LOGINI woke to the heavy warmth of Caspian’s arm locked across my waist.The bedroom was silent except for the crackle of the dying hearth fire and the slow, deep rhythm of his breathing against my back.Sunlight bled through the high curtains, casting golden streaks across the fur blankets and the dark wood of the bed. My body was sore in places that made my cheeks flush, a deep, aching reminder of the night before... of the water, the fire, and the ruthless, worshipping way he had taken me until I couldn't speak.I shifted slightly, trying to turn in his grip, and his hand tightened on my waist instantly."Where are you going, sweet girl?" his voice rasped against the back of my neck, thick with sleep and heavy with morning heat."Nowhere," I whispered, smiling into the darkness of the pillows as I turned in his arms to face him.Caspian opened his eyes. The silver in his irises was clear, bright, and completely unclouded, burning with a
He rose over me while I was still trembling."Look at me."I did, as I shivered with intense pleasure.He positioned himself at my entrance, the thick head of him rubbing through my soaked folds, the piercing dragging over my clit until I whimpered. He teased at my entrance, and used his throbbing cock to sweeten me up. Then he pushed inside in one long, devastating thrust.The stretch stole my breath. Full. Deep. Perfect."Oh gods...""I know," he groaned, his forehead dropping to mine as he sank to the hilt. "I know. Take me. Just like that. Feel how deep I am."He gave me a moment to feel every inch of him, buried so thoroughly I could barely think. My walls fluttered around him. He cursed softly at the sensation.Then he began to move.Slow at first. Deep. Heavy. Each stroke dragging against places that made my back arch and my nails bite into his shoulders. The piercing rubbed inside me with every thrust, turning pl
His mouth closed over mine before I could form another word, but only for a moment.Caspian kissed me deep and slow, tasting the salt of my skin, the leftover fear, the victory still trembling through both of us. Then he pulled back just enough to look at me properly in the firelight. His silver eyes dragged over my face, my torn sleeve, the soot along my collarbone, the dried blood still streaked near my hairline.His jaw flexed."No," he murmured, voice rough. "Not like this."I blinked up at him, still breathless. "Caspian...""You are covered in war, sweet girl." His thumb brushed my cheek and came away dark. "Ash. Blood. Dirt. I will not take my Queen while the battlefield is still on her skin."Before I could argue, he lifted me again as if I weighed nothing and carried me through the arched doorway into the bathing chamber attached to the royal suite.Steam already curled from the wide stone bath set into the floor, fed by heated pipes beneath the Keep. The water glowed faintly
The bolt never left the string.Caspian moved before Cedric’s finger could complete its pull. He did not run. He did not leap. He hurled his heavy broadsword across thirty feet of open space with a sound like a tearing storm.The broad steel blade caught Cedric straight through the throat, driving his body backward into the velvet-draped throne. The impact shattered the carved wooden backrest, pinning the lord to his own stolen seat.Cedric’s double-barreled crossbow clattered against the marble steps, discharging uselessly into the high ceiling, sending plaster dust raining down over the dais.The five remaining Assembly lords shrieked in horror, scrambling backward like rats in a flooded cellar.Silence fell over the hall once more... heavy, dark, and total.Then, Caspian crossed the granite floor with long, measured strides. He climbed the steps of the dais, reached out, and pulled his broadsword from the dead lord
The giant executioner looked down at the thin steel blade in my hand, and a deep, rumbling laugh tore from his throat."That is what you bring to a Trial of Blood, girl?" Varg asked, his voice sounding like two grinding millstones. He lifted his double-headed battleaxe with one arm, the dark steel catching the orange glare of the braziers. "A paring knife?"On the elevated dais, Lord Cedric and the five Assembly lords smiled. It was a cold, arrogant sound that echoed off the black granite walls. They saw a woman in a plum velvet dress standing before a seven-foot pit killer, and they believed the outcome was already written in stone.I did not answer him. I did not smile.I took a slow breath, letting the cold air of the hall fill my lungs. Then my wolf, who had been kept small and quiet for so many weeks, finally stirred in the deepest part of my ribs. She lifted her head, her golden eyes opening behind my eyelids, her ancient instincts aligning with the First Moon Seal resting over
The heavy wooden carriage rolled through the slush, the iron-rimmed wheels grinding against stone as we reached the outer courtyard of Thorncross Keep. Inside the cabin, the air remained warm, smelling of dark furs and cedar. Caspian sat beside me on the bench, his big hand resting over mine where our fingers were laced together on my velvet lap. He wasn't pinning me or holding me so tight I couldn't move. He was just present, his thumb making slow, steady passes over the back of my hand, his silver eyes watching my face in the dim light of the hanging lantern."You look calm," he said softly, his voice a low rumble above the sound of the wheels."I am calm," I replied, looking up at him. "Because you're awake, and because I know what we're going back to finish."A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. He lifted my hand, pressing a brief, warm kiss to my knuckles before the carriage jolted to a complete stop.Outside, the gates of the Keep had opened without a single shot fired. Word







