Page 34 of Amidst the Insidious Courts
“Back to the matter at hand,” Maeve says, stepping out from behind the boulder and proving she’s been listening the whole time. “You will need more than two males to satisfy your fever, unless you want to fuck them to death. Even with three, they’ll probably be wiped out by the end.”
Drystan stiffens. “Don’t push this on her, spirit.”
“Why? Afraid, huntsman?” Maeve offers him a sassy smirk. “You should be.”
“If Drystan wants to be there, I want him there.” Trying my hardest to keep a straight face is proving more and more difficult, so I stand and begin to pace, hoping to expel my excess energy.
What I want to do is ask Maeve if fucking them to death is a real possibility. After all, my Guard can’t die, so surely, she’s exaggerating, right?
Drystan pierces me with that gaze again, his eyes burning into me before he nods once.
“Good. Settled! More in the fuckfest!” Lore blinks to the top of the boulder above us, dropping his hat onto my head, where it morphs once more into a cosy poncho hood.
“The redcap is my favourite,” Maeve nods in Lore’s direction.
Ignoring her, because of course she’d like my stabbiest, foul-mouthed Guard best, I snuggle into the fabric, inhaling his berries and metal scent as I pace the length of the fire.
“Was that all?” I ask.
There’s been enough discussion of my sex life tonight to last me a lifetime, and my bed roll is looking like a tempting escape.
“No.” Drystan stops me in my tracks. “You’ve been experiencing too many symptoms, especially considering how long you still have left to go until the fever hits.” His tone tells me that’s not a good sign. “From now on, you’ll be tended to every morning and every night. We don’t leave camp until you’re satisfied, and you don’t sleep without it either.”
My mouth drops. “You’re scheduling sex?”
His expression doesn’t change. “For your well-being.”
I know without asking that this isn’t something I can talk my way out of, and I’m not sure I want to. In a way, I’m grateful. Asking them for it was too much, and now Drystan has taken away the anxiety surrounding that with one heavy-handed command.
“Don’t be too shocked, pet. This is the way winter fae get laid in the court that froze romance.” Lore blinks beside me, and then blinks me up to the rock with him, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “They say that, even in the grip of their fevers, winter fae females force their mates to book an appointment and sign reproductive contracts.”
“I doubt that’s true,” I mumble.
“You’ve never met his mother.” Lore tilts his head in Drystan’s direction. “She could freeze the dick off a barbegazi.”
I don’t have a chance to ask what one of those is, because Drystan’s skin has gone ashen.
“Don’t mention my mother again.”
“Why? She was a charming dinner companion. Got a bit pissy when I refused to murder Cedwyn for her, but—”
“No.” I cut him off. “Look. Can we just… I’ve had enough arguing. Jaro, apparently, I now need to orgasm before I sleep, will you…?”
The knight is on his feet before I can even finish.
“But it’s not his turn,” Lore whines as I’m pulled from his grip, blinking back down to the fire.
Drystan cuffs him upside the head. “Technically, it was mine.”
“Tough shit,” Jaro retorts. “You argued, and the lady decided.” He presses a cute kiss to my nose. “Want them to watch? Or would you rather they give us some privacy?”
A flare of heat bursts through my core at the thought of the rest of them watching, but I shake my head. “Privacy.”
Bree is gone in the next second, and Drystan drags Lore away from the fire and into the woods, muttering something about hunting for breakfast.
Without all of them there, I feel like I can finally breathe. Of course, that feeling only lasts until I look up and catch the raw desire written across Jaro’s face.
Eleven
