Page 141 of Heartbreak Prince

The ring is of dark metal, glyph-graven to match the shield symbol I always carry on my right index finger. In Belavrin, a marriage ring belongs on the dominant hand, on the first finger, as a symbol of how the pair will value each other above all else.

Vawn looks up at me from his knees, the pink strands of his hair falling back from his handsome face. Sincerity and devotion glow in his eyes. “Syth, will you have me?”

I draw in a shaking breath. “Let’s be very clear about what you’re asking.”

“You’d be my queen, sweetheart. Still my bodyguard, if you like, because I’m rather fond of us being together constantly, and I know how much you enjoy protecting my pathetic ass… but you’d have the royal title as well.” He grins up at me, but the grin disappears when I don’t answer right away. A flicker of tortured doubt enters his eyes.

I can’t bear to make him wait any longer, so I lean in and kiss him eagerly. “Yes.” Another kiss. “Yes, yes, yes.”

He laughs, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Thank the fates. Let me put this on you.”

I let him slide the ring onto my finger. “If you were planning to ask me this, why did you react in that odd way to the announcement of Inaya and Jillia’s wedding?”

“Because I wanted us to get married in the Chapel of the Fates.”

“Silly king. We still can.”

“I know, but I thought it might feel less special if you attend another wedding there first.”

“If anything, I’ll be more excited for our own wedding.” I freeze for a moment, looking down at my ring. “Our wedding, Vawn.”

“Bodyguard to queen.” He smirks. “Not a bad career trajectory.”

“Unintentional, not calculated.” I poke his chest, then wrap my hand lightly around his throat. “You ensnared me against my will, you arrogant bastard.”

“Guilty.” He’s still smiling, but a faint shadow crosses his face, and he clears his throat nervously. “There is one other thing we should discuss. As the last of my line, I will be expected to… well, there’s the matter of… certain duties that may eventually become necessary, that would require… um…”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” I interrupt. “Yes, I will have babies with you. Gladly. But let’s wait a bit, shall we? Let everything settle first.”

“Yes.” He gets to his feet, exhaling as if a huge weight has left his chest. “Although hearing you say that you want my babies… it’s doing something to me here.” He touches his heart. “No, not there…” He takes my hand and slides it down his body, all the way to the laces of his pants, beneath which there’s a hard bulge. “Here.”

“Imagine that.” I stroke the area pensively. “Is this a risk to your health, my lord king? Because you know I’m charged with protecting you against bodily harm.”

“I do believe that neglecting it could lead to some dire consequences.”

“How dreadful. Lift your shirt, Majesty.”

He draws the shirt up, exposing his stomach. I run my palm over the hills of his abdominal muscles, and then, yielding to impulse, I kneel, and I trace each of those lovely muscles with my tongue. Vawn’s stomach sucks in with his eager breath, and his abs harden still more as he tenses with pleasure.

Someone knocks on the door, and a muffled voice says, “Your Majesty? Your food is here.”

I go to the door, drawing a knife and keeping it behind my back, out of habit and an abundance of caution. But I don’t need to worry. In this place, we’re the safest we’ve ever been.

The attendant rolls in a golden cart laden with bottles of wine and covered dishes of food, then departs quickly after Vawn gives him a few coins.

Vawn locks the door, and then he leaps for me.

The food will keep. We’ve waited for a place like this, a time like this. A chance to let go completely, together.

I run from the king, and he lets out a joyful growl when he realizes the game we’re playing. He chases me into an enormous bedroom, featuring a canopy bed and a huge fireplace. He catches me there, on the thick rug in front of the hearth, and he strips me naked while I pretend to fight him. But the second he activates the vibration on his central finger and manages to get it against my clit, I collapse. I can’t fight that sensation, anymore than I can fly without the carpet.

He makes me come like that, utterly naked and weak to him, while he’s still completely clothed. He tastes me, too, while I’m shuddering through the first orgasm.

But I pay him back. As soon as my glow fades, I’m on him, tearing away the layers of his clothing, stripping away everything that makes him king and leaving only what makes him mine.

The middle finger of my right hand bears a vibration glyph too, and I trace it beneath his cock until he’s weeping arousal, every magnificent muscle of his body trembling with need.

I make him get on all fours, and then I tease his puckered asshole with that buzzing finger, right before I slip it inside him.