Page 73 of A Kingdom of Lies

Duncan came to his end suddenly, moans building into a crescendo. I’d finished moments before, my spare hand assisting my climax. His fingers gripped into my leg as he cried out, lost in his relief. I watched him with pride, knowing I’d done that. With all the power I held, everything I could do, this…thiswas what gave me a sense of satisfaction with myself.

His thrusting slowed, breaths panting and chest heaving. When he opened his eyes to look at me, ringed with tiredness and hair sticky with sweat, he grinned. “You’re magnificent, Robin.”

I gulped as he withdrew his cock from me, the phantom feeling of it still lingering within, even moments after he’d turned his broad back to me. I thought I’d become an afterthought as Duncan began cleaning himself down with the discarded tunic I had taken off.

Then he turned back to me and took his time clearing the cum from my stomach.

“The feeling is mutual,” I replied, rolling onto my side and curling into myself. All I had done was lay myself down, presenting my body like food upon a platter of gold for Duncan to feast on, yet still I felt deeply exhausted. “That was not how I envisioned the evening going.”

It was sobering. My mind was crystal clear as though I’d not touched a drop of alcohol at all.

“I do hope that is not regret I hear in your voice, Robin?”

I looked up, concern pinching Duncan’s brow into a scowl. “Not at all, merely surprised. At you, at myself.”

Duncan stepped towards the bed, cock still hard between his legs. “May I join you before my legs give out? Exerting so much energy after my head injury has left me feeling like I’m standing on a boat.”

I patted the bed, chest warming at the idea of sharing such a small space with him.

We both lay naked facing each other. My back was pressed to the wall, the bed mostly taken up by Duncan’s large, demanding build. He ran his fingers up and down my bare arm, tickling over the bumps that had spread across my skin.

“When the wine wears off, and we wake tomorrow, you may think differently of what has happened tonight.”

“Maybe, but I think you’re going to be wrong,” I told him, head as clear as summer skies, not an ounce of wine left to haunt me. Perhaps Duncan had fucked the drunkenness out of me. “But you will. When realisation of what I am, what you are, catches up to you. By morning you’ll remember.”

Until then, I will continue to pretend – continue to use Duncan as a means to forget the world outside this attic room.

Duncan pressed a kiss to my lips, gentle as snowflakes falling upon skin. He pulled back, eyes blinking. “It would seem it ismyturn to tell you that you are wrong, Robin. Tomorrow we will wake, still here, inside the church which has been defiled by our actions.”

That spurred a small chuckle from me. “The sex part?”

“Yes, the fucking in a church part, Robin. Sex isn’t a sin, but I’m sure even a god would draw the line at ‘time and place’. Let us hope the Creator, DuwarandAltar have taken the night off and won’t judge us.”

No longer did I hear the congregation of chanting beneath us. I only hoped that Abbot Nathanial had retired, and that his ears didn’t work well. I could hardly remember if we’d made a ruckus whilst we fucked – the idea of the old man hearing us turned my stomach in knots.

“What happens next?” I asked Duncan as his soft breath eased against my damp skin.

The question dangled between us on a fine string, ready to snap at any given moment.

“I can’t answer that, Robin,” Duncan replied, allowing me to tuck a strand of dark hair away from his eyes. The scar across his face flickered as his jaw feathered with tension. “Not yet. But I promise, if you are willing, we will face what tomorrow brings together.”

Together. A Hunter and a fey. A general and a king.

A killer and a killer.

CHAPTER 25

We grew complacent in the days which passed. Time moved in a blur of laughter, sex and connection. Duncan and I made a world for ourselves, hidden away from our responsibilities within the church’s walls. The attic became our haven. In that room we were nothing but two men, no past or future, only now.

There was no talk about what was to come after we left these walls. Orwhenthat time would be. Our stay should’ve been only a few days, but that stretched on to close to a week. I didn’t bring it up, nor did he. In truth, during the time when Nathanial left us to his duties, we would clamber upon one another, limbs twisted and lips wet.

A flurry of snow had settled upon Ayvbury overnight, turning roofs white and hiding the roads beneath. We had watched from the window as fewer occupants joined for morning mass. With my hand pressed to the thin glass, I could sense just how cold it was outside. It had even invaded the room, affecting Duncan more than it did me. The chill felt like welcoming arms, wrapping around me and holding tight. Duncan didn’t feel the same, instead swearing through chattering teeth, the tip of his nose as red as his cheeks.

He used my body to warm himself up.

Abbot Nathanial had called for our help later that morning, promising that some good, honest labour would help warm Duncan from the inside out. Not that I needed it, but I was happy to help the old man.

Our task was simple. We moved through the church, collecting religious tomes and tidying the many items left from the morning service. For people who respected the Creator, they certainly didn’t respect his place of worship.

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