“Alright.” He barked a laugh. “The night’s almost over and we aren’t going to turn away good coin. One whore staining the sheets is a lot easier to clean up after than ten.”
The teen held out his palm and I dropped the coin into it. Don’t punch him. That would imprint my face in his mind for a long while and we needed the opposite of that. Pocketing the money, he tossed a key at my chest and busied himself with folding sheets. At least Anais and I could expect clean ones. I paused halfway to the door.
Oh fuck.
This was a hotel that rented rooms for quick pleasure. Not comfort. We might have clean sheets—but they would only be on one bed. A man laughed outside, shaking the thought away, and I raced back into the night.
Anais was where I had left her, huddled into her cloak, shaking from cold. I paused a few feet from her and took her in for the first time since we stopped in the forest. She looked like she had in the gardens. Unbridled and slightly ruffled. Her gaze cut to mine and she released a heavy breath.
“Ready?” I asked and held out my hand.
She took it with a smile and let me pull her in. “We’ll have to make it look believable,” she said as she leaned into my side.
I wasn’t sure if it was for the shared warmth or the ruse, but either way, it sent a different kind of shiver up my spine. “That won’t be a problem,” I whispered, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, and steered us back to the door of the inn.
Stepping inside first, I placed a hand low on her back and ushered her into the warmth. Two women clung to a portly man who spoke to the inn keeper in a lowered voice. Seeing the opportunity, I shut the door quietly and guided Anais across the room, hand on her ass in case anyone looked over. I leaned down and nuzzled her neck for good measure. From an outside perspective, it had to appear I was overly eager and her less than thrilled.
The staircase leading up to the second floor was wide and appeared newly redone with unfinished wood. Moans and creaks filled the air from shut doors. The sound of a sharp slap made Anais jump, but it was followed by a deeper groan. She looked over her shoulder at me and giggled.
I grinned back at her and pointed to the next to last door in the hallway. She slipped into the dark room. I followed, bolting us safely inside as she struck a match that sat on the table just inside the door. The half-used candle flickered to life when she touched the match to the wick, but it wasn’t nearly enough light to see the room for what it was.
What I could see was a wide bed with what passed for clean blankets and a thin, moth-eaten curtain slung across the only window. It wasn’t fit for a lady of the court, but it was relatively safe which mattered more.
“One bed,” she said so quietly that I barely understood.
I shrugged off my cloak and hung it on a hook attached to the wall. “I’ll sleep on the floor,” I offered.
“I wasn’t complaining,” she said quickly. “Besides, you’ll freeze down there.”
When I turned to tell her it didn’t matter, she was already laying her cloak on top of the blankets covering the bed. The bodice’s ribbons that I’d tied earlier had loosened, showing slivers of bare skin between them. I’d seen her back with rows of gemstones draped across it, but this was different. It was a hint of flesh and it made me desperate to press my fingers against it. To loosen the ties and kiss my way down her spine.
Anais looked over her shoulder at me and paused. Then straightened slowly, pulling her hair to one side. “Do you want to help me with them again?”
My gaze flew from her back to her eyes. The gleam there told me she knew exactly where my thoughts had wandered and that she… She liked it. There was nothing stopping us now. No ladies’ maids who could catch us or guards to accidentally pass by. But I’d betrayed Bastian so much already. At least I could say I didn’t betray him this way.
“We should rest for a few hours and get back on the road,” I grumbled.
Her eyes flicked to the floor. “If you want me to wear the clothes you packed, I’ll need help getting this one off.”
Right. The other clothes. I’d have to bury her current dress—selling it was too risky and there was no fireplace in the room to burn it. But that didn’t mean she had to wear the other clothes in here. In fact, it would be better if she didn’t. Start tomorrow fresh. I winced, acknowledging to myself what a horrible excuse it was. Still, I said, “you can change in the morning.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not sleeping in this muddy thing. Please help me.”
