Page 13 of Their Queen

I wasn’t used to being this helpless. I needed to keep busy, but there was nothing else I could do. Instead, here I was, chugging from the bottle of whiskey now, no longer bothering with a glass. The sooner I could get drunk, the sooner I could pass out and maybe get some sleep. I needed to be at full capacity for when we finally located that frustratingly sexy Queen of ours. I smiled at the thought of her, memories of her floating through my mind as I kept drinking. Meeting her for the first time and the way she’d showed no fear in that inn room. The time she had decked me outside of that cave, hooking me with her fire and passion. Claiming her for the first time, finding out she was my True Mate, and my favorite memory of all, hearing her tell me she loved me while joining with Arryn and I, our bodies bringing each other pleasure.

My cock woke at the memory of how Arryn took charge, forcing both of us past our stubborn stupidity, making us embrace what we both had desperately wanted but didn’t know how to take. I grabbed the neck of the bottle, deciding to relive these memories in my own bed, where I could stroke myself. Perhaps it would help me find sweet oblivion faster. Stumbling down the hall, I somehow made it to my room without breaking my neck.

Taking another swig, I threw myself on my bed, undoing my pants and freeing myself as thoughts of Rhowyn’s soft skin, luscious mouth, and thick ass taunted me. What I wouldn’t give to be holding her in my arms right now. Instead, I fisted myself, stroking slowly and imagining my hand was her warm mouth. Pictures of her tongue swirling around the head of my cock, flicking out along the crease, assaulted me. I groaned as the sensations became more intense.

Thoughts of her intoxicating scent wrapped around me and filled the room as I pictured her looking up at me, gauging my reactions. I jerked in my hand, precum leaking from the tip. I imagined her taking my balls in one hand, rolling them, and tugging gently. The imagery was so real that I almost felt the ghost of her touch as she smirked up at me. She took my whole dick into her mouth, swallowing me down until her lips touched the base, gagging slightly as she drove me closer to release. Fuck. This felt so real, but all I could think about right now was the way she would twist her hand as she slid her mouth off of me.

My other hand twitched, wishing she were really here so I could play with her nipples while she pleased me. Instead, I was forced to fantasize about her working me harder and harder, sucking forcefully as she reached the tip before grazing her teeth gently down the length of me as she took more and more of me inside her.

My own fist sped up as I got closer to my climax. Her scent became more intense in my mind’s eye, and I couldn’t help but throw my head back into the pillows, my eyes closing as I finally came, my seed spilling out onto my hand and abdomen.

Holy shit! I thought, my breaths heaving in and out, her scent still lingering as I tried to regain my senses. Slowly, I came back to reality, my breathing evening out, but I could still smell her. Even her arousal wafted toward me, getting me ready for another round. I didn’t dare open my eyes, afraid of the certain disappointment that I’d meet when I was forced to admit that she wasn’t with me. If I just laid here, I could almost picture her lying in the bed next to me, her warmth surrounding me like her scent.

I couldn’t believe I had come that hard, like a youngling again. Even then, meeting my release at my own hand had never felt this good. A soft chuckle reached my ears at that thought. “I’m glad to know I can still rock your world, even from here.”

I sat up in shock, realizing she had opened the bond while I was busy. No wonder it had been so fucking good. “Where are you, Rhowyn?” I asked her, desperately needing an answer even though I knew I wouldn’t get the answer I wanted.

I could feel her sadness. “You know I can’t tell you that yet. I miss you, though. You have no idea how much I wish you were here with me, but this is something Avalonia wants me to do on my own. I know that now. It’s more than just keeping y’all safe. I don’t know why it has to be this way, but it does.”

I crumpled in on myself, knowing she needed to do this, but not sure how I was going to live without her any longer. “I need you,” I whispered, admitting the truth I had known for a while.

“I need you, too,” she admitted, her voice soft with regret and longing. Fuck, how I wished I could pull her into my arms and just hold her.

“I want that, too,” she told me, obviously sensing my need to hold her.

“You’re okay?” I asked her, remembering how she’d cut off our last conversation and the panic that had engulfed me at the thought of her being in danger.

“Nothing Cyerra and I couldn’t handle,” she said cockily, but I could sense she wasn’t being fully truthful with me.

I felt a twinge in my abdomen, an echo of her own pain. “You’re hurt,” I said, not even bothering to say it as a question. Now that I was sobering up some, I could sense the truth of how badly she was injured.

“I’m on the mend. I promise, I’m just being cautious,” she told me, dancing around the truth. With an obvious change of topic, not wanting me to dwell any further on that, she said, “I found where I’m supposed to be, but I haven’t figured out yet why Avalonia wants me here. Between Cyerra and I, I’m sure we can figure it out.”

I couldn’t help the pout that graced my face as I whined, “Why did she get to go with you and not one of us?”

She sighed. “Truthfully? I don’t know. I can sense that this is the right thing, though. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to get back to you guys as soon as I can,” she told me.

A ringing in the background drew my attention, but she started talking again. “Look, I gotta go. I just wanted to check in to let y’all know that I’m good and to remind you guys that I love all of y’all. I promise we’ll be together as soon as we can, but for now, I need y’all to trust me.”

I sighed. “It’s not that we don’t trust you or that we think you’re incapable. It’s more of the fact that we’ve come to realize just how much we need you, how much we can’t live without your touch or hearing your voice. We all need you here. Without you, we’re just shells.”

“Ditto,” she said softly, then laughed at the puzzlement she sensed from me. “It’s an Earth saying.”

“Earth is so weird,” I told her, still not getting it or any of the other things she said.

She laughed again. “I love you, Brannoc. Promise me you’ll tell the others I love them too?”

I heard chanting in the background, almost like prayers, stray words reaching me through the connection. “I will,” I told her, not really looking forward to telling them that I had no leads. Again.

She cut off the connection, slamming her walls down once more. I sat there for a moment, bereft of her and the love I had felt radiating down the bond. Tucking my cock back into my pants, I eyed the bottle of whiskey, but I couldn’t stomach it at this point. How was I going to go another day without her?

Chapter Eleven: Rhowyn

I cut off the connection to Brannoc, my heart breaking as I forced the walls down again. It took everything I had not to start crying. I’d been putting on a brave face, but I ached for my guys. Without them, it felt like a vital piece of me was missing. Like learning to breathe again with only one lung. Sure, you could keep going like that, but why would you want to? Not when it meant you couldn’t do anything you used to love, the things that made life worth living?

A soft knock on the door had me rising from my bed here at the church, or abbey, as I found out it was called. After finding the library and Cyerra earlier today, we spent the day going through the many tomes, looking for anything that could help us or tell us what we were supposed to do here. The head priest had found us then, gently offering us a warm meal with the rest of the abbey residents and villagers who couldn’t afford food for themselves. Despite not having much, everyone seemed content with their surroundings, thankful for the warm food filling their bellies.

After dinner, I excused myself, needing to let the guys know I was okay but dreading the conversation. Somehow, I just knew it would be like torturing myself. Logically, I knew I needed to keep them updated?the only thing I could do to lessen their worry?but I dreaded the emotions that choked me in their intensity each time I reached out to them.

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