“You head for the dorm,” I instructed Lorien. “I’ll make sure our girl gets home in one piece.”
He grinned at me, teeth glittering in the moonlight.
“Let me know how that goes.”
Dain was already walking off, so Lorien was left to scramble to catch up with his long strides. I followed at a more sedate pace because, despite the surge of my heart, I needed to size this officer up and see what we were up against.
I found out as I reached her room.
A couple of coppers slipped to a chambermaid, and I’d found out where Fern was rooming. I’d traced the route on the map and memorised the path.
“Thank you for the dance tonight, Lady Fern.”
Pressing myself against the wall, I peered around the corner. Watching him lean closer to my girl had something dark and terrible rising in my heart. It demanded that I stride forward, shove him away from Fern and clasp her to my body, but I didn’t need to do any of that. He kept a respectful distance, placing a kiss on her knuckles that lingered long enough to have my teeth grinding together. Before I could act, he pulled away with a bow and then turned on his heel, marching away.
Leaving me to slip from my hiding spot and stroll over.
“He didn’t even try to kiss you?” Fern’s brows drew down as she caught sight of me. “Pretty sure you let the wrong man walk you home.”
My hand slapped down on the wall above her head. Watching those pupils expand as she stared up at me satisfied something deep inside me. Her lips parted, and that had my thumb pressing down on the bottom one, wanting, needing to feel the softness of it.
“If you’d have stuck with me, I’d have kissed you breathless, sucking down every gasp, every moan before going back for more.”
That seemed to wake her up from whatever spell she was under. Her head jerked back, and she knocked my hand away.
“What about every groan of revulsion?”
“You think you wouldn’t enjoy it?” I leaned in, that mouth of hers getting closer by the second. “Only one way for us to find out, and that’s with a practical experiment.” The sound of her rapid breaths was music to my ears. “A few tests and then we can evaluate the results.”
Fern would taste so sweet, somehow I knew. My mouth watered for her in a way that all the fancy foods in the world couldn’t replicate. Her hands went to my chest, but rather than shove me away, they smoothed over the wall of it and I barely suppressed a growl of satisfaction.
“What do you say, little bird? Care to find out which one of us has the right of it?”
“Fern?”
My eyes closed, but not because my mouth had landed on my girl’s. It was to bite back a curse as yet another person interrupted us. Not the lieutenant this time, the voice was decidedly feminine and as I pulled away, I saw the blonde-haired woman that had been standing by Fern. She blinked at the sight of us and, without being told, I knew the moment was gone. With a snap, I pushed myself away from the wall and my girl.
“To be continued, little bird.”
I winked and then walked away while I still had the will, keeping on going until I made it back to the dorm.
“How’d it go?” Lorien was bouncing off the bed and walking over the minute I made it into the dorm. Dain’s back was all I saw of our brother, the blankets pulled tight around him. “Did you kiss her? Was it amazing?”
“I didn’t.” Dain’s body shifted slightly, making me wonder if he was actually sleeping. Lorien’s face fell as I forged on. “But neither did the lieutenant. Too busy being a gentleman or somebullshit, but…” With a shake of my head, I tried to process what I’d discovered. “When I made clear how beautiful I found the Lady Fern, she seemed to think it was some kind of cruel joke.”
“Joke? If she walked through the tavern on payday.” Lorien frowned. “She’d have men falling all over themselves ready to spend their earnings just to see her smile.”
“Lordlings like their women as small as possible.” The blanket was pulled down and Dain rolled over to face us. “Whatever it takes to make the men feel bigger, stronger than their females, of everyone around them. Highborn women get an education, are taught to become accomplished in the arts and literature. Making sure they are focussed on every morsel that goes into their mouth helps stifle any thought of demanding a share of the family estates.”
“So the toffs wouldn’t know a beautiful woman if she sauntered over and sat her plump arse in his lap?” I grinned. “Seemed that’s a service we can perform for our girl. Being married off to some idiot that doesn’t even appreciate her or…”
Being shared between three men who’d burn the world down just to see her smile.
Now you understand,Slate said as I pulled my armour off.Auren and her bondmate belong to us. We just have to prove that to them.
Chapter 18
Fern