It was the please that had me taking a single step to close the distance between us. My hands shook as I unlaced her bodice, the fabric dropping lower with each row. When I got to the final row, the ribbon slipped from its hook on either side, and Anais did nothing to stop the dress from pooling at her feet. Leaving her in nothing more than an underskirt, stockings, and boots.
My heart skipped a beat. I’d seen her back. Seen her in a thin night dress. But this had a different affect. It was more intimate. Heavier. And it was fucking destroying me. “Anais,” I warned.
She turned, baring her chest to me, and tugged on the front of my shirt. “You said they’ll kill you, but they’ll kill me too.”
“They won’t find you,” I promised, circling her wrists with my fingers. Damn. It was hard not to look down. Not to take in what she was showing me.
“We can hope they won’t find either of us, but there’s a chance they will. So, for now, I want to be happy, like you said in my room.” She licked her lips and I felt it in my cock. “Even if it’s just for tonight.”
How was I going to say no to that? I wanted her more than anyone ever and she very clearly wanted me. This could be our only chance.
Fuck the Red Asters.
Fuck the king.
Fuck living for everyone else.
Tonight, I wasn’t the Prince’s Wing and she wasn’t Lady Karina. We were Saer and Anais.
I swooped down and captured her mouth. Her lips were still cold from our escape and tasted the way winter smelled. My hands landed on her back, sliding over smooth skin, soaking in the feel. Memorizing her as she worked the buckle holding my swords to my waist. The metal hit the floor with a clunk.
“Wait,” I breathed, pulling back. She gave a soft whimper as I stepped away from her. “I have a lot of sharp objects on me right now so before you hurt yourself…”
She watched every move I made as I pulled out all the hidden weapons and piled them in the corner. “It looks like you were expecting to go to war.”
I smirked and tugged off my bracers, tossing them into the pile. “I was.”
When I jerked the hem of my shirt from my pants, she motioned me forward. I obeyed. Her hands gripped the fabric and I bent so she could pull it over my head. When I stood again, her sharp intake made me tense. Did she hear something outside that I hadn’t? I made one step to the window and she grabbed my arm.
“You’re remarkable,” she explained, eyes roving the hard lines of muscle on my abdomen.
Taking her careful perusal as permission to do the same, I allowed my gaze to drop to her breasts. The soft globes rose and fell with each of her breaths while the chilled air had hardened both light pink nipples. I swallowed hard at the desire to suck them into my mouth.
“Touch me,” she breathed, almost begging.
One calloused hand dove into her hair, gripping her head near the base of her neck, while the other grazed up her stomach to cup her breast. I stole the small noise of pleasure she made as I gently pinched her nipple. The sound urged me forward, my cock leading the way.
I dragged my lips from hers to trail over the column of her neck. Then lower. I fell to my knees in front of her and took the other peak into my mouth, rolling it with the tip of my tongue.
“Saer,” she gasped.
“I want you,” I said as the last bit of control fled my mind.
Her fingers stroked through my hair. “You have me.”
“No.” I nipped the swell of her breast. “I want all
of you.”
“Then take me.”
It was all I needed. I bunched her skirts up to her waist, too impatient to untie it, and ran a finger through her sex. Looking up at her, both our breaths ragged, I pushed two fingers inside the wet heat and growled a low, instinctual sound. She threw her head back and held onto my hair as I slid them out slowly.
“Wait,” she said as I slipped them back in. “Wait, I don’t want that.”
I immediately withdrew and stood. Had I misread the situation? She—
“I want this.” She skimmed a hand over my pants, gripping my hard length through the fabric. “We can do the rest later.”
My mind went blank for a moment as desire flared bright. I wanted to touch her, taste her, please her. But I also wanted to slip my throbbing cock inside her and make her scream. My belt was gone before I realized I was unbuckling it. My pants hit the floor next.
Anais’ lips parted as she took in my considerable size, both in length and width. “I forgot how big it was,” she said, sounding slightly nervous.
