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I mean my words mostly in jest, but Dura looks at me with a serious face. I feel hesitation in the bond, like she wants to say something, but can’t find the words.
“What is it?” I ask.
She bites her lip, then says, “I don’t know how to be a human duchess. I cannot keep a castle running or order about servants. I am a warrior. It’s all I’ve ever been and all I know how to be. I will be an embarrassment to you.”
I stop myself from scoffing at her words. She obviously means them and is feeling vulnerable. Laughing at her, no matter how ridiculous she is being, won’t do. Instead, I take her in my arms again. “I don’t want you to be anything other than what you are,” I tell her. “And we will be the stewards of a land that is on the border of a nation that has declared war on us. Grimblton needs a soldier more than a courtier who can pretty up a castle. When it is time for such things, we will get a proper housekeeper to do those things for you. But for now, I can say without hesitation, that you are the duchess my people need and the mate of my heart. I will have no other.”
Relief surges at me through the bond, as well as hunger, and soon Dura is kissing me, pushing me toward the bed and I grin against her lips.
Then there is no more talking.
Epilogue
Dura
Aweek has passed since the trial and Marvik and I are both back in Grimblton. I, for one, am glad to no longer be at High Citadel. The stares and questions were too much, as was the uproar when Marvik was reinstated as heir to the Grimble holdings. Whispers of favoritism came from jealous courtiers who had hoped to usurp the lands as their own, as well as a defense from those who sought to curry favor with the new Duke Woreki. It was enough to give me a constant headache and so, after Adalind and Rognar headed back to Orik, we left.
There is much to do in our lands. The town wall is being fortified and built higher, and a warning system of fires waiting to be lit has been built to send word to the surrounding towns in the case of another invasion. More of the Horde has arrived from Orik and been stationed here as well and we have had to scramble to find bunking for them. Regular patrols now walk along the border in the Eastforte Thicket, reporting on enemy movements.
Things are quiet for now, but Marvik was right. Grimblton needs a warrior duchess right now, not one that can manage a keep. We have no idea when Barakrin will strike again, but with the demon Grazrath on its throne, the question is not if, but when.
I sit in the master chamber in the newly renamed Castle Woreki. I stretch out the kinks in my shoulder muscles and sigh. It has been a long day, but good. Productive. A warm figure comes behind me, hands grabbing and kneading my muscles, and I smile.
“You’re back,” I say, glancing behind me. Marvik stands behind me, continuing his massage. He was out with the patrols today, training some new arrivals.
“I am,” he confirms, digging in with his thumbs. A tense muscleloosens because of his ministrations, and I moan lightly. His hands still for a moment, then he chuckles. “It’s hard to think of anything but having you in my bed, when you make sounds like that, huntress.”
“Then take me to bed, myAsh’ka,” I challenge. “It’s been too long.”
Really, it’s been since this morning, but we are still newly mated and my hunger for my mate never abates. And I have an idea for tonight’s passion that I wish to try. His hands slip down from my shoulders, coming to my breasts and takes my lips in an upside-down kiss. His warm hands kneading my breasts feels wonderful and my thrum immediately spills forth. Our tongues tangle together, languorous. Sex no longer feels as desperate as it did before, but our slow, reverent explorations of each other’s bodies are just as wonderful as our fierce, frantic couplings from before the trial.
Our bodies meld together in a lustful dance and soon we find ourselves on the bed. I roll Marvik over onto his back, straddling him. I grind my center down onto his still-covered cock with an almost vicious pressure and he groans in pleasure. While he is distracted with my movements, I unwind my dragon leather braid from my arm, then grab his arms with my spare hand, before looping the leather around his wrists. There’s a question in his eyes, but I just grin at him wickedly.
“You are my prisoner,” I inform him. “My prize to do with as I please.”
Marvik’s eyes hood in pleasure, obviously aroused by my game. I pull his wrists above his head and tie them to the bedpost so that he is at my mercy. When I am finished, Marvik says, “Then take your prize, huntress. Do with me what you will.”
“Oh,” I tell him, “I intend to.”
With that, I pull off my tunic, baring my breasts to him. His eyes darken with arousal, and I lean down, pushing my nipples into his face. “Suck,” I command him and he does, with enthusiasm. Mythrum increases and I moan and sigh, my fingers coming up and tangling in his long blond hair. When he has sucked and licked and nipped to my satisfaction, I slide down his body, pulling his trousers down as I do and freeing his hard and slightly weeping cock. I lick his tip, tasting his salty precum, and he bucks his hips towards me.
“Take me in your pretty mouth, huntress,” he orders huskily. “Let me fuck that naughty tongue while you moan and thrum.”
“I’m giving the orders,” I retort, licking lightly around his manhood, teasing the sensitive skin without giving him what he wants. He bucks his hips again and this time, I push down, holding him still so that I can continue to torture him. I increase my thrum to as intense as it can be so that even the tip of my tongue is vibrating, then continue, tracing a line with my vibrating tongue from tip to sac. Marvik half groans, half laughs at my actions, his every muscle tense.
“Please, huntress,” he begs. “Please, mistress of my pleasure, take me in your mouth and let me come.”
“Well . . .” I draw the word out, lengthening his anticipation. I let my fingers dance over his skin, then grab his cock in a firm grip. “Since you asked so nicely . . .” I swallow down his cock, as deep as I can get it, my hand covering the rest, and suck.Hard. Marvik shouts and comes a little, but I swallow it down and start pumping my head. My other hand comes up and I lightly massage his balls, delicately tightening my grip around them, just to intensify the sensation. Marvik shouts again, coming once more. Next time I’ll bring a gag. It would be fun to hear his shouts muffled, his begging and requests garbled while I do what I want.
I pump him more in my mouth, licking and sucking, as he did on my nipples. When he finally comes once more, I pull my mouth off of him, then climb atop his shaking body.
“Too much?” I ask, my tone mocking, but I genuinely want to make sure he is alright to continue.
“Just enough,” he breathes out, pulling in big gulps of air as he tries to regain his composure. Well, that won’t do. I want to completely undo him, leave him a puddle of sensation and nothing more. So I grab his cock, still hard because of my thrum, and lower myself onto him in one thrust. We both moan at the intrusion and then I am riding him.
“Tell me you love me,” I command.
“I love you, huntress,” he responds readily, “more than life.”
