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Another animalistic noise, something between a groan and a grunt, passes his lips, and he’s about to pull back again when a loud knock on the door makes me jump.
“For fuck’s sake,” he mutters before raising his voice to address the visitor. “I’m tied up at the moment. Come back later.”
He doesn’t miss a beat as he moves his hips, sliding out and in again before a second round of knocks echoes through the silence.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he sighs, hanging his head. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
He gently slides his cock out of me and reaches for the end of the comforter on the bed, tugging it up and over my naked form before marching toward the door. If I wasn’t so disappointed at being interrupted, I would probably laugh at the idea of Nor brandishing a boner to confront whoever is at the door. He has absolutely no shame.
I crane my neck to watch him rip open the door, and I can barely hear his words across the vast space.
“This better be fucking important,” he grinds out.
I can’t see anything beyond his body taking up most of the doorway, and I can’t make out what the other person is saying, despite straining my ears to hear. Judging by the way he speaks, I’m guessing it’s a servant standing on the other side.
“Are you certain?” Nor asks, his tone much less abrasive than before. “How many?”
I push myself up onto my elbows to get a better view, but it doesn’t help much.
“Thank you. We’ll be right down.” Nor snaps the door closed, his chin dropping to his chest, and he stares at the floor.
Anxiety turns my stomach as I watch him. Whatever he was told clearly isn’t good news, and my heart lurches painfully.
“Nor,” I say when he doesn’t budge. “What is it?”
He doesn’t answer immediately, but slowly pads his way back across the room. I sit up on the bed, clutching the silky comforter against my chest, and watch until he stops at the foot of the bed. His brow is furrowed, the muscles in his jaw tense as he looks me over.
Something is definitely wrong.
“Get dressed,” he demands.
“W-what?” I cock my head and stare at him, my jaw hanging slack in shock. “Talk to me, Nor. What’s wrong? What happened?”
His gaze falls to the space on the bed between us, and his brows dip lower over his intense eyes.
“Everyone is being summoned to the ballroom for a well-being check,” he explains slowly, as though he’s still struggling to process the information. “Five of our kitchen staff just dropped dead, and they want to make sure everyone else in the castle is alive.”
My heart drops, falling straight through me to the mattress, and my blood turns frigid. Thoughts of finishing what we started evaporate as fear creeps up my spine.
“They just died?” I ask hoarsely. “They weren’t sick or anything?”
He shakes his head slowly, still staring at the mattress.
“Do they know what happened?”
With a deep sigh, he drags his eyes up to meet mine, and I can see a mix of worry and hurt in them. It feels silly, considering the debauchery we participated in moments ago, but I want to throw my arms around him and comfort him. Instead, I sit stone still, paralyzed by fear as I wait for his answer.
“They were poisoned.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Nor
Helping Irissa back into her dress wasn’t nearly as fun as taking it off, but I did my best to help her be presentable again as dark thoughts clouded my mind. Nothing like this has ever happened in my lifetime, and as heartbreaking as it is to lose five loyal staff members, it’s also terrifying. It presents unanswered, frightening questions that I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of.
Was this intentional? Was it a freak accident? Maybe some ingredients got mixed up between the farms we purchase from and the chef’s prep table. Still a frightening prospect, but a little more comforting than the idea of cold-blooded murder.
A sour feeling in my stomach tells me I know who the poison was meant for if it was intentional, and it wasn’t the kitchen staff.
