Page 7 of Knightfall
That night, he hadn’t been smiling. He’d looked almost angry. But I’d known he wasn’t angry. He’d been physically trying to hold himself back. To keep from mauling me after I’d teased him so mercilessly all day.
I’d pressed my breasts against him during dancing lessons, swiped my hand ‘accidentally’ over his manhood when I passed in the hall, even sat on his lap during a minstrel’s performance that evening. He’d endured it all with nothing more than a flash of heat in his eyes. Then I’d drug him down to the summer garden, to our secret spot.
For the first time, I’d peeled off my clothes in front of him, enjoying the way his eyes had bulged and his jaw went slack. It had sent a delicious tingle down my spine to my core.
Because with Connor, unlike with anyone else in the world, I’d known his reactions were for me. Not the crown.
“I’m sure. My coronation and our wedding are the day after tomorrow,” I’d told him.
His eyes had lit up at that. “I know. I can’t wait—”
“I want you first. Before that. Before—” I hadn’t mentioned the others. I hadn’t even met Quinn Byrne then. My marriage was a political arrangement. The only consolation had been that I would love at least one of my husbands.
Connor’s eyes had darkened with understanding. He’d opened his mouth to argue, but I’d cupped my breasts in my hands and drew his attention to them.
“Anything you want, Bloss Boss,” his eyes had dilated.
“Kiss me. Everywhere,” I’d ordered.
“Yes, my queen.” He’d smiled at my command and taken to his task with reckless abandon.
He’d trailed kisses down my neck and dipped his tongue into the hollow of my breast bone. He’d bladed that beautiful tongue of his and traced hot spirals onto each breast, ignoring my nipples until I begged him, ordered him, and finally grabbed his face and shoved it where I’d wanted it.
Only then had he suckled me, flicking his tongue back and forth, drawing out the sweet agony.
“How are you so good at this? Who’ve you done this with?” I’d gasped, wrenching his head up so I could read the truth in his blue-green eyes.
He’d blushed. “No one. But I’ve watched. A lot.”
I’d arched an eyebrow at him. “How?”
He ducked his head to pop my nipple back into his mouth. He’d sucked it briefly before rubbing his body along the length of mine and whispering, “Your secret corridors. I love to use them to spy on the nobles.”
I’d burst out laughing. “You would.”
He’d given a little shrug. “My spying’s all for your benefit anyway. All of it.”
“Even the dirty bits,” I’d grinned.
He’d winked. “Especially the dirty bits. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to do this.”
He’d trailed his fingers down my belly and then side to side along my thighs. Gently, softly, he’d started to circle my opening, spiraling again. His spirals had gotten smaller and smaller until—
A noise startled me awake. I jumped and hissed, hitting my head on the top of the cave.
What the bloody hell?
Men’s voices echoed around me. It took me a moment to realize that my small tunnel led to a bigger cave. Cautiously, I trotted down my tunnel, hoping against hope that Quinn hadn’t followed me here.
As the tunnel widened, I slunk toward the shadowed side. Firelight started to flicker along the cave walls as my tunnel opened onto a large cavern. A group of men crouched in a middle area free of stalactites. A fire jumped and flickered at their feet. The smell of roasted rabbit permeated the space. I fought off a cough brought on by the smoke cloud that hovered over the top half of the unventilated cavern.
The largest of the men, a man with a patch over one eye and a rough looking scar on his arm, stood. He spoke. “His orders are to bring the beast under cover of night. He says it will automatically be drawn toward the princess.”
The man holding the spit, a scrawny middle-aged fellow, scoffed. “It’s all well and good for him to say that. Ain’t it? But I’ve seen those things. The monster’s more like to rip out a hundred heads than get the right one.”
“This is his plan.”
“Well let him drag it ‘cross the border then. An’ let him try to keep it hidden. An’ let him—”
