Page 110 of Knightfall
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
Connor pressed his lips into a thin line. “Abbas has been very good at blocking both Quinn and I from infiltrating his mind. But if he thinks he has control, complete control over someone, then he might let his guard drop—”
“That’s too dangerous!” I protested. “What if we can’t get control back?”
Quinn slid his hand around my waist.Would you deny one of my men the opportunity to protect their country? Save it from an invader?
“Not fair.”
We have to protect Evaness, Dove.
Quinn, Connor, and Declan tromped back toward Wyle’s tower, leaving the chain (and me) with Ryan. They wouldn’t let me go with them.
“You need to bathe. You haven’t eaten today. And it’s going to take them three hours to get you into that golden coronation monstrosity with the giant collar,” Connor twisted his hand out of my grip.
Ryan guided my unwilling feet the rest of the way to my chamber. He rang for maidservants and helped me out of my mourning dress himself so that no one else would see the bloodstains.
As I slipped into the steaming water I asked the question that was making my stomach churn. “What secret do you think Wyle gave up?”
Ryan stared into my eyes. “Honestly? I think he told them about you.”
“How’d he get around the geas?”
“Djinn magic is different than ours. I don’t know. You just asked what I thought.”
Sard. I felt the truth of what he said in my bones. Someone out there knew my weakness. Knew I wasn’t really a threat. Knew how easy it would be to defeat me. I sank below the surface and stayed under as long as I could. The hot water surrounded me like a cocoon. It made me feel separate and safe. It was an illusion. But I clung to it.
Eventually, Ryan’s hand dipped below the surface and pulled me up. “You were starting to scare me.”
“Sorry. I just … they just passed this morning. And already, Lady Agatha and her son and—”
“Deep breath, Bloss. Soldiers perform better under pressure. You’ve been training with that insane mother of yours all your life. You’ve had drill after drill for this. Look at me,” Ryan grabbed my chin and gently turned my face to his. “Tell me what you’d tell her. What do you want us to do?”
My mind raced. Images flew through my head, but they were so quick and fleeting I couldn’t pull any of them down. I couldn’t see them. This wasn’t just a drill. And my mind knew it. My body knew it. I pulled back from Ryan and looked down, disappointed in myself. Ashamed. “I don’t know.”
Ryan grabbed my waist and hauled me out of the tub, ignoring the fact that I dripped water all over him. He turned me around and put my hands on the tub, bending me forward over the water. The dark strands of my hair danced along the top of the water, floating, as I stared at my reflection.
“You have one minute to come up with a plan before I spank you, Little Dearling,” Ryan said.
I gasped. My core clenched. The physical response of my body to Ryan’s dominance was immediate. His hand caressed my backside and the fear and swirling images in my mind disappeared. My brain cleared. My body and mind were focused on only one thing. His touch. The soft trails left by his fingertips that slowly disappeared as he backed away.
Smack!
The impact of Ryan’s hit sent my chest into the side of the tub. It hurt. But at the same time, my core fluttered. My breathing quickened. My breasts, hanging down, bobbed with need, with the desire to be touched, grabbed, man-handled until sensation rocketed up from my core to my spine.
But Ryan didn’t caress me again. Didn’t move to rub the spot he’d hit. Didn’t sneak his hand around my thigh to feel how achingly wet I was. He simply growled. “One minute, Bloss.”
I scrambled to think. To focus. To pretend this was all just a training session. But, just as I had gathered my thoughts—
Smack!
He hit me again. The second time, the reality of the situation sunk in. I had to think. Quickly. I opened my mouth and spouted out the first things that came to mind. “Willard needs to be scared. We need to limit his capacity for damage, quickly. He and his mother know about the dragons. I’d give Lady Agatha a hallucinogen, so she starts spouting off nonsense for a few days. With her age, people would think it was an episode. That she’s deluded. Willard—maybe he needs a fall from his horse. A good kick to the head. To scare him. And incapacitate him long enough to give me some time to think. Abbas … I’m not sure yet.” I cringed, waiting for a smack for my indecision.
But Ryan whirled me around, pulled me flush against him and kissed me. Hard. So hard he stole my breath. “That was sarding amazing, Princess. God, I love your mind almost as much as this body,” he teased.
His kisses grew more frantic. Desperate. His hands roamed up my sides, pushing me back slightly so he could tweak my nipples.
I moaned into his mouth. This was what I wanted. This was the kind of release I needed after everything that had happened.
