His mouth twitches. “Even so.”
“And now what?”
“I’ll suffer through it. What else can I do? Don’t you worry, Princess, I can take it.”
“And later?” I whisper. “After you’ve returned home to your people?”
“I assume the need for you will go away. Without you around, without your scent, your presence… I hope my cock gets the message and relaxes.”
“That’s it? Easy as that?”
“I have to hope it will be, Princess,” he rumbles and resumes walking. “It’s not like I have much of a fucking choice.”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
ROSAMUND
I never thought I’d spend my time thinking of a man’s cock. The shape and size of it. The piercing. The sounds he made when I touched it.
And now this… knot business. Which should be gross. Wild. I mean, it’s an animal thing, he said so himself. A dog and wolf thing. I’ve never heard of humans or fae dealing with knots in their cocks.
Below their cocks? Behind their cocks? Where is that knot?
I’m dying to ask questions, to demand to see, but he doesn’t seem willing to show me. Is it worse than it sounds?
Why do I feel this urge to see it? Why does it sound so exciting? Is it me? Have I gone crazy after all? Or is it him? Everything about Valen is appealing, but surely a knotty cock isn’t?
Is it?
There. This has to be proof. I’m as nutty as a fruitcake.
Not the lady Lord Eorl is expecting, if he’s expecting me at all, if word hasn’t reached him that I died or done something terrible like escaped with a werewolf into the countryside.
What does Lord Eorl expect of me? I always thought I knew, but what did I base that on? Della and the male servants? Howdo I know he likes books, or will be proud of my embroidery skills and chastity? How do I know whether he likes his women experienced and his wife naïve? How do I know I will like him?
The way I like Valen.
The way I want Valen.
Valen is ruining me for other men. How can I expect any less of Lord Eorl, and how realistic is it to hope he’ll be so perfect when he’s someone I have never even met?
I look down at my feet as we cross a small stream, Valen reaching for me to help me over. My dusty shoes, scratched and one of them gaping open on the side, my filthy stockings, the ripped hem of my dirty dress. With my hair loose, I must look like a nymph, a woman gone mad with grief and turned into something eldritch.
Maybe Lord Eorl will take a look at me and send me away. Maybe?—
“Watch out!” Valen is suddenly beside me, grabbing me around the waist and lifting me into the air. He turns and splashes through the shallow water, and I wrap my arms around his neck instinctively, holding on as he gets us to dry ground and keeps moving.
“What’s wrong?”
“White snakes.” He swings me up into his arms. “Never seen them swim in such a shallow stream. Not lethal, but they are aggressive and can bite chunks out of you.”
A shiver goes through me as I cling to his muscular chest. “Nature is out to get us.”
“Always. Yet, I find it easier to navigate than high society.”
“It’s all about knowing the rules.”
“Same with nature, Princess.”
