Page 99 of Heir to His Court

Raniel tugged Muriel to her feet, and his narrowed eyes were enough to warn her to not draw attention to herself. In Nayya’s Court, he would be a Prince, but Muriel and Nur’s only protection was him.

He glanced down at his mother’s body once more and buried vengeance deep in his soul where his father would not be able to taste it.

This will be a long game.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Almost too hot water enveloped me. I woke, stiffening in male arms. He settled on the ledge of our bathing pool with me cradled against his chest, my thighs straddling his lap.

“I know you are awake,” he murmured.

I was getting sloppy. I lifted my head warily, studying his face. “. . .Renaud?”

Gods, I hoped that male would go to sleep for a few days and let me recover with one of the saner aspects.

He sighed, fixing his gaze on the far wall, his mouth a little tight. “Raniel.”

My body went limp. Perfect. Renaud could be too much of a good thing—I’d have to imbibe him in strategic doses.

“Did he hurt you?”

“You don’t know?”

“I want to hear it from your lips.”

I averted my gaze. “I need to rest today. I can’t. . .I need to heal.” I could hear my vagina bleating for peace and quiet.

“Of course, my heart.”

I settled my head on his shoulder and fell back asleep.

Raniel fussed that day and the next, not letting me out of bed. I endured it, though I’d rather be whipped than coddled. Darkan emerged for a few minutes to offer unwanted advice on how to redirect a rabid male Fae with a relentless cock.

“You cannot fall so deeply into the role of pretty victim,” Darkan said, voice terse with disapproval as he stood above me with his hands clasped behind his back. “You trigger every instinct in him to tear you apart. You’re lucky he had none of his toys with him.”

Toys? Wait. . .toys. “I thought you were the same male.”

His expression tightened. “Watch your mouth, girl. I am trying to keep you in one piece.”

I selected a sliced peach, sucking on the juice as I held his stare and refrained from pointing out he was watching my mouth plenty. “I don’t want to be in one piece.”

Renaud knew. He knew very well. The others were just going to have to deal with how we liked to play. I wasn’t a flower, damnit.

Leaning back, not releasing his gaze, I lifted one knee with my foot flat on the bed and let the silk robe fall away, revealing me. Two days of rest was enough.

“Would you like a peach, Darkan? They’re juicy this season.”

I smiled. Darkan rolled his eyes like a male who’d been in the company of Juliette and I for years and picked up all our bad habits, but Raniel watched me eat the peach, then sent for more because obviously I was wasting away to nothing.

He avoided looking between my thighs. He was still being a good boy.

Well, that was enough of that. I pushed aside the plate and caught Raniel’s gaze, staring into his eyes. “Renaud? Master, join us.”

* * *

The Prince had matters to attend, so left me alone in the suite, with flattering reluctance. I bathed, then entered the sitting room and pulled out a stack of reports Édouard had sent, including the final copy of the treaty.

I read it and smiled in triumph. The clause we’d inserted regarding the deployment of any remaining hostages hadn’t been struck. I now had fresh legal pretext to demand Danon’s release in Court, and Renaud couldn’t come up with an excuse without invalidating his own damn treaty. I didn’t fully understand Renaud’s reasons for keeping Danon this long—my brother had little use as a hostage against my good behavior now. There are other methods the Prince could use to attempt to keep me in line.

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