Page 21 of The King's Bodyguard
“Your Majesty?” asked Corrin. “You needed help?”
“It’s my washcloth and brush,” I said, wincing at the sudden high pitch of my voice. “They’re over there...”
Corrin fetched them quickly. Too quickly. Already I was scrambling to figure out what to say next. Unconsciously, my hand rose to rub at the tight muscle that bunched along my shoulder and upper back. I froze as Corrin’s hand suddenly covered mine, gently nudging my fingers aside.
“That looks painful,” he murmured. “Lady of Night, Landis, the stiffness of the muscle! Tell me this has not been going on all day!”
“It’s... not been going on all day...?” I tried to humorously lie about the tension I’d been struggling with since the morning.
“That bad, hm.”
Corrin’s other hand, now also divested of his gloves, was massaging my right shoulder. I leaned back, allowing him to gently knead my muscles. Just as I guessed, Corrin’s palms were more calloused than mine, but not painfully so. They were muscled and strong, roughened by the use of bow and arrow, bythe sword, by the reins of his horse. Strong and yet gentle, rough and yet comforting.
I sighed loudly as my muscles slowly unlocked one by one. A tingle ran down my spine as Corrin’s thumbs slowly drew circles at the base of my neck. It made me wonder what it would feel like if he were to massage the base of my spine where the fur running down to my tail began.Gods. If only he would.My second sigh must have ended more on a noisy moan because Corrin’s hands stopped immediately.Oh, Gods. He stopped.
“Don’t stop,” I said, half-begging, half-commanding.
“You seem to be enjoying this too much,” Corrin murmured in my ear, closer than I expected. “If I didn’t know any better, I would guess you are wanting something else besides your missing cloth and scrub brush.”
“Only you,” I breathed.
At that, I half turned to him. Our noses brushed each other, his breath warm against my cheek. My gaze fell to those lips that were turned up in a half smile. His hand then rose, tugging my hair tie free, releasing my golden curls to fall about my neck. Long pale fingers then threaded through the strands, cupping the back of my head. My hand rose then to cling to the edge of his surcoat. I was desperate, never wishing to let him go.
As if responding to my unspoken fear, Corrin’s arm wrapped around me, bracing me even as his lips closed in. The first brush of his lips felt so foreign and yet familiar. The first touch was soft, barely there—a gentle tug on my bottom lip. A short pause. Why was he waiting? I wanted more!
Before I could stop myself, a mewl of need arose in my throat. I wanted Corrin, and Corrin leaned in again. This time, I found myself assaulted with a string of soft kisses. Each kiss felt like another revelation, another push into foreign territory.
If Corrin was a king, I was his country, claimed bit by bit, until I was entirely his. Still, I needed more. Soon. All too soon,I was to marry someone I truly did not know. I would share the marriage bed with another I had never chosen... but this, right here, right now, I chose.
I choose you, Corrin.I said it with every returning, desperate, ill-practiced kiss.I am yours to claim. If only for this time. I am yours.
Chapter 10
Corrin
Ihad been dreaming of this. Goddess Meryn, forgive me, but I had dreamed of this moment, and now that it was upon me, I was not about to let the opportunity pass for the world. For so long, I had been obsessing over the young tom I called king. He was the one I was to protect, but I could not protect him against my own desires.
Landis seemed to sense the desperation of the moment himself. Despite his clear inexperience, he tried to repeat each of my kisses with his own. It birthed within me hope—a hope that something greater might lie between us. It sparked within me something deeper than desire, more enduring than the roots of the Grey Mist Mountains.
Is this love?I couldn’t know. As experienced as I was, I was still new to such passions. Still, I knew that this was my chance to prove to Landis how much I cared for him.
It would be up to me to set the pace. I wanted to take it nice and slow, enjoy the soft swell of his lips as they quivered at eachtouch of my own. Slowing down again, I nibbled his bottom lip. The gentle tug of my teeth drew out of him another moan. He turned now more fully, throwing his damp arms about my neck, angling his head in desperate need.
Was he thinking about how precious and fleeting this moment was?I didn’t want to dampen our passions and ask, but somehow I knew that my heart echoed his desperation. I pulled him closer against the edge of the wooden tub. This time, I took full possession of him. My tongue darted out, running along the cleft of his lips. Landis gasped, and his lips parted.
I plunged in, tasting the pungent tang of mulled wine, berries, and roast. With each inhale, other scents now tinged the air. The scent of elandarin petals faded as our musk released into the night air. My tongue explored every inch of him, a promise of something even more pleasurable. As his tongue touched mine and then retreated in shock, I chased after him.
Landis was a deer. I was the hunter who always caught his prey. This time, however, there was only sweet surrender as Landis mewled once again against my mouth. Even as his moistness mixed with mine, I could sense his initial shock giving way to lust. This Landis taunted me with the sweet sounds of pleasure that were torn out of his body.
He was no companion of the night, nor was he a paid catkin. His moans, the scrabble of his fingers against my neck and shoulder, and the tension thrumming through his body were not the illusory posturing of an entertainer. Landis’s desires were as honest and raw as the tom himself.
My own body could not help but react to Landis’s scent and sweetness. Even as I slowly eased back, placing a hair of space between us, my cock demanded satisfaction between his thighs. I glanced down at Landis. The king was staring at me with an odd dazed look on his face as though he had somehow forgotten to breathe. His pink lips, now swollen and moist, were half-parted. His blue eyes were staring at me in stunned shock and open desire.
Desire thrummed through me as well. My gaze drifted down to the edge of the water. Kneeling in the tub, the water came to Landis’s lightly tan belly, but I could catch a glimpse of his arousal. I knew exactly what I needed to do.
Gently, I turned Landis around. Without a word, Landis followed my guiding hands, still clearly stunned by our kiss. When I pillowed his head against my left shoulder, he laid back, completely relaxed. Whispering sweet promises in his ears, my right hand drifted down, dipping below the water. The water was still warm. Judging by the petals and the suds, Karl had put some kind of scented oil in the water, a slickness that would aid the king’s pleasure.
My hand closed over Landis’s stiff cock. Instantly, Landis’s hand closed like a vice over my forearm that was now sopping wet.
