“It’sfine.Anyonewould have done the same.GoodthingI’mfae.See?Almostall better.”Onlythe deepest part of my wound remained, asIpulled myself free of the woman.
“I’mglad we were here to help, although maybe we caused the problem in the first place.”Amaltheashook her head and tried to hug me again, butRaulaintercepted the woman, andIfelt a warm cloth being pressed to my wound byKaleos.
“Ithink that’s enough excitement for one day,”Kaleosgently pulled me away from the gathered crowd, the rest of the cohort settling and calming them as we walked. “Itcan never just be an easy day with you, can it?”Histone was serious, but his eyes were laughing.
Chapter20
Abraxas
“Imade them take me.”Theprincess stood before me her arm still pink whereIcould see the new flesh had healed.
Avlynhad brought her to me afterIhad heard about the afternoon’s events.Ihad demanded to see the entire group, butAvlynhad informed me thatTorihad refused, and in their words, “Ican’t deal with her attitude and yours at the same time.”
Istood from the tableIwas sitting at and approached her.Afew weeks ago, she would have flinched at that, but todayIsaw nothing but defiance in her eyes.
Iquirked a brow at her, “Oh, so you managed to convincemysoldiers to disobey orders and take you into the city?”
Shemirrored my raised brow, “Ican beveryconvincing whenIwant to be,YourMajesty.”
Ishifted slightly as her words coursed over me, tantalizing on my skin, “Oh, of thatIhave no doubt,Princess.”Thesepast weeks with the cohort and court had been good for her.Shewas growing bolder, stronger, and it only made me want to grab that defiant chin and claim her even more.
“Nonetheless, if that is the case, they disobeyed me and shall receive proper punishment.”
Shestepped toward me then.Onemore step and our bodies would have been pressed together, and said, “Iwon’t have them punished for whatIdid.Iam to blame.”Shehad become very defensive of her cohort;Avlynhad told me as much.Andhere she stood, as if she could stop me.ButperhapsIwould let her.
“Youseem eager for punishment, so very different than on our journey here.Iwonder, have you been dreaming of me, little bird?”
Ifelt her shift, andIknew it was true.Withour rooms so close on the ship,Ihad felt every time she had brought her own hands between her legs, and it had taken every ounce of my control not to rip down the wall between us and get on my knees before her.Andnow with her here, and that same delicious scent of defiance and arousal spilling off of her, my control was even weaker.
Shescrunched up her face, “Don’tflatter yourself.Ithink we already know whatIdream about doing to you.”
Irecalled the dagger across my chest but couldn’t suppress a laugh. “Wellthen,Isuppose if you crave punishment, then a month without training should be sufficient.”
Immediately, she shrunk.Everyounce of rage was gone. “Youwouldn’t.”Ihadn’t expected her to deflate so easily.Thismust have been more important to her thanIrealized.ButIneeded her to fight.
“Oh,Iwould,Princess.Worriedyour lovers will forget about you?”Isaw that ember come back to her eyes.
‘It’snot like—Wait, are you jealous?”Sheshifted her body, and took that final step between us, pressing herself into me and tracing her hand up the collar of my jacket, “Ithought you didn’t get jealous,YourMajesty?IfIwere fucking them, what would you do?”
“I’drip their hands from their wrists for daring to touch you.”Iwasn’t sure that was a lie.
“Sopossessive.Butno matter how long you keep me here,I’llnever be yours.”Deepinside me, something dark and feral stirred, and only the very thin veil of my will managed to hold it in, butIcould feel it tearing through.Thishad just become much more dangerous.
“Oh,Princess,”Icouldn’t stop myself asIlaced my fingers over her jaw, drawing her even closer, “Youdon’t know it, but you already are.”
Shepulled herself away from me then, andIcould finally breathe, “Iwould rather jump from the sea cliffs.”
Iwanted to keep this going, butIknew that ifIdidn’t stop now, it wouldn’t end untilIhad her bent over my desk with my cock buried in her.AndIhad to wait.Shehad to take that first step.
“Well, then, to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed, a compromise.”Ihad caught her off guard, but she didn’t interrupt “Notraining with the cohort until you fixAmalthea’scart.”Shecontinued to stare at me with a puzzled look.
“Ihear it was quite damaged when you used yourself as a blockade, and it is important to her livelihood.Youcan return to training once you have repaired it.”
Fora moment she just gave me a blank stare, but then she nodded her head, “Fairenough.”
Ishould have let it lie there, but my mind was still caught on the irresistible scent of her, “Whatcaused you to throw yourself between a fully loaded cart and a crowd of people you didn’t know?”
Shelocked those deep, metallic eyes with mine, “It’swhat anyone would have done.”
