Page 105 of Golden Queen (Idrigard #1)

Ectr slid into the training room, gliding over the floor so smoothly it looked like their feet were not even moving.

They bowed and smiled, and it was a warm smile. It changed their blank, vacant gaze to one of joy. "We are pleased to meet the future Lady of Darkwatch—the one who has captivated the cold, dead heart of our lord."

I stared at Ectr, wide eyed, until Edris laughed uncomfortably. "A joke, my Lady," he explained.

"Yes," Ectr said with wide, unblinking eyes. They laughed in a way that made me think it was the first time they ever had. "A joke."

My laughter was not forced as I realized it had been an attempt at humor.

Ash and Ever came forward, both seeming to decide to move at the same time, with no outward signal. "But to be fair—" one of them said.

"—we all despaired of Amon ever actually settling down," the other one finished as though it had been one singular thought.

Edris gave them a look. "Shut up, children. You will scare her away, and then he will remain the miserable bastard he has always been until the end of time."

I sputtered laughter, surprised at the way they humorously mocked him. "It’s not so easy to scare me away," I said.

"Ah, yes," Edris said, eyeing my sword. "That was something quite unbelievable."

I turned to look at the training dummy that was in pieces across the floor. "Oh, well, thank you," I said.

I didn’t even balk at taking credit for the skill instead of admitting I’d found myself in possession of an enchanted blade by way of a magical sexy escapade in a cave.

"We're sorry to interrupt you, My Lady," Edris added. "We thought to do some training. We did not realize you would be using the chamber."

"Please, call me Aelia," I told him. "And don't let me stop you. I’m finished…and not entirely sure I should be here, in the first place."

Edris returned the smile and tilted his chin assessingly. "You are soon to be Lady of Darkwatch, Aelia. The Reach is yours. You will find there is not a place in it that you should not be—nor a dragon rider here who would not give their life for yours."

"You honor me, sir," I said, speaking truthfully. His words had given me such an immediate feeling of acceptance that I very nearly hugged him.

I was glad I had not done so as I heard a voice behind me from the opposite door. "What are you rutting beasts doing here with my lady?" His tone was good-natured.

I turned to see a smile on Io’s face as he stalked into the room.

The smile died a slow death as he saw me, though. I couldn’t understand why until I followed his gaze to my chest and saw the way the sweaty shirt was sticking to my breasts.

I rolled my eyes. It was not that bad. He came straight to me and turned me fully behind him, staring down at me with a muscle twitching in his jaw. "Get out!" he told the dragon riders coldly, not taking his eyes off me.

I heard a laugh from one of the twins.

"Right away, Lord," Edris said with humor in his voice.

"We enjoyed meeting you, My Lady Aelia," came Ectr's musical, monotonous voice.

"Likewise," I said cheerfully, leaning to the side to attempt to say goodbye.

"What in the gods names are you doing?" Io said, glancing behind him to ensure they had gone before he stepped back from me.

"I was training," I told him, indicating the shredded dummy and waiting for him to remark on it.

He glanced at it with no recognition, and then looked back at my chest. "I mean...what are you doing?"

"Well, I thought I was alone—but also, I have very few underclothes, you might remember."

He didn't respond, just continued to glare at me. I realized he was truly angry, not just annoyed. That immediately stoked my own ire to life. "They are only breasts," I snapped, starting to turn away.

"Only breasts?" he asked, his voice low and threatening.

I widened my eyes in mock surprise. "Yes, only breasts! And as you well know, women in Orin go bare-chested to court!"

His nostrils flared in irritation. "I don't give a fuck what the women in Orin do. I don't want my wife's tits on display to my men."

I laughed a rueful laugh. "We are not married! And I did not put them on display! I got sweaty!"

I was nearly chest to chest with him. I felt my teeth clench hard with anger and no small measure of humiliation that he was acting like a jealous dog because someone had seen the vague outline of my nipples.

"You need to take better care," he began.

"They are only breasts!"

He looked down at my chest and then back up at me. "Those are not only breasts!"

My face flamed with embarrassment. "Oh, so because they are large and...and..."

"Glorious?" he supplied.

"Fuck you, Io!" I shouted, pushing against him with my palms.

"It would be my pleasure, Sera," he said darkly. "But are you sure you wouldn't rather have an audience for it?"

