Page 119 of Beds and Blades

His hands tightened around my waist. He helped lift me, then guided me down again, drawing me onto him until our bodies met completely. My clit pressed against him with every grind, pleasure moving through me in bright, gathering currents.

The ring on my finger glowed steadily between us.

“I’m close,” I breathed against his mouth.

“So am I.”

“Stay with me.”

“Always.”

I moved harder, maintaining the same deep rhythm. Wetness coated him and gathered where our bodies met. His cock found the spot inside me that made my thighs tremble, and the pressure building low in my body became impossible to contain.

His name left my mouth.

My orgasm broke through me in a slow, powerful wave. My pussy clenched around him, each contraction pulling a rough sound from his chest. Skip dragged me down against him and came with my name on his lips, his cock pulsing deep inside me.

The shared pleasure surged between us from both directions.

For several seconds, there was no meaningful boundary between what belonged to him and what belonged to me. Relief, love, and physical sensation collapsed into one overwhelming experience.

We held each other through it, trembling, our mouths brushing between uneven breaths.

I continued moving gently as the intensity faded, drawing out the final contractions until neither of us could manage more.

Skip wrapped both arms around my body and eased us back against the bed, bringing me down onto his chest. His hands moved along my spine in slow, soothing passes.

“I love you,” he said quietly. “More than I thought I could love anyone.”

“I love you too.”

I pressed my lips over his heart and listened to its steady rhythm beneath my cheek.

The fire crackled in the hearth. Beyond the window, snow continued falling over the valley. The ring maintained its quiet golden glow.

We remained joined beneath the blankets, his arms secure around me and the bond warm between us.

We were home. We were safe. We were each other’s.

Chapter twenty-one

Blades

Skip assembled the garrison in the courtyard before dawn. Every soldier who could be roused.

He issued the order in the command voice.

“Meghan Callahan is not to leave the walls after dark without my direct knowledge and authorization. Not with any person, regardless of rank or circumstance.”

The order was garrison-wide, permanent until revised, and witnessed by everyone present.

Every soldier present swore to it. By midday, the order had been given to the rest.

This included Varia, who had stood at the front of the formation. She would not argue with the order, regardless of what she thought of it privately.

Skip was not finished.

“Two soldiers outside our quarters from dusk until dawn,” he said. “Every night. Rotating. Not the same pair twice in a row. If anyone attempts to enter or remove her from those quarters after dark—for any reason, under any authority—they are in direct violation of their oath.”