I chuckled. “It will fit, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She backed into the bed, eyes lingering on my length, making it harder and harder. She sat on the edge of the bed and hiked her skirt up. “Prove it,” she dared. And opened her legs.
My gaze narrowed on the slickness coating her thighs. Her sex. For me. I prowled to the bed and put one knee between her legs. I leaned forward, a hand on either side of her head, and licked along her lower lip.
“If you want it.” I sucked her lip between my teeth and gave a gentle tug. “Take it.”
Her back arched at the words, her breasts brushing against my chest. I brought my other leg onto the bed and inched closer. Close enough for her to reach my already-slick head. Her fingers wrapped around the girth and lined it up with her entrance.
“Saer,” she urged, rubbing the tip up and down through the wetness.
I pressed forward just enough to breach her entrance and stopped as light flashed behind my eyelids. Fuck. This was going to be so good. I slipped in another inch and her walls clamped down, drawing out a low moan.
A brief moment of clarity followed the wave of pleasure. Leaning down, I ran my tongue over the edge of her ear. “I want to hear you scream my name,” I rumbled. “But someone might hear.”
“Saer,” she practically whined, shifting her hips beneath me.
“Exactly.” I nipped at her lobe. “Promise you won’t, and I’ll make you explode.”
“I won’t,” she breathed.
Not the words any man wanted to hear, but the ones I needed to. I took her lips with my own and our tongues clashed. Her hands moved around my back and nails dug in, silently urging me to move.
So I did.
With one more thrust, I was fully inside her. Moving. Driving a steady pace. Dragging perfect sounds from her throat. When I took a hand from the mattress to rub against her bundle of nerves, she moaned so loud that I knew everyone else in the building heard. Good. Let them hear her. Let them desire what was happening between the two strangers in this room. Because it was enviable. The way she moved with me, the way she responded. How my heart raced for more than the utter bliss I felt while inside her.
Anais squeezed around my cock with a wordless scream. Her pleasure tightened my balls, but I held back until she relaxed beneath me. Then my thrusts became more erratic until I was forced to pull out. As soon as I did, my own release fired all over the outside of her sex.
I dropped my head to the mattress beside hers and gasped for air. One of Anais’ hands trailed up the back of my arm—the one still holding my weight off her—and I shivered.
“Are you okay?” I asked, too tired to move just yet.
“I’m amazing.” She kissed my shoulder, then nudged me. “But maybe you’re not.”
I lifted my head enough to see where she was looking. Long red scratches marked where she had just kissed. “I’ll wear them with honor,” I said and rolled off her.
Anais immediately snuggled closer and I lifted my arm to let her in. We would clean ourselves up later. But, after running from the palace and that, we were both too exhausted to care.
Chapter Twenty-Five
My eyes snapped open on a sharp inhale. Panic clawed at my chest as I surveyed the unknown room. There were no wooden beams on the ceiling. Beneath me, the mattress was hard. My body tensed, poised to strike out at the unseen danger. Something moved against my side and I lunged, pinning them down with my forearm to their throat.
A startled gasp hit my ears. “Saer?”
Reality pushed through the dream-like haze and I blinked down at Anais. Her honey hair spread across the pillow, her eyes wide, lips parted in shock.
I reared back. “Sorry.” I ran my hands over my face. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She sat up, pulling the sheet to cover her chest, and reached out to touch my arm. “Was it a nightmare?”
A nightmare? No. It was… life. Real life, coming to bite me in the ass. All the years I’d spent looking for danger, expecting it, made sleeping hard, but now that danger was inevitable. And the strike would come soon. I felt it in my core. But from where? And who? Would Bastian be there when they found us? Would he swing his sword against me?
I wouldn’t blame him if he did. After stealing his fiancée, after all the lies I’d told, it was fair. A quick glance at the orange-tinted sky through one of the large holes in the curtain told me dawn was breaking. He would know Anais and I were missing by now. My stomach rolled at the thought of him piecing together the betrayal. Years of trust, shattered. It felt like something inside me died, stealing my next breath.
