Page 5 of The Kingdom's Crown

"Do you really have to be on duty tonight?"

Cresswell's frown deepened, but I thought I caught a slight flush in his cheeks as I reached up and pressed a fingertip against the corner of his mouth, trying to push it up into a smile. His eyes flicked in Stanley Piper's direction, and when I followed his gaze I found the young guard now standing with his back to us.

"You know how much I appreciate your dedication to protecting me—"

"Bryony—"

"But I really think we need to negotiate on the terms. I'd rather you were guarding me closely while I was awake and able to enjoy your company," I said, smiling. "If you insist on guarding me in my sleep, it would be much more fun if you were in the bed too."

Cresswell's snarl was soft and velvety, and his lips were curled up of their own accord now. He checked on the other guard once more before I suddenly found myself caught in his arms and trapped against his chest. Cresswell ducked and his lips found mine before I'd gathered a breath, their press firm and trapping, holding me tight. He breathed into the kiss, content with the embrace, and my body melted into him, tension uncoiling and eyes growing heavy.

When he pulled away, I was too subdued to demand more, even with the Hunger simmering.

"I'm willing to consider your terms," Cresswell said, obvious pride in his faint smile and laughter glittering in those cool eyes of his. "But first you will have to sleep."

He lifted me off my toes, and I was only able to make one small huff of protest before he was kissing me again. Cresswell's lips were wonderfully soft and full, his kisses demanding and thorough. I was aware he was using them now not as a seduction but as a distraction, but I couldn't care enough to protest.

A door creaked and the light from the hall vanished, bedsheets rustling.

"I have no objection to this, but I'm not sure there's room on the bed."

Aric.

Cress pulled away from the kiss, and I blinked in the dark.

"Whussgoin' on?" Cosmo grumbled sleepily.

"Not quite sure," Aric answered.

And then Cresswell set me back down on my feet, the backs of my thighs bumping into the edge of a mattress. "Her Highness has come to sleep," Cress said, kissing my lips once more gently.

"Wait, I—"

"And so have I, but here on the floor."

I tried resisting Aric and Cosmo's arms as they bundled me up to tuck me between them, but Cresswell's kiss had acted as a kind of drug, and I was finally feeling the exhaustion of the day.

"Not on the floor," I managed.

"I'll be fine, Bryony," Cresswell said, his voice dropping to a growl. There was a rustle and a faint sparkle, and then Cresswell's shadow was enormous and clumsy, nudging the bed with a creak out of his way as the bear settled down to the floor by the bed.

"Well, I can honestly say this is a first for me," Aric grumbled as he and Cosmo wrestled the blankets up over me.

"Cress, are you really going to be comfortable like that?" I whispered.

"More comfortable than he'd be trying to fit in the bed with us," Cosmo said, cuddling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me.

My only answer from Cresswell was a chuff of breath and a glittery blink of an eye before his head ducked down below the edge of the bed.

"Didn't expect a bear to smell so decent," Aric mumbled, joining Cosmo in tangling up with me. And damn him, but Thao was right. I fell asleep within a happy, peaceful minute, all worries of the south fading under the chorus of breaths that reminded me of the beat of waves on the shore.

2

Thao

Wendell had always described the home he'd grown up in as like something out of a children's story. In Mennary, children's stories were full of jungles and animals making wicked bargains and children outwitting their kidnappers. Apparently, Kimmerian stories were of tricksters sitting on wood stumps waiting to lead travelers astray and young women going on long adventures and mysterious cottages that never appeared in the same place twice.

The woods of the Pope estate did have a kind of magic to it, especially this time of year. I'd never been anywhere where the trees changed color to mark the seasons, and the effect of the falling leaves sparkling between sunlight and shadow when a wind struck stopped me in my tracks. It was almost worth the sacrifice of good weather.

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