Page 31 of A Deception of Courts

I couldn’t face holding his attention, so I dropped my stare to the outline of his chest, where both my hands were placed. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Duncan quickly asked, dropping his hand to my chin and lifting my face back up so I could not hide from him. “Focusing your attention on saving hundreds of innocent people? Never apologise for doing what is right. Not to me.”

“I’m finding it hard to even imagine a time when things will be normal,” I muttered. “It’s like I’m punishing myself, constantly thinking about what comes next, and if I’m honest, I haven’t thought this far ahead. Returning to Wychwood is the next step, but why does it feel like such an impossible leap to make?”

I felt as though I stood on the precipice, staring down at the sharp drop into nothingness. This far, everything we had achieved was because I took a leap into the unknown. But this one. This last jump to return to my court, empty and void of family and life, felt like the hardest part.

“Whatever is to come in the days that follow, know you are not alone. I’m here. You have friends and allies.” Duncan buzzed with determination. I respected just how much effort he put into making sure it reached his eyes. For a moment, I believed his confidence in me. “Outside the doors to this room are hundreds of fey indebted to you. And I hardly get the impression Althea is going to leave your side again. I understand what Wychwood and the Icethorn Court represent for you.”

“A lonely place. And I don’t want those fey to fight for me just because they think they owe me. I am owed nothing.”

“Respect is not a transaction, Robin.” Duncan traced soft fingers over my skin, sending shivers down my spine. “And I refuse that statement that Icethorn is a lonely place. When we return, we do so as a family. Albeit a found family of misfits. A king to rule over reformed Hunters, mutated lovers, a nest of assassins and a host of fey who never believed they would find a home again.”

I leaned over Duncan, lowering my face as close as I could to his without our lips touching. “How is it you have such words of wisdom in times when I need them most?”

“Perhaps our brief stay with Abbot Nathanial had a profound effect on me,” he replied.

“He would be proud of you.” I blinked, drinking in every detail of his face. From his dark lashes that framed his forest-green eyes, to the scar that linked from the corner of his left eye to his lip that deepened when he smiled. The way the stubble of his beard sharpened his cheekbones and jawline as though a painter shadowed the right parts of his face to make him exude masculine beauty.

“Nathanial would be proud ofus,” Duncan said, reaching his hands over my shoulders and lacing his fingers behind my head. He wedged me in place, ensuring I could not move away from him. “And more importantly, I love you.”

I practically sagged beneath the words, unable to keep my bones and muscles strong enough to hold me up. Duncan had a way of melting me into a puddle with his words and touch.

“I love you, too,” I replied. “Which is why I would do anything to protect you. Anything.”

Before he could question the hidden meaning beneath my promise, with fierce lust, I crashed my lips into his. The kiss was sudden and full of passion. Duncan kept his hands behind my head, keeping me to him. Although, there was no way I would break away from him. Not now, not ever.

Our tongues encouraged one another into the dance. I tasted mint with the undercurrent of strong spirits. Whisky, perhaps. Its sharp bite glossed across my lip as his tongue trailed it.

Duncan brought his hips up beneath me. The press of his cock fuelled me. My fingers ran up the back of his head, coiling among his thick, chestnut-brown hair until I was locked in place. He hissed as I tugged, stretching the hair at the scalp to where pain and pleasure mixed as one.

He liked it. As did I. With Duncan, I had discovered ways of pleasure that he could provide me. Things I never knew were possible. There was a pride in uncovering a partner’s desires, and this was one that shifted the control of sex into my hands as Duncan willingly gave himself to me.

I pulled at his hair harder, tearing his mouth from mine, leaving my lips tingling from his pressure. My jaw itched because his beard rubbed close against my smooth skin. Duncan cocked his head back, stretching his neck out as he expelled a groan that shuddered the very seas.

He knew what was coming.

I dove into his neck, tongue wetting his skin first to ready the place as I sucked and nibbled. I trailed the entire stretch of his neck until it was pink and moist.

Duncan’s hands fell from the back of my head. His thick fingers trailed down my spine and found their place on either side of my ass. He pinched the fleshy skin as he gripped each cheek with desperation. I returned his rough touch with a sharp nip at the soft skin beneath his ear.

“You,” Duncan said, voice deeper than it had been before. “Don’t you dare move from this position. Am I clear?”

“Loud and clear,” I replied, whispering into his ear. The brush of my lip against it conjured a shiver across Duncan’s chest and arms.

“I’m going to fuck you where you sit.”

Ensuring he knew that was what I wanted, I pressed myself down into his member. It twitched beneath me.

“Look at you, Duncan Rackley. It would seem the promise of my tight ass has brought you back to life.”

“Such a naughty tongue. Perhaps I should put it to good use. You want me to fuck you, don’t you, my King?”

I nodded. “I’m that readable, am I?”

“Indeed, you are.”

Duncan’s nails pinched into the skin of my thigh. I gasped before he yanked the remaining sheet off me, allowing the cold salt breeze to brush against the exposed heart of my ass. The pleasurable feeling only intensified as a large finger slipped across it.

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