I shot him a glare. “Anyone else talking to me like that would have lost his head.”
With a smug grin, Lennox leaned back in his chair and brought his feet up on the table. “I’m glad I’m not anyone else.”
Shaking my head, I walked out of the tent. I didn’t even know what I would say to Blair, other than order her to stay back, to rest, to go back to the capital. Having her here was too distracting. I couldn’t come up with a good plan because I was busy either being worried about her or being attracted to her.
She would yell, she would argue, but I was done. I would even use my next-crown-prince’s-order excuse if I had to. And she would have to listen.
I paused at the entrance to her tent and let out a long sigh.
I hoped she would listen to me.
14
Blair
It had been a long day.
Once I learned Red had spent the night out and still hadn’t come back when the sun rose, I got up and did something. Staying in bed and resting wasn’t my style, even if I was still a little hurt and sore from the last fight. No, I had to do something, to feel useful.
So, I went to the villages with Sage, making sure all the fae had left, and that the ones who had had contact with the sea elves had been checked or were in observation for the sea plague. The last thing we needed was an outbreak of the illness right now.
Sage had grilled me about leaving without at least double the soldiers from the other day, but I had heard what Red had been doing all night: checking the forest to make sure no other sea elf was hiding and waiting to ambush us. Besides, the sea elves had attacked us that day. They wouldn’t use the same tactic so soon.
It didn’t take long for me to feel even sorer and more tired, but it didn’t matter. I pushed through because the fae needed me. They had been forced from their homes and were headed to shelters in the capital for who knew how long. Their entire lives had turned upside down, and their businesses would probably suffer when they came back. Checking on them, making sure they were fine and healthy, and they had everything they needed to the trip to the capital was the least I could do.
Midday, Sage and I rested a little beside a stream. After I took a short nap, Sage stood watch while I washed in the cold water. Finally, when the sun started descending, Sage bugged me to return to the camp. “It’ll be dark when we arrive. I don’t want you to stay out after that.”
I knew he wouldn’t let it go, so I relented.
The moment we arrived at the camp, I saw soldiers eyeing us and a couple even ran to the main tent, probably to warn Red that I was back. I didn’t pay much attention to them since they were following orders. I handed my horse to one of them and went to my tent.
Even though I had washed at the stream, I was in desperate need for clean clothes. I took off my boots, untied my pants, pulled them off, undid the clasps of my vest and tunic, and my tunic slipped off my shoulders—then someone walked in my tent.
Red’s eyes went wide as I slapped my hands over myself, holding the tunic before it fell and exposed my torso. But the vest hit the floor. Red’s eyes only grew wider as they traveled down to my bare legs—my tunic’s hem barely hit my thighs.
“I-I’m sorry,” he whispered, turning around and reaching for the tent’s opening.
“No, wait,” I blurted. He stopped, but didn’t look at me. I reached for a silk robe, let the tunic fall all the way, and put the robe on. I made sure I tied it tightly around my waist before saying, “It’s okay now.”
Red turned again, this time his eyes fixed on my face, as if he was trying hard not to look at my body. Something like disappointment bloomed in my chest.
“Hm, I came to check on you,” he said. Then he frowned. “Aren’t you still weak and hurt? Why the rake were you out all day? And what about warning me, or letting me borrow more soldiers? And where is Sage? He wasn’t outside your tent.”
“I told him to go rest. I didn’t think I needed him for a few hours in a camp full of highly trained soldiers.” I lifted my chin. “I don’t need babysitters all the time, Red.”
“Are you sure? Think about what happened not even two days ago!”
“The sea elves had planned on taking the villages long before I planned on evacuating them. Me being there was a coincidence. Besides, I know you spent last night searching for them from the coast to the forest beyond the villages. If you had found anything, I would have heard. I knew it was safe.”
Red pressed his lips tight, clearly wanting to argue. “Is there anything I can say to convince you to go back to the capital?”
I shook my head. “You might not like it, but I’m not a cowering court lady. I prefer being here, getting my hands dirty, and actually helping.”
“I know,” he muttered.
“Is that so horrible?”
Letting out a long breath, Red ran a hand through his hair. “Quite the opposite. You’re amazing.” My breath caught. Realizing what he had said, Red shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I mean …”
I knew what he meant. At least, I hoped I did.
Emboldened by the way he had looked at me, by his words, I took two steps toward him, leaving a short space between us. If I extended my arm, I could rest my hand on his chest.
I fixed my eyes on his. “Just … stay where you are.”
I untied my robe and let it fall to my feet. Red’s eyes bugged, but I didn’t give him a chance to react. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me. I pressed my mouth to his.
Red moved his lips with mine for before pulling back. “No, no. This isn’t right.”
I held on to his shoulders. “Why not?”
“You … you’re promised to my brother.”
I shook my head. “He isn’t here anymore. Besides, I never loved him.” I tugged his shoulders again. When he didn’t resist, I glued my body to his and kissed him again.
This time, Red’s hands wrapped around my waist in a flash, his rough palms grazing against my skin, sending shivers down my spine.
I knew it. I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him.
