Page 115 of Bloodguard

“Harder,” she begs, her head and messy hair falling forward.“Harder.”

The fragrance of sweet pollen and sharp eucalyptus intertwines with the aroma of sweat and passion.

She finishes multiple times, but I keep going.

I turn her once more, throwing her legs over my shoulders, and her hands clasp my neck as our eyes meet.

I love her.

I don’t know the exact moment that it happened. I only know that it did.

As I reach completion, I haul her into my arms, her legs snaking around my waist as I fill her.

I can’t tell her I love her. Not yet.

That doesn’t mean that I won’t fucking love her forever.

chapter 42

Maeve

Leith claimed my body with aching tenderness.

He’d ridden for hours without rest or sleep, yet he made love to me as if I was the only thing that mattered in the world.

I held him and tried to show him how much I loved him, but then the pale rays of morning arrived, bringing reality with them.

Father insisted on escorting Leith to the arena, and I followed an hour later with Caelen and Giselle.

We were all exhausted, all broken and beaten down with worries and regrets. I sat in the royal box, my body strung taut as a bow, watching as each banner was raised. Soro toasted me each round, no doubt enjoying the torture.

But Leith didn’t fight that day.

Or the next.

Or the next.

It’s deliberate cruelty on Soro’s part. Each day finds me sitting in the stands, my stomach churning as my fear for Leith makes it almost impossible to breathe.

My position as princess requires I sit and watch as fighters die, and it sickens me. I was able to avoid it for a time but not as long as I’d wished.

I cringe at the cheers and fervor of the crowd, their focus more on the coin they wager than the lives lost in the arena. Each night, when we return home, Neela has food for us and a hot tub of water waiting.

We bathe. We make love. We hold each other and sleep. Or at least try to.

It’s hard to rest when we both know that the next day could sever us forever. Leith frets over his family and how to ensure their safety.

Everything he does is for them…and knowing the truth as I do… It ruins me.

There’s a harsh knock followed by a pause. I know it’s Caelen. Just like I can guess why he’s here. “Gladiator, you’re being summoned to the arena.”

Again.

Leith is already dressed. I slip into my nightshirt as I watch him fasten his sword to his hip. He smiles at me—that crooked, confident smile that I know so well. I don’t smile in return. The guilt of knowing his mother and sisters are dead is eating me alive. I’d decided to tell him, despite Father’s warning, because I thought it was the right thing to do, but then I couldn’t.

I justcouldn’t.

“Hey,” Leith says, returning to me. He cups my face and brushes away a tear with his thumb. “Are you still not feeling well?”

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