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Irritation flitted through his eyes. “You insist on seeing it that way.”

“Because it is that way. You gambled with my life and set all of Ter Isir sneering behind my back. Rolund’s knights did it to my face.” I shoved him away from me. He caught himself against the wall, and he should have looked ridiculous with his pants around his knees and his cock sticking out like a fire poker.

He didn’t, of course. Just one more blow in the volley he’d dealt me.

Heart thundering, I stepped close and gripped my shaft, bringing the tip perilously close to his. Fueled by anger, I jacked myself until my breath stuttered and my muscles seized. I came on a shout and then, and only then, did I break his stare. I dropped my gaze to his hips and watched my come spurt all over his dick. Thick ropes landed on his shaft and stomach and balls, until he was covered with my seed.

When I was spent, I yanked his pants up and stuffed his rigid cock inside. I pulled the laces tight, making him hiss. “Enjoy the princess, Laurent. I hope she keeps your bed warm, because I certainly won’t.” I turned and walked to the stairs, tucking my dick away as I went.

“You want her,” he called out.

I stopped. The hair on my nape lifted. Laurent wasn’t the swordsman I was, but his words could be sharper than any blade. He knew how to ferret out weakness. He dug under the skin with surgical precision, cutting through fat and sinew to get at the heart.

And he never hesitated to make the kill.

“You want to fuck Given of Sithistra, and it makes you furious. I won’t bite her or fuck her without you. I vow it. So I guess we’ll see how long my bed stays cold.”

I clenched my jaw.

“Won’t we, General?”

I left without another word.

Chapter Six

LAURENT

I leaned against the wall and listened to the sound of Varick’s boots thumping down the spiral staircase. A few seconds later, a door slammed hard enough to shake the palace.

Or maybe that was just me he’d left shaken.

He was furious. I’d anticipated it. Nevertheless, the depth of his rage had come as a shock. But maybe that was just because I didn’t like making him angry.

No. I didn’t like disappointing him. He felt betrayed, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it right now. There was no way to soothe him or take away the sting. Because Varick of Lar Keiren was a blunt instrument. He didn’t dabble in the subtleties of court. He was either hot or cold, with no room for nuance.

I rubbed the heel of my hand over my aching, unfulfilled dick. Desire spiked, need sinking its claws into my gut. Pleasure-pain twisted through me. For a brief moment, I considered unlacing my pants and taking care of things. Almost as quickly, I discarded that idea. There was something to be said for delayed gratification. And if I had my way, Varick would finish what he started before the night was through.

Besides, I had a princess to meet.

Ten minutes later, I was cleaned up and dressed in my feast clothes. I hadn’t been inside the queen’s chamber since my mother died. Not that I’d spent much time in it while she was alive.

The servants had done a good job airing it out. Colorful tapestries covered the walls. A fire danced in the hearth. There was a tub set up behind a screen. Someone had brought in a vanity table and stocked it with hairbrushes and tiny glass bottles.

The balcony doors were thrown open, and a female in a green gown stood at the railing with her back to me. White-blond hair fell to her waist. She had her head tilted back, her face turned up to the sun.

“It’s not as warm here as it is in Sithistra,” I said.

She spun with a gasp. Deep blue eyes widened as she took me in.

My spies hadn’t exaggerated her beauty. She was tall, with long legs not even her heavy skirts could conceal. Her skin was like cream, her features delicate. But there was an air of seduction about her. It was her mouth, I decided. Her lips were pink and pouty. It wasn’t hard to imagine how they’d look stretched around my cock.

She stared a second longer, then dropped into a curtsy. “Your Grace.”

I listened for her heartbeat as I joined her on the balcony. The delicate sound sped up at my approach, and I hid a smile as I motioned for her to rise. She was only a couple of inches below my height, but so slender and indelibly feminine I felt like a brute beside her.

“You must be chilled,” I said, gesturing to her gown, which was too thin for Nor Doru’s climate. “The Deepnight saves us from burning, but it muzzles the sun. Nor Doru is a land of perpetual frost, I’m afraid.” I smiled. “But you’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t mind it, Your Grace.”

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