Page 122 of Across an Endless Sea

Here? In the middle of the woods, where anyone could come across us? The thought is scandalous, so why am I moving against him? My hips rock against his until he hisses out a breath.

Nerve endings, which have been dormant since he and Jaro took my virginity, reawaken, and I lean up, capturing a kiss before he can pull away.

“Oh, pet,” Lore croons, his voice cracking. “You really are learning fast.”

He may sound tortured, but my grinding is definitely worse for me. With my hips pinned against the tree, I can’t get any of the friction I crave. All I’m doing is teasing myself and him. From the gleam in his eyes, he knows it too.

I glance around, making sure no one is within hearing range, before I turn back, look him in the eye, and give in.

“Please can I suck your cock, Lore?” I blurt.

A heartbeat passes, then his grin widens, and he lets out a small whoop. “Maybe later.” He winks. “Wow, that was intense. I really, really, really want to take you up on that. But we do actually have a really important meeting to get to.”

We…do? Wait… what was intense?

Before I can ask more, he blinks us. One second, I’m pressed against a tree, the next, we’re both falling onto the soft sheets of my bed. Lore claims my lips in a wild, open-mouthed kiss, and my focus narrows to the weight of him on top of me and the taut heaviness of my breasts as they beg for his attention.

It doesn’t last. Rough hands drag the redcap off me, and a sub-vocal growl alerts me to the fact we have an audience.

Propping myself up on my elbows, I blush as I realise it’s not just the rest of my Guard, but also Kitarni and both of my brothers.

“I wondered why you were taking so long,” Drystan grumbles, rolling his eyes as he holds Lore up by the collar like a naughty child.

The redcap grins, then blinks away until he’s crouching on my dressing table beside Bree, but I gloss over both of them in favour of staring at the new member of our familiar gathering.

On the other side of the púca is Bram, only better groomed and cleaner than I’ve ever seen him. The chicken shit from before is gone—thank Danu—and his matted hair has been trimmed to give him a short back and sides. The mess of foppish curls which remain has been dragged into a loose knot at the back of his skull. He’s wearing a plain, hooded grey jerkin and a pair of thin-framed wire spectacles which give him a scholarly look I would never have attributed to the matted cave-dweller of before, but which suit him well.

He wrings his hands together, clearly uncomfortable.

“You look well,” I say, smiling softly as I swing my legs off the bed and stand.

Whatever this important meeting is, I’m not having it in my bedroom, so I lead the way back to the paved fountain area of my garden, which has become our unofficial gathering place.

“He smells better too.” Florian grins, mock punching him in the arm as they walk.

“Thank you,” Bram says, twisting his hands together. “I wasn’t sure if I should be here, given that I’ve not been invited to join your court, but Florian insisted…”

I shake my head. “Of course you’re part of my court—if you want to be, that is. You’re my brother, and you saved me from a tunnel wyrm, remember?”

Bram offers me a small nod, which might actually be a half-bow, but it’s too brief to tell. “I accept.”

Looking around, I realise I’ve been slowly building my court without realising it. It doesn’t feel complete, not yet, but this is a good start. My Guard, my brothers, Kitarni, and… “Where’s Prae?”

Biting my lip, I glance guiltily at the rest of them, expecting expressions of outrage. I’m not far off. Nearly every male jaw is clenched, and Florian looks three steps away from having a small aneurysm. Even his long silver hair looks tense.

“It might not be wise to have her present for this discussion,” Bree says, breaking the silence. “Besides, she hasn’t accepted your invitation to join your court yet.”

Kitarni nods, taking a seat on the low stone bench. “I’m assuming Lore didn’t mention we made a new discovery about your powers?”

He… didn’t.

“We think we’ve discovered your seelie gift,” she continues.

I stride to the edge of my platform, looking down at the city. A thick evening fog has moved in once again, and the lights being lit against the gathering darkness look like a golden reflection of the ice-white stars above. It does me the mercy of hiding the scars of Fomorian occupation from view, but I know the burnt-out fields and homes are still there.

In a few days, I’ll be crowned queen. Sworn to serve every single person sheltering in this city and beyond. Yet I have no answers for them. No way to save them from Elatha’s approaching armies. Damn, I can barely use the one power I know about, let alone this new one.

Please, Danu,I whisper in the back of my mind,let whatever this new power is be enough to stop this war.

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