Bastard, I thought. Cruel, heartless bastard! "Maybe I would like an audience. Maybe I would be fine walking bare-assed through the entire Reach. And if so, it would be none of your fucking business!"

He shook his head slowly, his lips rising to a near snarl. "Oh, it's my business, all right. You are mine."

"I belong to no one, you...massive fucking prick!" I moved to shove him again, but he caught my wrist, holding my palm against his chest.

"You belong to me, Sera. You know it. I know it. This whole gods damned world knows it. So yes, it's my business who sees your tits or any other part of you. And I'm yours, by turns, which means I certainly won't go around showing my cock to a bunch of women I don't even know."

"Maybe they would do us all a favor and cut it off!"

He laughed cruelly, sliding his hands down to my hips and pulling me roughly against him. He was already hard. "Liar. We both know that's your favorite part of me," he growled.

I tried to pull away from him, anger still coursing through me, but I was surprised to find that when I did pull back, my own hand tucked in at his waistband held me in place. I was undoing the clasps with no thought, hand aching to contact that smooth skin and rigid, unyielding steel of him.

His mouth found mine and I bit his lip, tasting blood as the buttons of his breeches gave way and my palm found the impossibly hot length of him.

I wrapped my fingers around him, unsure what to do, but wanting just to feel him. He was so thick in my hand that my fingers barely reached around him—even my relatively long fingers.

I felt him groan against my mouth as I stroked him, running my thumb over the tip.

I thought about going to my knees, tasting him, but just as I readied my muscles to obey, he growled, placing his hand over mine and stilling me.

He caught the front of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head only a heartbeat before he lowered me to the floor. He roughly yanked my pants over my hips as his mouth claimed mine again.

His knees pushed my legs apart. I had one fleeting moment of embarrassment about the blood from my courses, but then it was obliterated by the hard press of him spreading me apart as he thrust into me roughly.

"Mine, Sera," he growled as he seated himself again, driving me against the floor. My braid was caught beneath me so that my head was yanked back, my neck bared to him.

I felt his teeth against my flesh as his hips pounded against mine, building dark, endless heat deep inside me.

"Do you understand?" he ground out. He lifted me so that my braid came free as he forced my gaze to his with a hand on the back of my neck.

"Yes," I moaned as I reached for him, letting my nails scrape down his neck and across his chest.

"Then say it," he said, thrusting again, deeper, pressing me harder into the floor.

"I'm yours," I cried. I felt myself coming apart at the seams. I wanted him deeper, wanted more, wanted some fulfillment I couldn't reach. "Please," I begged.

"What, Sera?" he demanded, still holding my gaze, never stopping that maddening thrust of his powerful hips. "Tell me what you want,” he commanded.

I arched up against him, only then realizing I still held my sword as my fingers released the handle. I grasped his shoulders, pushing against him as hard as he pushed into me. "Harder," I begged. "Fuck me harder."

His dark chuckle was the only warning before he did.

He cradled the back of my head, cushioning it from the hard floor as he increased his pace, pounding into me with a roughness that sent a delicious deep ache through the very center of me.

I came apart around him quickly, screaming as the waves of pleasure rolled through me. My body jerked against him, shuddering as all my muscles contracted at the same time he roared his release. He held my hips off the floor, pressing me against him as he spilled himself inside me.

I gave myself only a moment to will my heartbeat back to normal before I pushed him away.

Surprised, he moved back, letting me slide from under him. I hardly noticed the small amount of blood that coated the length of him and my inner thighs as I rose.

My body still pulsed and ached with echoes of the pleasure that had just raced through me.

I leaned down to retrieve Sangui from where she was twisted up in my discarded shirt, and then I turned to leave.

As I reached the two steps leading up to the doorway, I turned back to him with a sneer.

"I don't belong to anyone! Especially not someone who never even had the balls to ask me to marry him! " I shouted.

I turned and marched away, not even bothering to collect my clothes, my boots, or my scabbard.

I was so angry! He had more than embarrassed me. He had tried to make me feel ashamed of my own body when I knew there wasn't a gods damned thing in the world to feel shame about.

There was no anger in me for what had come after. That had been as welcome as every other time he’d been inside me. It was just an interlude to the anger, though.

He had never made me feel a single moment of shame for the shape of my body. I hadn’t known how much I appreciated that until he undid it all with just a few jealous words.