“Eating your ear. Gods, Sam, way to make that sound erotic.”
“I didn’t know we were going for erotic. I can do that if you like. I’ve been practicing. Oh, side of beef, put your mouth hole back on my hearing hole and eat it out. That’s the ticket.”
He leaned back, face twisted up in a grimace. “Mouth hole?”
I shrugged. “My erotic writings are intended for a specific audience.”
“A dead one?”
“Whoa,” I said. “Look who’s got jokes while I’ve got a boner. One of those things should stop. I’ll give you a hint. It’s not my boner.”
He reached between us and gripped me tight. I refused to let my eyes flutter shut, only because having him this close, sharing breaths, was a heady thing. “I’m going to take care of this,” he said, jerking me through my trousers once, then twice. “And you’re going to take care of me. And then we’re going to talk about how you’re deflecting again and how I won’t stand for it. Are we clear?”
Right then, I probably would have agreed to about anything. “Crystal,” I managed to say.
“Good,” he said before leaning in for a lingering kiss. “Now come on. You’ve got some work to do.”
“Why does even that sound hot?” I mumbled, letting him pull me along again.
“You’re twenty-one years old,” he said, glancing back at me. “Everything makes you hot.”
“Only your everything,” I said. “Which apparently I need to remind you of before you try and do even more pull-ups. Because you’re that ridiculous.”
“Did more than him,” he muttered under his breath. “And besides, I had to do something to get you out of our room that you locked me out of for two days.”
And shit. I felt bad about that. Because Ryan had essentially moved in with me a few months ago, abandoning his small single room down in the barracks. It’d been strange at first having someone in my space all the time, but then he’d pointed out he hadn’t actually spent a night in his own room in almost a month beforehand, and I got over whatever weirdness I had going on. “Yeah, about that. Um. I’m sorry? I didn’t…. Shit.” I stopped walking, pulling on his arm until he turned around and faced me. “That wasn’t fair of me,” I said when he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have— Did you do a shirtless pull-up contest just to get me out of the room?”
He grinned at me. “I’ve got brains and brawns. Felt like a good time to put them together. And since you’re a Foxy Lady, I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.”
I gaped at him. “That was… devious. In a completely sexual manner. I approve, Sir Foxheart. Well played.”
The grin softened on his face. “Next time,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me on the tip of my nose, “don’t cut me out, okay? It’s rough, Sam. I know it is. But you can’t just push me away. We’re a team. And it sucks when I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
I absolutely did not get choked up at that. “Yeah. A team.”
“For all I knew, you were trying to figure out ways to break up with me to run away with Ruv,” he said, laughing. But his eyes darted away for a split second, and even though he knew that was a ridiculous thing to say, it was still coming from a place that held a kernel of truth for him.
But I chose to follow his lead. “Like I could ever do that,” I said. “Dude, I’ve put so much work into you, you have no idea. The idea of starting over with someone else just sounds exhausting.”
He made a face at that. “Good to know.”
“Where did you sleep the last couple of days?”
“Down in the barracks with the boys. I told them it was for morale. They didn’t believe me and were convinced you’d kicked me out because I’d pissed you off somehow. It was an uncomfortable time for everyone.”
“Did they try and shave your eyebrows again?”
“They weren’t even subtle about it.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? They love me. If you ever leave me, they’ll make your life a living hell.”
He rolled his eyes even as he leaned forward to kiss me again. “All the incentive I’ll ever need.”
“Okay, so are we gonna sit here and continue talking about feelings and junk, or are we going to get to the boning? I have needs.”
He leveled me with a flat look. “Boning, Sam? Really?”
I leaned forward and kissed his cheeks and nose and chin. “Sorry, baby. Are you going to let me make sweet, sweet love to your mouth and butt holes with my throbbing member?”
He laughed as he shoved my face away. “That’s it. You are not allowed to dirty talk ever again. I have never been more turned off in my life.”
But his eyes were darkening, the green going from spring to a summer storm. He was still sweaty, little goose bumps on his shoulders. I didn’t move, just let my gaze crawl all over him, starting from his bare feet and moving slowly up. He swallowed with an audible click, flexing his hands at his sides.
“Here’s what I think we should do,” I said, taking a step toward him, closing the distance between us. My knees knocked against his. We were almost chest to chest. He was breathing a little heavier, gaze never leaving my face. “I think we should go back to our room.” I leaned forward and kissed him softly. “And I think you should remove the rest of your clothes.” I trailed my hands up his arms. His breath hitched in his chest. “And you can get yourself ready while I watch. And when you’ve gotten three fingers in you, I’ll come take care of the rest. That sound all right?”
He nodded once, sharp and quick.
“Good,” I said. “Go.”
He went, glancing back at me to make sure I was following.
I did, because it’s what he expected of me.
We learned this about us as we navigated our relationship. Out there in the real world, Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart was in charge. He carried the weight of his knights and the Crown on his shoulders. He did it well. People respected him. They feared him. They mocked him mercilessly for almost fucking up our relationship before it even started. He took all of it with a cocked eyebrow and regal stance. He was dashing and immaculate. He was of the people, by the people, for the people. Verania loved him. The women wanted to sleep with him. The men wanted to be him (and some wanted to sleep with him too). The children wanted to grow up to be him. He was everything anybody could ever want.
And that was all well and good. He didn’t let it go to his head (well, not too much, anyway—he was still a cocky bastard, after all). He’d worked hard to get where he was, gave up a lot to become a Knight Commander. And it’d almost doomed us, given the oaths he’d made.
But a funny thing happened after all that was said and done.