Page 71 of To Bleed A Kingdom

“We were just talking. That’s all,” she says in a hushed voice, her somber eyes searching my own. “He's not the one I want.”

“Who is?”

“I think you know.”

I grunt in response. Placing both hands on the top railing, I tower over her, but she remains unmoving, doing nothing as her breasts flatten against me. “Open the bond.”

She laughs. “No.”

Muttering a curse, I push off the fence and swipe my hands through my hair. “How did you cut it off?”

“You haven't figured it out yet?” When I don't answer, she smirks and pats my chest. “It appears you have some thinking to do.”

Biting back a frustrated growl, I unwrap the leather strap around my wrist and tie my hair partially back, unsheathing my sword and pointing to where her companions are shamelessly watching us. “Go sit over there and try not to distract my guards any more than you already are.”

She sighs. “Oh, Darius.” Climbing atop the lower rung, she bends over the fence and my mouth runs dry as she pushes back a stray hair of mine. “Haven't you learned yet?” She bares her teeth on a smile. “I don't take orders. I give them.”

Chapter 15

Lena

“He’s such an ass,” I say.

Amara sighs dreamily. “But what a fine ass it is.”

Of course, any male with an ass as nice as Darius’ can’t be anything other than a prick. It lures you in with its seductive powers, making you forget who it’s attached to. Even now it’s performing its ungodly magic on me. But I’m determined to keep my wits! Will continue to hold on to that anger even as I watch his ass stretch taut when he parries a sword strike from Trip.

Yet, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with me if my anger lessens just a smidge. I am a female, for gods sakes. The wetness slickening my leathers right now is a testament to that. I can only be expected to have so much control while staring at that toned, rock hard, demon magic ass.

Stars save me, it’s not fair! Even the shape of it is perfect. There’s not an ounce of fat on him anywhere, yet it still miraculously has a roundness to it. Not enough that he could be mistaken for a female, not that anyone ever could, but curved enough for someone to grab on to. I can’t help but imagine the feel of it flexing beneath my nails as he pumps into me.

Unable to feed one hunger, I swivel towards Tristan and reach for the slit in his vest, satisfying the other as I grab hold of a piece of dried venison and take a large bite, barely tasting its smoky, gamey flavor as I recall Darius' jealous accusations. I snort to myself. That male’s insane if he thinks I would go so far as to stifle the bond just so I could flirt with another. The only person I intended on flirting with today was him, which is why I had to smother the link. Otherwise he would have felt my guilt. He’d know my intentions were dishonorable and there’d be no way he’d give us permission to return to the city after we inspect the claw marks on the wall. If anything, he’d kick us all out.

As for Ajax, I wouldn't have initiated a conversation with him if I hadn’t spotted his medallion. I almost choked on my tongue when I saw the True Gods rune. With how much effort the gods put into burying the natural born's existence, it was shocking to find their most devout worshippers passing along the stories. Although, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. The immortals and fae of this land benefit greatly from the gods’ favor, while the humans on this side of the mountains only seem to suffer for it. I suspect I’ll find many more runes when I make the time to visit the human district.

“A very biteable ass,” Zander says. “I'm tempted to nibble on it myself.”

“I didn't think you were interested in males,” Tristan says, staring at him with a thoughtful look.

“I’m not.”

“You're staring pretty hard for someone who’s not.” Tristan’s eyes widen and he snaps his fingers, pointing at Zander. “I knew something happened between you and Kace the other night!”

“Not that there's anything wrong with male-on-male love,” Zander replies, “but the reason why we might be a bit more… friendly with each other is because we shared a room a few times at the brothel.”

“That doesn't sound like nothing,” Amara chimes in.

“Well, it was,” Zander huffs, lifting his chin. “His chambers are quite lovely, and his bed is spacious. More than large enough to share with our chosen females. It was a practical decision on my part.” He raises both palms. “Now if a finger slipped here or there, it was purely by accident, but there was no penetration.” He bobs his head and hums, his face scrunched as he peers upward. “Or I should say, there was no full penetration.”

I frown. “How can something not be full penetration? It's either penetrating or it’s not.”

“It’s not if you do a dip.” When all we do is stare blankly at him, he explains. “You know? A dip.”He raises a pointed finger on one hand and shapes a ring with the other, slowly closing the distance between the two. “When you rim it juuussst past th-”

“I don't want to hear about your exploits,” Amara cuts in, wrinkling her nose. “Male or female.”

“As I was saying…” He gives Amara a reproving look. “I can be appreciative of a male’s body regardless of what gender holds my interest.” Leaning against the fence, he places his elbows on the top rung and hangs his hands over the sides. “And Darius is a very handsome male.”

“A delicious one, at that. I doubt he's struggling to find females to fill his bed,” Amara says as if wishing to be one of them.

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