“Are you okay?” Anais pressed when I forced in a ragged breath.
I squeezed my eyes shut and willed away the pain in my chest. We should leave now before the city woke for the day. Avoid the extra witnesses and put more distance behind us. “Are you rested enough to head out?” I asked, opening my eyes again.
“Is something wrong?” she insisted.
Everything was wrong, starting with how dishonorable I was. But, with her looking at me with those wide, imploring eyes, I couldn’t regret what happened the night before. The way our bodies moved against each other, the sound of her coming apart beneath me. I’d never felt a connection like the one we shared—it was almost as if a string tied our hearts together. We had taken our shot at happiness and I would carry it with me for the rest of my life. The warmth. The weightlessness of it.
I leaned in and cupped her cheeks, kissing her lightly on the lips. “Nothing more than was wrong last night,” I told her. “We aren’t safe yet.”
She studied me for a moment, a line between her brows, before nodding. “I’ll get dressed.”
Together we fumbled through the room to put our clothes on. Anais had no elaborate ribbons to tie this time so, as she buttoned her own thick jacket, I stuffed the black and gold dress into the now-empty bag. The bread and dried meat I’d included inside was now spread out on the bed.
“Eat something before we go,” I urged. We’d used a lot of energy the night before and we would need to replenish it before doing the same today.
Anais lifted the loaf of bread and tore off the heel, holding it out to me. “You too.”
I smirked and bent over her hand, taking a bite without breaking eye contact. She blushed. “If we were anywhere else, I would give you a more fitting breakfast.”
“This is perfect.” She chewed a piece of bread and started collecting the rest of the food to repack with her brocade dress. “All that fancy food the countess fed me in the mornings was too heavy.”
“What do you prefer to eat if not a royal spread?” I asked, curious.
She shrugged. “An egg or two, maybe. With something warm to drink. What about you?”
I paused. There wasn’t a time I could remember eating anything that wasn’t from the palace. “I don’t know. I suppose I eat because I have to, but I’ve never really enjoyed it.
Whatever fills my stomach.”
“What?” She gaped at me. “You don’t have any favorite meals? What about treats? Sugar candy or fruit?”
A smirk grew on my face as I gazed at her lush lips, her eyes bright. “I enjoyed you.”
“Oh, my goodness.” She covered her flaming cheeks with both hands. “That is not what I meant.”
I chuckled and dipped my head to kiss her again. “If we didn’t have to rush, I would have you again this morning.”
Desire flashed through her eyes. She abandoned the food to turn toward me fully. “We have a little time, don’t we?”
A door banged open across the hall and someone released a loud belch. My head snapped to the door, all thoughts of devouring Anais’ sweetness gone. “Later,” I promised. If there was a later.
✽✽✽
Our pace was slower, the day barely warmer than night. The trees all looked the same, skeletal branches blending together, sky gray. Each footstep crumbled through a thin layer of ice over the blanket of leaves. We couldn’t continue on foot much longer in this weather, especially since it would only get colder the more north we were. We also needed to find shelter—an inn, a cave, anywhere to block the wind and make a fire. As the sun rose and set, it was all I could think of.
That and Bastian. What happened when he realized we were missing? Were the guards close to finding us? Did Faramond know? Of course he knew. One of the Asters in the palace must’ve told him—probably before the king even knew.
“Where are we stopping tonight?” Anais asked, voice shaking nearly as hard as her body.
I squeezed her hand in mine, trying to warm her. There would be another town eventually, but I wasn’t sure the distance. Another large city, one busy enough to get lost in, was at least three more days if I remembered correctly. Given that we were traveling through the woods, keeping away from the roads… “I’m not sure.”
A soft whimper escaped her. “Can we sit for a minute then?”
I slowed, coming to a stop at a fallen tree, and we both sat to rest our aching muscles. The trunk was slick with ice but I barely felt it, my legs already frozen. Flinging my cloak aside, I tugged Anais against my side and wrapped the fabric around us both.
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