Page 70 of The Captive's Curse
After a moment of startled silence, Enzo burst out laughing, clutching me close and burying his face in my hair.
“As long as there aren’t any gophers involved,” he wheezed. “Or cucumbers. Fuck. Someday I’ll figure out how your mind works. Yes, please suck my cock in the swimming bath, because you are incredibly good, and I love you for that and also for reasons completely unrelated to my cock. Do you believe me?”
I stretched my head up and pressed a kiss to the angle of his jaw, simply for the pleasure of feeling him shiver and roll his hips against me, his cock noticeably hard. All of his protestations of love were well and good, but he could do something about it at the same time, couldn’t he?
“Get me all those pillows, and then I’ll let you know if I believe you,” I said.
Enzo held me even tighter. “I’ll prove it as often as you’ll let me. Cyril, I’m sorry, and I’ll make it all up to you.” Oh, for fuck’s sake, he sounded far too serious. I’d been joking! Mostly, anyway.
“I believe you, and I love you, with or without the pillows.” Honesty compelled me to add, “But if you want a more peaceful life, Enzo, I strongly suggest you get them anyway. And that bath. And also, do something about that fucking ghost. Oh, and—”
Enzo pulled back, tipped my chin up with a finger, and kissed me, hard.
And that. That would do nicely.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and graciously allowed him to make me happy.
Epilogue
Riding in the sunshine lifted my spirits immeasurably, with the breeze ruffling my hair and the branches rustling to either side of the path, fresh green grass beginning to peek through the gray and brown brush left over from last year’s growth. A bird twittered, calling for his lover. A soft cheep suggested she’d responded.
Well, bully for them, because I couldn’t seem to find mine.
Gods, riding in the sunshine would be absolutely lovely if I could figure out where to go! I’d gone back and forth on this bit of road for what felt like hours, and probably in a circle, too, although I didn’t think I’d taken any turns, had I?
Enzo had shown me the way to the castle at the same time as Hans, which meant that I ought to be able to find it again.
Except that I could never find anything, and Enzo ought to have known that, damn it!
Hans, on the other hand, probably would have found it again handily, except that Bruno had personally set off to conduct him to Queen Lessandra to ensure he received every bit of his due.
When Leander had seen Hans coming up the path with Enzo and me held prisoner, he’d hustled everyone except Finn and his small contingent into the woods, and immediately sent a messenger to Bruno. Irritating as I found my brother, that had been an excellent idea on Leander’s part. Interrupted inthe middle of an elaborate hunting expedition by the news that I’d been kidnapped yet again, this time by a man he detested who’d been leeching his hospitality for months, Bruno had been thrown into a fit of temper unlike anything I’d ever seen. By the time he arrived at the castle a few hours after I’d awoken from my magic-induced swoon, he’d been practically frothing at the mouth with the desire to rip Hans limb from limb.
I’d stood back as he rode in through the gates, knowing from experience that it was better to be out of range. When Bruno jumped down from his horse and charged at the bound and guarded Hans, shouting imprecations and abuse at an ear-splitting volume, the flying spittle didn’t get to me.
Hans wasn’t so lucky, and Enzo took a few quick steps back, grimacing.
But one man stepped forward: the huge fellow who’d stood with Finn when he surrendered to Hans.
“…you fucking worthless excuse for a man and a queen’s constable,” Bruno screamed. “You’re going to hang, but first they’ll chop off your dick, you fucking piece of shit! And you,” he shouted, rounding on Enzo. “What’s this I hear about this castle being yours? A lord? Ha! Fuck this, and fuck you too!”
“Excuse me,” the mountain rumbled. “Lord Montefime, if you don’t mind?”
Bruno spun to face him, mouth already open, and then—paused, looking the fellow up and down.
He contented himself with a surly, “What the fuck do you want?”
The mountain smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You had a letter from the queen’s Lady Chancellor a few months ago, I believe? Informing you of a royal agent in the area, who might call on you for assistance with the use of a code.”
Bruno stared. Enzo stared, his eyebrows going up. Leander, standing a few feet from me, muttered something that sounded like, “That explains so fucking much.”
“Tulips grow tall in the spring,” the mountain said. “Ser Cassian at your service, Lord Montefime. I’ll be conveying my opinion to the queen and chancellor that Ser Enzo is in fact the legitimate heir to this place and its lands.”
“Thank you,” Enzo said, “although we’re going to have words about the way you’ve been spying on me for months. I can’t believe I had no idea.”
Ser Cassian smiled, more genuinely this time. “That’s the point. And you should be glad. My testimony that you’re the heir to the curse and that you helped the Surbini prince is what’s going to keep you off the gallows. Although we will talk, later on. You’re merely, let’s say, a side project. I’m not here for you.”
Bruno’s eyes bulged out of his head. “You must be joking. He deserves the gallows! You must—you! And you!” He turned to Enzo again. “You kidnapped my brother and extorted money from me for his safe return!”
