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I wait too, half-hoping she’ll say something. What, though? What is it I hope she’ll say? Do I hope she’ll profess her undying love for me because I beat her ass with a leather paddle? Do I want her to task me to help get her away from here to somewhere safe?
“Are you going to open the door for me?” she asks.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, moving past her to put my hand on the door. “Elizabeth. You should kn--”
The guard opens the door before I can. I can tell from his expression he’s impatient by now, and he reaches to grab Elizabeth’s arm. Quicker than thought, I slap his hand away. “She can walk without you man-handling her,” I say.
He looks at me, a touch longer than he should given his station, and then leads Elizabeth back up the way we came down.
I linger long after they’ve gone, surveying the room as if seeing it for the first time. I’ve been down to the dungeons, of course. I’ve never used any of the implements here on a woman though--let alone a woman as alluring as Elizabeth. My cock still throbs against my pants almost painfully from the memory of her. Knowing the pain was bringing her pleasure drove me on, setting something ablaze within me that I fear can only be calmed in one way. With Elizabeth I may have found a way to calm my darkness, but in doing so, I may have unleashed an entirely new beast with appetites all its own.
I leave the dungeons and head to the eastern wing of the palace, which is reserved for minor nobles. I find Dirk’s door and knock impatiently. I know he’ll either be asleep or with a woman--maybe more than one--but I frankly don’t give a shit.
I hear a loud thump followed by an annoyed curse. “The fuck do you want?” comes a groggy voice from inside.
“It’s me. Open the door,” I say.
The door swings open. I’m greeted by Dirk, whose scraggly brown hair falls over his eyes in disarray. His shirt is half undone and I see a woman’s feet dangling from beneath the covers on his bed.
“This couldn’t wait?” he asks. “I was sleeping off a night of training. This poor little virgin was utterly inexperienced.” Dirk yawns, stretching luxuriously. “I felt it was my duty to the kingdom to train her for the men that will come after me.”
I sigh. Dirk is a little older than me--in his mid thirties maybe--and he has an unquenchable appetite for virgin women. Unfortunately for the virgins of the city, he seems to have a great talent for convincing them he’s not a self-absorbed prick.
“I don’t need a reason to wake you,” I say.
“Yeah, yeah. Chain of command bullshit. You may not need a reason, but you must have one to interrupt the thing of natural beauty that is my lovemaking.”
“Looks like you two were sleeping,” I say.
“Recovering,” he corrects, raising a finger and an eyebrow.
“Right. Well I need you to look into a legal matter for me. And I need you to keep it quiet. Am I clear?”
He pushes his hair out of his eyes, watching me closely. “Since when do you have secrets, Roark?”
“I’ve always had secrets, Dirk. You were just too blind to see them,” I say.
“Bullshit,” he says. “For all your reputation, you’re transparent as river water to me, brother.”
I grin. Though you would have to trace our lineage back hundreds of years to find a link, I feel more warmth at being called brother by Dirk than I ever have from Titus.
“What do you need me to find?” he asks.
“Any legal measures for a Prince to intervene in an arranged marriage.”
His eyebrows climb up his forehead. “I’m sure there’s precedent. It will just depend how high up the royal food-chain the man is.”
“One rung from the top,” I say.
Dirk frowns. “Are you talking about stopping your brother from marrying Elizabeth?”
“No. I’m asking if there’s any legal way to do it.”
“Right,” says Dirk. “Well, I’ve got another round or two in me.” He glances back toward the sleeping form of the woman in his bed and bites his lip. “Maybe three. Then I’ll look into it first thing in the morning. But it could take some time. The fucking royal library is all print. Maybe his royal highness, prince of taking his fucking time, could look into that sometime.”
“You’re an asshole, but thank you,” I say, clapping him on the shoulder. “This stays between you and me, Dirk.”
“That goes without saying.” He takes a step toward the girl and then pauses, turning toward me again. “Be careful. I know you’re the elder brother here, but it’s no secret that your mother favors Titus. If you make an open enemy of him, there’s no telling what lengths those two would go to.”
