Page 51 of MidKnight
Ryan shrugged before grabbing the teapot. “I asked Quinn to have Declan come up and take a look at these,” he gestured to the coins on the cart. “I don’t know if Aiden’s making them or found buried treasure on his land or what.”
I shook my head. “I doubt it’s either of those things. I think he’s taking payment for guiding that sarding dragon through my kingdom. That shite’s selfish and shortsighted enough to do it.”
“You think he was working with Abbas?” Ryan sat next to me on the settee, careful not to jostle a crystal knight with a tiny lance on the side table.
I nodded. “It would fit. I worked at a tavern. He started coming in to spend money a few months before I heard about the plan to send a beast after Avia. The timelines match.”
Ryan grimaced. “You really think he’d turn against Evaness?”
I shrugged. “I know his reputation more than the man himself. Only spoke with him a few times. Slime, though. Most prostitutes refused to serve him twice. And that’s a sign. Those women choose to make good money off the skewed birth rate and male desperation. They probably could have charged double. Most do, for repeat business. And they were turning Aiden down.”
Ryan stared at me. “I’m not sure if I find it hot that you know so much about brothel business.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him. “You liked what I did to your taint earlier, didn’t you?” I winked. “You can thank a girl named Lera for the tip. She used to like to share stories.”
Ryan belly laughed until he got tears in his eyes. Then he swiped at them and set me on his lap.
Declan arrived moments later. “I was told you all needed me? Took me awhile to figure out what ‘the room with all the glass shite’ was,” he used air quotes to emphasize his annoyance. “I know Quinn has a palace map memorized, he could have just used that. Sometimes, I think he just likes to sard with me.”
“He does,” Ryan confirmed.
I scooped up a coin and held it out to Declan. “Do you recognize this?”
“It’s a gold—oh,” he flipped it over and saw the woman, “Interesting. I have a reference book in my rooms. I can look it up.”
“Thank you.”
Declan turned to go and though I’d just used this technique on Willard, I decided to use it again. Because I was still hot and bothered from my session with Ryan. And because two of my knights were in the room, the very two who had a lingering secret.
Just as Declan grabbed the door handle, I said, “Oh, one more thing. The other day you mentioned that Ryan helped you relieve your tension with sex.”
Ryan grew tense beneath me. Declan froze, hand still on the handle.
“I think I might require a demonstration,” I stood, desire lacing my words. “I don’t know that I could adequately ever help you through your panic, without knowing exactly where to touch you.” I stalked toward Declan.
He turned back to face me, his blue eyes wide. I loved seeing his throat bob as he swallowed hard. “Um…”
I reached my blond sweetling and trailed my fingers up his chest. “Come on, Declan. For me? You know I’ve been thinking about you for days now. About what it might look like with Ryan swallowing your—”
Declan squeezed his eyes shut as Ryan said, “It’s not what you think, Little Dearling.”
I turned back to my tall giant, who’d stood to defend his fellow knight.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Declan’s voice was soft but clear when he answered, “Whenever we helped each other out, one of us took a disguise spell and turned intoyou.”
My fantasies of seeing the two of them, hot mouths clashing and hands tugging one another desperately, vanished. I took a step back as I gathered my thoughts.
I pictured it. Them in a room together. Declan swallowing a vial and transforming into me. Ryan reaching out and grabbing him by the hips, yanking him forward into a hot, open-mouthed kiss.
No sarding wonder Ryan had been so confident he could hold me up and have me ride him without falling. No wonder Declan had known exactly how to soothe away the tension in my body.
At first, my jealousy flared. They were mine. But I pushed that irrational emotion down. Because I’d left them. I’d left them with no options. They’d only turned to one another in desperation. In need. Could I begrudge them that? Of course not.
Was I going to make that abundantly obvious to them right away? Hell no.
My eyes narrowed as I glanced between the two of them, planting my hands on my hips.
