Page 221 of Spring Guardians & Songbirds

“Stubborn woman,” he said, pulling me onto his chest and kissing the top of my head. “Who I love.”

Kilian’s hand was still wrapped around mine as we and Mal made our way down to the dining chambers in Taren and I didn’t want to pull away. Not after he’d called me his more than fifty times and made me call him mine about one hundred more. Would it matter if we played pretend outside of the bedroom?

We must have missed lunch with everyone because the only ones we found there were Lazarus and Thora in a heated stare down.

“Why is that pigeon sitting with your sister?” Mal asked, somewhat defensive, before pushing past us and taking a seat by her side.

Thora jerked a little at the intrusion, she always had a thing about attention. Always blurring out anything that was not in her focus. It was something that had worried Eren countless times, especially when she would blank out in the middle of danger.

“Why is Nia not with you?” he asked my sister.

“I am not in need of a babysitter, and she was busy.”

Kilian and I took a seat by one another, and Lazarus stared his disdain and almost vocalised it before Mal asked, “What ruffled your feathers today, birdman?”

My general threw his spoon on the table and pointed a finger at me. “You missed the meeting this morning, then breakfast with your family. Did he bargain you to abandon those too?”

“That is none of your business,” Kilian said calmly as he buttered a slice of warm sourdough for me. The man had the patience of saints.

Lazarus’s chest rumbled with a growl. “Damn right it is. Just because you force her to share a bed with you doesn't give you rights to her.”

“I let him fuck me on the same bed, too, Lazarus,” I said, chewing the warm sage scented crust. And the room went quiet.

I didn’t need to look up to feel Lazarus’s betrayed puppy eyes. He was a big boy and one who knew I had no intention of reciprocating his feelings.

He stood and pushed the chair back, sending it flying across the room before stalking all upset and heartbroken out of the dining chambers. Splintered prides were easier to repair than cut-up genitals. If he spoke to me or Kilian like that again, I’d feed it to him.

“If I remember correctly,” Kilian said, placing another buttered slice next to my bowl and leaning in to whisper the rest, “I didn’t actually fuck you on the bed.”

I raised a brow. “Want me to call him back?”

He gripped my jaw with a hand and licked the corner of my lip. “Perhaps I ought to just fuck you on the bed then.”

“Really?” Mal called indignantly. “In front of the young one?”

Thora coughed on a sip of tea and turned to Mal with a dumbfounded look on her face. “I’m not a child, Malik. And you’re only four years older than I am.”

The younger Castemont shut his eyes tight. “Just cooperate, will you?”

“Cooperate? What are you sullying my sister with?” Eren asked as he came into the dining chambers. He kissed the top of my head and then Thora’s before taking a seat.

“Sully?” Cai asked, plopping down in a chair beside me. When did he come? “It is Mal we are talking about. Thora is probably past saving now.”

Mal chucked a butter knife at my friend who caught it mid-air and began cutting his food with it. “Thank you, princeling.”

Pen and Visha came in together, chatting and murmuring to one another. The second my Crafter noted Cai and Mal, she bowed her head to me and left the room.

Pen had a massive frown on her face, her gaze narrowed on Kilian. She sat down, crossed her arms and stared at him up and down. “Are you a rabid dog?”

Kilian stopped chewing and slowly glanced at me before turning to Pen, confused.

The little redhead pointed a finger at me, particularly on my neck. “Why do you bite her?”

Surely red had crept all over my face and ears.

“Because she likes it,” Kilian answered calmly, buttering me another slice of bread.

I smacked him hard on the back and he chuckled before grabbing my face with a hand, his fingers squeezing my cheeks, as he bent down to kiss my nose. He threw me a wink, too.