His lips moved against mine, his tongue assaulting my mouth, his scent invading my nostrils and intoxicating my mind. Kissing Red was the right thing, the perfect thing. It felt like he was made for me.
Slowly, I slid my hands down his chest to his waist. I found the buttons of his leather pants. Then, I broke the kiss and knelt in front of him, while undoing the buttons and pushing his pants down.
“Blair,” he hissed.
But he didn’t stop me. Good.
His cock was hard and big, bigger than I expected, but that didn’t stop me. I wrapped my hand around it, and licked the tip. Red jerked and hissed. I licked his length once more before taking it all inside my mouth.
“Rust.” Red knotted his fingers on my hair.
I started moving, taking him in and out of my mouth, as far as I could, with my hand tight around the shaft, putting more pressure on his cock.
“Oh, rust,” he muttered again. I spied on him. Red had his eyes closed, his face tilted upward, his mouth hanging open, and his hands in my hair. It was a sight to behold. The way he seemed to be undone emboldened me. I liked knowing I could do this to him.
I sped up, moving my mouth along his cock faster, harder.
Then, he clasped his hands around my shoulders and pushed me back. I glanced up and found him staring at me. “That was amazing, but I don’t want to finish that way.” He slid his hands down my elbow and helped me up.
I barely stood up before he was on me, his mouth on mine, his body pressed against mine. While drinking from each other, I helped Red take off his vest and his tunic. I ran my hands around his shoulders, his chest, his back, trying to feel every inch of him, every chisel of every muscle and commit it to memory. By the chilly wind, this fae had been carved out of stone.
Red broke the kiss, but stayed close, his forehead resting on mine. “Now, it’s my turn.”
15
; Red
I tried to fight it. All day and all night, I tried to fight it.
After that kiss last night, every cell and pore in my body had felt alive. Bothered. Hot. In disarray.
It didn’t matter how hard I fought. I ended up losing. In this moment, what really mattered was that I wanted Blair like I had never wanted anything, anyone, in my entire life.
When it came to her, I was weak after all.
Blair let out a little gasp before I closed my mouth around hers again. I slid my hands down, down, down to her thighs, and she let me lift up her legs. She wound them around my waist, and when I pressed my body to hers, putting my hard-on right on the perfect spot, she gasped again.
I pushed my hips against hers again, teasing her. Blair arched her back in response, throwing her head back. I couldn’t resist that long, smooth neck and slid my lips from her mouth to her neck. I licked and nipped her soft skin, enjoying how she squirmed under my touch, how her breathing grew shallow and erratic and how warm her skin was.
I straightened up and rested her back on one of the thick column holding the tent up, just enough so I could take off my leather vest and pull my tunic over my head. All the while, Blair’s eyes were fixed on mine, a shine in them I had never seen before. A deep, warm gaze that made me even harder for her.
Then I stayed there, while her legs were around my waist, our hips naked and touching, and her back leaned against the door, admiring the beautiful fae in front of me.
Rust, this fae.
Her breasts were perfect and perky, and her thin waist and flat stomach completed the package.
“You’re so beautiful,” I uttered.
She gave me a crooked smile. “And you too hot.” She reached over and hooked her hand on my neck. “Now, come back here.” She tugged and I let her pull me to her.
I crashed my mouth to hers, kissing her even harder and deeper than before. Blair moved her hips, and I groaned as the friction on my cock increased. I slipped my hands up her waist and cupped her breasts. Damn, they were made for my hands. I pinched the nipples and she let out a little cry against my mouth.
Rust.
“Come here.” I wound my arms around her back and kept her up, her legs around my waist, as I pushed away from the column. Holding her tight, I walked to the mattress, and deposited her over the soft covers. Then, I scooted her to the edge and knelt between her parted legs.
Blair sucked in a sharp breath.
I leaned into her legs—she bit her lower lip and I almost crawled over her to capture that lip myself, but I wanted to pleasure her first—and kissed the inside of her thighs. Blair hissed and tensed and hissed some more, while I tortured her, inching up to her center agonizingly slow. Finally, I licked her clit. Moaning, Blair arched her back. She reached down and wound her fingers into my hair. Enjoying how she was unraveling with each of my touches, I worked her. I slipped a finger inside her, then a second one, and I chuckled when she cursed and moaned. I pumped my fingers fast, while sucking and licking and kissing and nipping at her sensitive spot.
I felt her body tensing as her climax built.
“Harder,” she whispered.
I obliged and thrust my fingers harder, while I sucked on her clit. With a cry, Blair stilled for a second, then broke down in little quivers.
She was still trembling when I crawled over her, planting small kisses all over her body—her hip bone, her navel, her ribs, her breasts. There, I paused. I licked around the under edge of her left breast, while I clasped the other with my hand. Then, I closed my mouth around the nipple and sucked. Arching her back, Blair let out a cry. I sucked, I kissed, I licked, and all the while she squirmed under me, her long nails trailing paths on my back, leaving their mark.
I continued up my path. I kissed her collarbone, the soft spot between her shoulder and neck, her jaw, her chin, and finally her mouth. She smiled, and when I pulled back, she wound her arms around my neck and pulled me to her again. This time I smiled before she kissed me.
