustful desires. It’s the type of fucking that I’ve heard the women in Knowledge speak of in hushed whispers, rarely ever experiencing it themselves but still gossiping, nonetheless.
But I have experienced it, and I’m not ashamed of myself for liking it or wanting more.
I nod back up to Keane, letting him know that I understand his words even though I don’t want to back down from them.
“I want to feel more of something like this with you, Keane. I liked the roughness. I liked your control. It brought my body somewhere it’s never been before.”
I grin up at him, still holding his brown eyes with mine, “perhaps we can step a toe over that line once we find it?”
“Ancients, Alexis,” Keane groans, gripping my wrists harder and pulling me roughly into his body. His eyes are intense and heated, but they have a look of awe behind them as he nods in small agreement.
“You are everything.”
We were out of the city of Gaumond just as the sun peaked its head over the horizon, back on the road and riding hard for the Green Valley. We would stop again for the night in Dalloway, though this time it would be at an inn in the thick of the city and closer to the twin bridges. Our navigation of the twin cities of Dalloway and Agnor would be quicker this time as the two of us were no longer stealthed. We wouldn’t have to move among the patrons at a slow speed on our way back to Bardot, and it was speed that we greatly needed.
Word had traveled out of Gaumond that the Prince was not in the Knowledge Capitol, just as the brothers suspected. We needed to ride fast over the next few days to cover the lost time that he should have been spending in the castle.
My full body was sore when we stopped midday at another of Sutton and Tripler’s quarries for lunch. It was sore from the hard ride to Gaumond and the fact that we had no real break since the moment we took off. It was sore from doing the same thing just as quickly after we arrived, only to ride hard again. But most of all it was sore from Keane, from the way he touched me and left my ass and hips riddled with delicious reminders of him. There was a never-ending hollowness between my thighs that ached for him at every move in my saddle, the soreness leaving a heated imprint on my body of all the things we had done in Gaumond. I loved the way it made me feel, but couldn’t deny that it also made my legs a little wobbly. Especially when I dismounted and had to lean on Millie for quiet support.
Keane saw me then, my eyes closed and head pressed on Millie’s saddle as I stood against her, willing my legs to cooperate. I could hear hisamused and proud chuckle from behind, the sound of his small laugh telling me he knew exactly what I was experiencing and why.
“I don’t like you right now,” I whisper with a smile, knowing his Discerni ears would hear me.
Keane only laughs again, his voice low and sensual, “fine by me.”
We reached Dalloway just before sunset, greeting the black granite buildings with large smiles. The black of the Court of Warrior banners flew everywhere, each with their own deep grey stash across them as we made our way down the main road. Many people recognized the Prince in our ride, each bowing and trying to pay their respects. Some even smiled up and greeted me with Stormfall, giving their quick hellos paired with curious glances at the Prince and I riding together.
It was a surreal feeling watching the patrons greet me, though one that had me smiling throughout. It was the first time I was traveling with Keane openly and without any other companions or formal purpose. We traveled together only as two people who chose to spend their moments together, even if one of those people was the Prince and heir to the Kingdom of Disce.
The inn we rode into was much larger than the one we stayed in on our ride out. The Prince was treated royally the moment we stepped into its courtyard and so was I. Two stable boys promptly took our horses and told us to leave our packs as is, that they would have them brought to the room without our help. The inn’s owner came out to greet us, an older Discerni man who smiled at Keane with a few wrinkles that graced his face. I noticed that his black shirt also sported a deep grey band around his arm, the fabric moving with his muscles.
The owner led us into the large tavern in the middle of his inn while smiling at something Keane said. The common room immediately went quiet the moment we walked through the door, with every person stopping their conversations to stand and turn to the Prince with various small bows and silent curtsies. Keane was well respected and stood proud as he took in the room around us, nodding in greeting to its silence. I felt my heart surge as I watched from his side, feeling Stormfall grip my shoulders while slowly waking up.
“To the late King Zander!”
The call comes booming from somewhere near the pub, breaking the silence of the room from our entry. Keane bows his head to the man just as the rest of the room follows suit, everyone raising their mugs for a drink and then slamming them back on their tables in Warrior fashion.
Keane leans down to the innkeeper to say something before the Discerni man walks away with a small grin. I look up at the Prince in question but he just takes a small step forward, brushing his fingers into mine as he grips them gently at his side. He leads us to a small table at the back of the room and pulls out a chair for me, the two of us sitting down to the now boisterous crowd.
It doesn’t take long after we’re seated for a beautiful human woman to approach our table with two toddies in her hands, her gaze flicking briefly on me before landing on the Prince. She smiles to him with her blue eyes holding just the right amount of sultry behind them, placing the drinks on the table and never once breaking his gaze.
“On the inn, Highness,” she says to Keane sweetly, almost demure. My own lips turn up in a small smirk, watching as Keane smiles back to the woman and then reaches out for one of the glasses.
“Appreciated, thank you.”
