Page 11 of Brutal Birthright

Long dark hair cascading over her shoulder. One side of her head shaved to reveal a delicate, pointed ear tip. Brown eyes with flecks of faint coppery gold kissing the innermost ring. Deep bronzed skin.

Tits for days.

An ass that couldn’t be ignored.

She wasn’t supposed to be here.

A pretty fucking package with an infuriating mouth.

Rowan strode out of the training centre, barely keeping hold of his composure.

No one had mentioned that she was fucking enrolled in the academy as a student. The last he’d seen or heard, she’d been holed up in Ruby’s private chambers here in the palace, given some foolishly elevated status as part of the queen’s personal guard detail.

The girl was barely thirty winters old and didn’t know shit.

A fact she’d proven that day at the coronation. Headstrong and foolish and ignoring his commands. Thinking she had the right to disobey a direct order.

Now, here she was. In his class. The one he’d agreed to take over as a godsdamned favour to her sister for a whole year.

Which meant he couldn’t do shit about it. Raising it as a problem with Ruby would lead to… well… questions.

The kind he had no inclination to answer.

His fingers balled and then flexed over and over as he made his way to the catacombs. Maybe it wasn’t the best look to leave Finnic in charge of the first training session, but the prick could manage on his own. They were only ever going to assess and group the class based on their skill level to begin with. Nothing dangerous or difficult.

No. The only danger here was the little fae girl who had caught him by surprise. Turning up where she bloody well shouldn’t be.

She’d barely opened her pouty mouth, and all that sass came tumbling out. The kind that could get her killed or, worse, get someone else killed. Because clearly, the little girl thought she knew everything.

He couldn’t believe this shit. While his brothers were all standing around with their dicks in their hands, Rowan was going to have to look after a bunch of younglings. Not only that, but he was stuck with her.

Oriana.

Her name flickered across his tongue.

All kinds of fucked up thoughts raced through his mind. Namely how it would feel to have her on her knees looking like a goddess at his feet. How he’d fisted his cock too many times, imagining her breathless moans as she choked on him. What it would feel like to sink into her tight, hot little cunt.

But there was a mile of distance between fantasising about something and crossing that line.

And in this case, the line was a trench filled with poison and bordered with a giant sign saying, ‘Do not fucking touch.’

Niall had completely ignored that line with her sister, Ruby. The very queen of the fae, whom he was most definitely not supposed to have touched. He’d gone about nearly getting himself killed by thinking only with his dick and chasing after pussy.

Leaving Rowan to pick up the pieces.

“Hello brother, make anyone cry today?” As if he conjured the idiot just by thinking of him, Niall’s voice rang out in greeting when he reached the base of the stone staircase. Cool, dank air rushed up from the cavernous space hidden below ground.

“No, but it’s not yet noon.” Rowan flipped a middle finger in reply.

There was no way he was in any mood to entertain his brother right now. If he even looked at him the wrong way, he’d be liable to end up with a blade through his thigh.

“Thought I’d find you down here surrounded by the stench of death. You’re done with class rather early, no?” Niall raised an eyebrow.

“What do you want?” Jabbing both hands through his hair, Rowan took a deep breath through his nose.

As always, there was nothing but mischief gleaming in his brother’s blue eyes. Trying—but never succeeding—to find a chink in Rowan’s armour.

“Just came by to see how you wanted the perimeter checks to operate. We’ve got the fae guards from the palace stationed around the academy, and the forest surrounds have blood wards in place. But judging by how savage the attack was and the proximity of the village…” His brother leant on the metal table in the centre of the room and tapped a forefinger. “You’ll have thoughts on what action is best to take, no?”

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