Page 11 of Till Kingdom Come

Bracca jumped up behind me, snatched the reins away from me and clicked his tongue to the stag. It began trotting forward and he stopped to snag the reins of his own stag so he could pull him along after us. The others fell in behind us in a long, straight column. From time to time, the stag we were riding would glance back around at me as if he were wondering just exactly who I might be and how I dared be so bold as to perch upon his back. I thought at first that he might bite me, but he never made any move to do so.

I was so far gone at that point that I dared to lean back into Bracca’s warmth—or maybe I fainted again—and the feel of his hard thighs beneath me made my breath fluttery and my heart pound.

The branches on the trees in this forest shouldn’t have snow this time of year. It was the middle of summer in Solaria and at my home in Kent, too, yet here they were, stubbornly ice-bound and frozen stiff. I wondered if they might be that way year-round and if so, why weren’t they dead? Nothing here made any sense. A few of the pines had limbs that hung low, weighed down by ice. They swayed slowly in the wind, like snow Fairies dancing with their long white skirts sweeping the icy ground as they moved. White birds flew among these trees and perched on them. An occasional white hare came to the edge of the trail and stared after us with brooding blood-red eyes as we galloped by. The stag’s hooves made a muffled sound, and the moon peeped out from behind a cloud to gaze down, curiously watching us pass.

Perhaps an hour or two later, the whole group drew to a stop. I had fallen sound asleep by then and stopping jarred me awake. At first, I was in a daze, unable to figure out at first just where I was.

Bracca left me on the stag’s back to jump down and go to work, like everyone else in the group. No one seemed to think it was odd in the least that the prince was working alongside them. I sat on the stag’s back, watching them, my senses dulled with exhaustion as they began preparing a place for us to sleep through the night.

It was ridiculous on the face of it. How could we possibly sleep in this terrible, unrelenting,mercilesscold? Surely, if we stopped moving, we’d freeze stiff long before morning. The soldiers seemed to be bending small trees over and weaving their branches in some intricate fashion to fasten them together so they could heap skins and furs on top of them, making a kind of fur covered tent or a long structure of some sort. They rapidly cleared out the underbrush inside it, cutting it back ruthlessly and then sweeping the snow from the ground inside with branches. Then they built fires on the ground by clicking their fingers at piles of the branches and sticks they’d hastily gathered and put inside to cover the ground. Steam began to billow out of the hole they’d left as an entrance.

The fires had blazed up white hot instantly, as they simply snapped their fingers at them, , which had to be more magic, because how did the tent not flame up too, as well as the trees around them? The fire finally died out as they clicked their fingers again. It had left the hot, charred remains over the now steaming ground. They used more tree branches on top of those and then more thick furs on top of the branches to cover the coals of the fires and make warm beds. It was all done amazingly quickly, but in the end, they had made themselves a large bed for the night—large enough for the entire group to lie down, side by side.

A soldier came over and hauled me off the stag I was still sitting on to carry me over to the structure they’d fashioned. I was so far gone I didn’t fight him. I saw them even putting the stags inside another one of the little huts that another group had been constructing, built much like the first one and throwing furs across the stags’ backs. I was directed to crawl inside the surprisingly warm space for the soldiers but instead, I sank down near a fire they had burning by the entrance—and this was more magic on display, as it burned white hot but gave off almost no smoke. Other soldiers were coming in and lying down all around me. I realized they were going to all sleep here in a big pile, in order to share body heat. I could tell they were taking off their clothing under the covers. I was still shivering and sitting there like a lump, though I wasn’t sure if the shivering I was doing was from the cold or from the shock of what was happening to me. Maybe it was both. The other men glanced at me but then ignored me totally and turned their backs to pull the covers over their heads.

Someone pushed back the flap and ducked inside the little impromptu structure, and I saw that it was Prince Bracca again. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“What is it? Why aren’t you lying down? Do you need something?”

I shook my head, feeling like I was in a daze. “No, I-I just don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”

“You’ve been doing a good impression of it then, ever since we left Solaria. Snoring in my ear the last ten miles or so. Lie down. Now.”

“But I’ll freeze to death. Or maybe that’s the point…”

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Prince Bracca

Irritating boy—did he think I’d brought him all this way just to let him freeze to death? “Don’t be any more ridiculous than you can help,” I snapped, and then immediately felt bad when his eyes glazed over with tears. He’d been brave so far, and I wasn’t going to begrudge him this momentary weakness. I began to strip off my clothes as the boy stared at me in fascination.

“What are you staring at? I’m tired and need to rest too. Take off your clothing, so you can lie down beside me. It will be warmer that way once we’re under the furs.” His eyes got big as saucers, and he stared at me.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

He got to his feet again, swaying a bit but then his shoulders slumped, and he began doing what I’d asked—a hopeless, defeated expression on his face. He looked as if he didn’t much care what happened to him anymore, and I hated that look. Where were all his defiant words now? He had cursed everyone to hell and back and was ready to fight everyone in the Solarian courtyard not so long ago. He had been magnificent in his rage, and it had made me proud. Why was he giving up now?

It occurred to me that he might think I was going to assault him. The idea was distasteful. Especially because I wanted him so badly and had given serious thought to at least seducing him. “You need me to share body heat with you, but nothing more,” I said, which wasn’t a lie, because I would never force him. I had wanted to reassure him, but my voice sounded rough from the cold. This was going all wrong, so I tried to soften my tone.

“Take off your clothes,a chuisle. No one will hurt you.”

I tried not to stare at him or even look at him as he slowly took off each piece of clothing, revealing his body. He was perfectly formed, but he was still fairly young. I felt a vague sense of wrongness about bringing him here, away from his family. Then I remembered how his family treated him, and I felt better. His “brothers” had abused him shamefully and cared little for him, not to mention how badly Sir John had treated him, but I still had a vague sense of unease.

I didn’t think it would last long. I wasn’t an introspective person, but while it lasted, I was finding it uncomfortable, and I didn’t like it.

“I promise you nothing else will happen but sleeping. Get undressed.”

He looked at me uncertainly, but then nodded. But why was he biting his fucking bottom lip? He had to be doing that on purpose.

As soon as he took off the last item of clothing, he slipped under the blanket, shivering. Though I tried not to stare, I got a flash of the golden tanned skin of his round, little ass. I reached for him as gently as I could, gritting my teeth, knowing what he must be thinking but pulling him back against me anyway, slowly but surely so as not to startle him, making sure my hands were touching him above his waist and not straying anywhere else, because I had promised him. I pulled the fur blankets over both our heads, and immediately his sweet scent filled my nostrils. I whispered to him. “Put your feet against my legs.”

He did so, squirming around to get them in place and rubbing his little ass against me. His feet were like little chunks of ice. I pulled him closer anyway. I was afraid this was going to be a very long night.

Chapter Four

The next morning came faster than I would have liked, and I woke to find that Killian had turned over during the night and had practically burrowed up under me. His face was buried in my neck, and his legs were impossibly entangled with mine. Both arms were wrapped around my waist, and his morning erection was pressed firmly against my stomach. I removed him as well as I could and shook him to get him awake, speaking softly in his ear. “Time to wake up and eat. You’ve had nothing since yesterday, and food will give you energy for the cold.”

He woke up slowly, groggy and disoriented, knuckling his eyes like a child. I disentangled myself from him and was about to get up when I felt a light touch on my arm. I looked down at him curiously. What was it now?

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