Page 61 of The Man with the Violet Eyes

“No,” he insisted.

“Nicolo…”

“Not another word, Charlotte.”

And his kiss consumed me. I could feel him against me, as ready as I was, and his hands were already reaching for buttons, clasps, ties and whatever else stood between him and my body. Swift to follow, I unbuckled his belt. Idly I wondered where his sword was—how close to the bed. But that didn’t matter right now—now all that mattered was the two of us—was him inside me, in any and all ways possible.

The door swung open without preamble, interrupting us, and there was only one person who would dare enter the master’s rooms in such a way.

“Ha!” Balduin exclaimed happily as Nicolo sprang off the bed and I struggled to put my disordered gown into something approaching decency. “I knew you were fucking that little rabbit. Don’t know why you felt the need to lie about it all this time.”

Was I cursed never to be alone with Nicolo? Was this the price I paid for teasing him? Or for plotting to kill him? The Great God certainly had it in for me for some reason.

“Your Highness?” Nicolo recovered his composure with impressive speed. His breeches were still on but that was it. I wasn’t so lucky.

And Balduin was not so easily distracted. He walked further into the room, shutting the door behind him and stared at me all the while.

“What I can’t understand is why you’d go with the rabbit when you had your pick of the court tonight. Lady Satine was climbing your leg like a monkey and that woman is an animal.”

“Not everyone is attracted to monkeys.” Nicolo tried to defuse the subject with humor but failed. Anyone could have seen the concern in his eyes and that concern troubled me because I didn’t understand why it was there.

“And Lady Klaris bites like a terrier but fucks like a tiger,” Balduin went on, smiling congenially at us both, as if we weren’t both in various states of undress.

“I think I’m not as aroused by the animal kingdom as you are,” suggested Nicolo.

“And, yet, you went with the rabbit.” Balduin’s eyes returned to me. Suddenly my gown didn’t feel thick enough to shield me from his gaze, even though I’d managed to get it mostly back into place. “Must be something special about her besides her obvious beauty. Perhaps it is that enticing scent of hers.”

I couldn’t help smiling. However crudely Prince Balduin might phrase it, he was right; Nicolo had picked me over offers from the wealthy and sophisticated women of the court, who used these occasions to throw themselves at him for ‘no strings’ nights of passion.

Balduin looked at his friend and I could see the nervousness in Nicolo’s eyes. He saw something in this situation I didn’t.

“Something special eh?” Balduin mused. “A rabbit on the outside, but what happens when you get that cotton-tail up in the air?” His eyes flicked to me then back to Nicolo. “I want to find out,” he continued as he reached out and ran his fingers down my face.

“Balduin, I’m surprised you haven’t tethered yourself to more than one lady this evening?” Nicolo said. “Weren’t you telling me you fancied two women at the same time?”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Balduin answered, his gaze never leaving my face.

“You did.”

“And now I find… I find I fancy just one woman.” I swallowed hard. “This woman.” Then Balduin turned to face his closest friend. “I will take her for the night, Nicolo, I hope you don’t mind.”

The shock of his casual words blanched the blood from my cheeks.

“Highness…” Nicolo stuttered, more ill-at-ease now than I’d ever seen him, all his confidence gone. “She’s a squire. It’s hardly done for…”

“Ladies, maids, whores and everything in between, that was the pledge we made when we were younger. Did we not?” Balduin interrupted on an intoxicated chuckle as he waved his hand through the air as if to say ‘what is the difference?’. “I’d say we’ve both lived up to that promise, eh Nicolo? Whatever the rabbit is, maid or squire, she is certainly a bit of novelty and I must admit, I have wanted to savor that body of hers for quite a while.”

“But Highness…”

And Balduin’s smile immediately fell off his face. “Are you denying me, Nicolo? Me? The prince?”

I hadn’t previously seen the prince genuinely turn his authority on his friend, and seeing it now, it wasn’t a pretty sight. What was worse, though, was the way in which Nicolo backed down. Even if he had to.

“Of course not, Highness.”

“She’s just a woman,” Balduin shrugged.

“She is my squire,” Nicolo corrected. “And she… she’s a maid, Balduin.”

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