While kissing me, she parted her legs. I adjusted myself, and with a groan, I inched inside her. Very, very slow. Blair held her breath until I had buried my cock inside her. Rust, this fae. So tight. So wet. So perfect. I dropped my head to her shoulder, trying to get used to the pressure, to her.
Then two things happened almost at the same time. One, Blair tensed in a way I could only associate with one thing.
“You’re a virgin,” I whispered, a little shocked. We hadn’t gone that far when we were younger, but for some reason, I had assumed that by now, she would have slept with someone else.
“Of course I am. Was.”
And two, she gasped, as the force, that invisible line, thick and eternal and unmistakable, formed between us.
“The bond.” I looked into her eyes, more shocked now. “The mating bond.”
Blair smiled at me, a wicked thing, a beautiful thing. I started pulling back, trying to comprehend this new level of complexity, but Blair hooked her legs around my waist and tugged me back to her. “No, don’t.” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Stay with me,” she whispered in my ear. She squirmed her hips, increasing the rusting pressure on my cock.
How could I resist this? Resist her?
A possessive feeling gripped my gut. I was Blair’s first. I hated to admit that made me proud and a little crazier about her.
She might be a virgin, but she knew exactly what she was doing to me. She lifted her hips, driving my cock even deeper.
“Rust,” I hissed.
“Move,” she whispered, breathless. “Please, move.”
How could I say no to that?
I lifted my torso on my elbows and looked at her, into her beautiful amber eyes, at the lust and desire shining in them and driving me crazy. I pulled all the way back, then slammed into her again. Gasping, Blair cupped my ass and pulled me toward her. I started moving, slow for only two long thrusts, before I couldn’t keep this up anymore. I had to have her, and I had to have all of her now.
I thrust into her deep and hard and fast.
“Yes,” Blair said, her voice low.
“Rust, I know.” I leaned into her and caught her mouth with mine. I plunged my tongue into her mouth, just like me, hard and deep and fast. She buried her nails in my back and the pain mixed with the pleasure.
I was ready to dive into this beautiful fae, I was ready to give in to the pleasure building in my core, to let it all go and swim in pure bliss, when Blair clutched my shoulders, and using a fighting move, turned us around. My back hit the mattress and she straddled me.
“Rusting …”
She looked down at me, with a naughty smile on his lips. Her long hair fell around her shoulders and down her back, and her lean torso was straight as a board. She pushed down on me, and I groaned with how deep she could take it like this.
She started moving. Slow at first, with long, deliberate strokes. But then she hissed and, looking into my eyes, she sped up—virgin? She was a virgin? That was hard to believe, but oh, it made me feel so proud and possessive right now.
Her breasts bounced with each up and down, up and down. I reached over and clasped her breasts. I pinched her nipples, and moaning, she threw her head back.
I slid my hands down to her waist and I helped her move, pulling her down hard. Harder, deeper. The tension built up, stronger and faster this time.
Blair leaned forward and rested her hands on my shoulders, her hair falling beside us like a curtain. She pressed down with her hands and used that as leverage to move even faster and deeper.
Rust, this fae.
I felt it … I felt the tension in her building too. I felt her walls tightening. I heard her breath growing erratic and her moans louder. Then, with one last push, she cried out. She fell over, her chest on mine. I clutched her waist and thrust once, twice, three more times. She bit my neck and that did it.
The pleasure in me burst and my body trembled uncontrollably.
When the spasms slowed, I cupped Bla
ir’s neck and pulled her face to mine. I captured her mouth with mine, kissing her slow and deep, savoring her sweet taste and the warmth of her body.
Rust, we had barely finished and I wanted more. I wanted much more of her, from her.
She then pulled back and crossed her arms on my chest, resting her chin on her forearm. A small smile adorned her lips. “So you are my mate.”
My gut tightened. “I am.”
I am, I repeated to myself.
“Are you surprised?” she asked, running her nails over my stomach, and sending shivers up my spine.
“Honestly, no.” It was the truth. I always thought that if someone was my mate, it had to be Blair. But then when she was promised to Lugh, I pushed that idea aside.
“Me neither,” she whispered.
I frowned. “Blair, about us—“
She stilled. “Don’t you dare say this was a mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t a mistake,” I said. Her eyes rounded. I was a little surprised by my own words too. “Anything with you is never a mistake. But there are still too many things that need resolving and—“
“I understand.” She started pulling away. I reached for her and held her close to me.
“I don’t think you do. Whatever happens, I don’t think I can let go of you, not anymore. I’m asking for patience while I navigate this new world. Deal?”
One corner of her lips curled up. “Deal.”
I stared at her, once again, struck by how beautiful she was. “By the chilly wind, I can’t resist you.”
I clasped my hand behind her neck, brought my lips to hers, and turned us around on the mattress, so my body was flush with hers, my cock at the right place.
I made love to her again, knowing that when it came to her, I would always want more.
Movement and faint light woke me up. I reached for my sword beside the mattress and pointed to whoever had entered Blair’s tent.
“Hey, it’s just me,” Lennox said, his voice low, and his face turned to the side, so he wasn’t looking directly at us.
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