Page 71 of The Huntsman's Heart
Guin cries out. Her head falls back. Then just like that she’s cumming around me, milking the seed from my cock.
My hips buck. I have no chance of holding back now.
As she grinds out the last of her pleasure, I explode within her, wrapping my arms around her, holding her to me, filling her up with me.
After what feels like an age, my head drops back to the mattress and I let out a long deep sigh.
Guin lifts off me and drops to lie beside me, sweaty and breathing hard. The gargoyles crawl into our arms, and I find myself cuddled close with them all, stroked and held, worshipped as she is. Unexpectedly home.
Guinevere
Ready or not, it’s time for me to face Melantha. The people of Erenvold cannot wait longer, and while that is a weight on my mind, my real reason for not delaying is far more selfish. I cannot stand the thought of her calling Alaric away from me, of seeing him under her control once more. His words to me when I had him tied up here all those nights ago ring in my ears, reminding me that it’s only a matter of time. When she calls, he won’t be able to resist.
So with regret, I pull myself from the arms of my lovers and slide from the bed. Alaric sits immediately on alert. “Where are you going?”
I don’t answer him right away. Instead I go to the chests in the corner and lift the lid on the first one I reach. It’s full of dresses in sumptuous velvet and silk. I close it. Those are not what I need right now.
Opening each one in turn, I eventually find the chest containing the prince’s clothes. When I withdraw the hose and tunic and pull them on, Alaric speaks again.
“Guin, you are not ready.”
“I must be ready.” I do not turn around. I finish dressing and search for my boots.
“Guin, are you listening to me? If anything were to happen to you…” He trails off, and I look to catch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows.
By now the gargoyles are stirring too, rising from the bed to sit or stand watching me. Raban’s sad expression twists at my guts. “He is right. Must you go?”
“No,” Alaric interjects. “She must not.”
I glare at him which only makes him glare right back.
“I will gladly be your servant and whipping boy everywhere else, but when it comes to your safety, princess, I will not stay silent.”
He won’t back down either. I can see as much in the stubborn set of his shoulders. The sky outside the open window is already beginning to lighten. There isn’t much time before my gargoyles must sleep again. “I have made my choice,” I tell him.
“You are impossible.” With a growl, he begins hunting for his clothes, drawing on his trousers. I call my gargoyles to me, reaching up to press kisses on their cheeks and whisper in their ears. I know they won’t like it, but they will obey me. Of that I have no doubt.
Raban is last to lean in for a kiss. As he does, I show him the stone pendant tucked against my breast. “I will keep you with me always. Take care of him for me.”
He nods. “Of course.”
Alaric looks up surprised from pulling on his boot when I touch his cheek. Some of the ire drops from his expression as my fingertips slide gently over his cool skin. “If anything were to happen to you, I could not stand it. So I have to go alone.”
Tenderness turns to understanding, and he launches to his feet, but it’s too late. Évandre, Corvin, and Raban have him. They pin his arms behind his back and loop a belt around his ankles, and though he fights them, he can’t overpower all three of them.
“No Guin. I can help you!”
I give him a sad smile. “I will not let her use you again.” I stretch up on my toes to give him a final kiss, then I turn away before my resolution fails me. Strapping my sword to my back and drawing on a hooded cloak, I hurry down the stairs and out of the castle. I look up at my gargoyles who jump one by one from the tower window to fly to their perches as the horizon turns pink. As I near the gates, I tear my eyes away from Raban and Corvin’s sorrowful expressions with guilt. Then a shout echoes from behind me where they must have tied Alaric to the bed. “Do not leave me behind!”
Hurriedly I brush a tear from my cheek, put my head down, and hasten from Havenrock lest the guilt I feel weaken my willpower. For better or worse, I will face Melantha alone. I will find Alaric’s heart and free him from her. Then finally I will destroy her before she destroys everything I love.
This time I know what the strange chittering sound means, so when the cobweb brushes my cheek, I already have my sword drawn. The giant spider still catches me by surprise, scuttling from around a tree trunk, jointed fangs dripping with venom.
It’s fast too. I wonder how I managed to escape newly undead, unaware of what I was.
I barely swing the sword in time to cut short its attack, and the spider easily dodges my blade, darting around on eight furry legs to my left.
All the time it continues its unnerving call, making my eyes dart around, searching for more of the creatures.
