Chapter 166: Extra Chapters (Valka & Lucien) XII

Valka

Present (Before the war)

The maids peel Tristan from my arms and I don’t know how we made it through the halls without collapsing against a wall, but somehow, breathless and shaking, we end up on the terrace, alone, high above the castle.

Lucien’s hands skims my throat, then my ribcage, then lower, tugging at my skirts in frantic, graceless pulls. His mouth finds the swell of my breasts, tongue tracing the edges of my corset until his teeth catch through the fabric like he’s hunting for my pulse. He locates my nipple and sucks hard.

My back hits the railing. Hard. "What if someone sees?" I manage, even as my hands betray me, already at his belt, working it open.

"Let them," he murmurs against my mouth and hoists me up onto the narrow railing, his hands bracing either sides to keep me from falling while my thighs trap his in a hard embrace.

Murmurs and gasps come from below and I should be worried about the courtiers seeing us like wild bunnies fucking like bunnies, but with the amount of scandalous portraits Lucien has the royal artists hanging on the walls of the castle, I’m sure this is the least disturbing thing they’ve seen.

Still, out of fear or respect, they leave. I don’t notice when, but I do know that by the time Lucien pushes into me, the courtyard below is empty. Well, not exactly. The flowers and cobblestones are encased in ice.

My nails run down his back as I gasp, insides constricting. "You’ve scared them all away."

"Voyeurism is fun and all, until someone sees you naked and I have to gouge out their eyes." He shreds off the corset and cups my ass, pressing me even closer. And for a moment, he has a difficulty deciding if he wants to fondle my breasts, fuck me, or mold my ass. "Fuck. I wish I had more hands."

I laugh sharply against his neck, but he pulls out of me and twists me sharply, so that my back slams against his broad chest.

He is slower this time, less out of control, though, the rattling sound in his chest doesn’t subside. His hand splays over my stomach, inching higher and higher, until it stop under my breast and cups it. "I’ve decided to give the truce with Cyrus a chance." His thumb come to a stop over my nipple and my lip wedges between my teeth when he flicks it.

"Oh?" I say, trying to sound sarcastic, but it comes out in a tight moan as the cold wind stirs over my skin, kissing the aching peaks coolly, bringing an illusion of relief before he catches both nipples in a wicked pinch that makes my knees buckle.

"There’s something coming," he says. "I heard back from Averis and it’s been a different sort of madness, to say the least. The lands are being...altered."

It’s a little hard to concentrate on his words when he’s toying with me like this, but admitting that will only make him gloat for the entire day, and we don’t want to give him anything more to be proud about. So I swallow my protest and try to listen.

But my hips won’t stop bucking against his, desperate for even a thrust in the right place. An inch to hurt, to make me cry and plead. I feel empty, too empty.

"Altered," I mouth.

He nods, his chin dropping against my head as he watches his hands work me to a frenzy. "We already knew it was unlikely our troops arrived in time. They took them by surprise. Apparently, for all their talks of religion and a new world where there’s only one god, they had been there merely to watch and report back to where they really came from." He pushes my breasts together and groans huskily, "Touch them for me, Val."

My hands rise, sliding over his and my insides pool with heat and I run my thumb along them, pressing, tugging, pinching until I can barely stand straight.

"Harder," Lucien orders and he drops his hand, reaching for himself behind me and I feel him stroke himself against my ass, bringing his tip to my lower back so I feel the thick ridge coated in wetness.

I obey him. Because I’ve come to realize it’s easier to submit to a man who knows you more than you know yourself, cherished you and knows when to submit, himself. Because I know I’ll get my turn at bossing around. I always do. And also because whatever he demands of me always brings me more pleasure than I can fathom.

Blood rushes to my head and I don’t realize he’s begun speaking again until the soft purr scrapes against my skin. "After winning the war through a blind attack, they simply... occupied. Our spies write to me of their developments and how the people have begun to learn to adapt to them."

"How can they adapt to strangers who have stolen their homes from them?"

His hand flattens over my spine and my breath chokes off as he bends me over the railing. For one wild second, I think I might fall, but the weight proportions are evened out, leaving me dangling over the edge. The wind whips through my hair and bites at my face. The iron railing pinches at my abdomen. The view is breathtaking, but I barely feel any of it as he pushes into me from behind.

White explodes in my vision with streaks of hot pleasure. His hand fists my waist, holding me in place as he pulls out all the way and pushes back in slowly, inch by inch. I can’t move, can’t push back. I can only feel and it is the most infuriating thing in the world.

"The first thing they did was control the export and import of grain and other food supplies. They’re half starving to death, with the only option of accepting this new regime to feed their children. They would’ve had to accept the terms sooner or later," he lectures casually, like isn’t railing me in. Though, I know it’s more out of stress than anything. Because he likes talking to me. He says it makes him feel much, much better. "Some wars are better fought on full stomachs and less weakened limbs."

"And they’re headed for Voss now?"

He grunts his ’yes’, his thigh slapping against mine. "I assume the only reason they haven’t gotten here yet is because of they haven’t figured out how to cross the sea yet. Though, I assume it’s only a matter of time--"

"Lucien?"

Thrust. In, deeper still, half-way out. All the way in. "Hmm?"

"Shut up."

A sharp laugh. "Yes, your Grace."

He pulls out of me suddenly.

I blink, dazed, breathless and then his hands lock around my waist, dragging me off the railing.

Before I can ask what he’s doing, he turns me, mouth crushing mine, and walks me backward toward the narrow stone bench tucked against the wall. He starts to lift me onto his lap but I push back, settling between his legs, my knees hitting the ground.

He stiffens as I caress the length of his thigh. "What’s the rush, Luke?"

Light lashes flutter against his cheek. "I..." He swallows, watching my hands reach for his throbbing cock. "I might have to..." He exhales harshly as I wrap my fingers around the base of him, my free hand cupping his balls. "Ride out to Voss."

My brow arches and my fist tightens around him, cutting off blood flow entirely. "Oh? When?"

His eyes shut tightly, nostrils flaring. "Tonight."

I bend forward and gradually lower my mouth. My pretty little mouth that he so loves inching closer and closer to his hard-on, the tip of my tongue gliding across my upper lip. I look up at him with big amber eyes. "Tonight?"

His fingers curl into stone and ice trickles formless out of them. "Tomorrow, maybe."

I pucker my lips and kiss the head of his cock. An electric volt of desire starts there, shooting straight through him, making his whole body jump. "Tomorrow?"

"Val," he groans in exasperation. "This is important. We might be in the direct line of fire--"

I suck his tip into my mouth and his growl reverberates off the walls in layers. "So," I lick my lips. "When were you going to tell me I would be sleeping alone tonight?"

Violet eyes narrow at me through slits. "I told you over a week ago that I might be leaving."

I blink, feigning innocence. "I don’t remember agreeing to it."

He opens his mouth to protest but I go in for another kiss, sucking hard the moment he is halfway through my mouth. His body tenses with current so intense, he trembles from the force of it. I get a little greedy at the sounds he makes, running my tongue up the centre and slurping on it.

I don’t want him to leave. I hate it when he has to. Because I cannot stop worrying for him. I know it’s important and he wouldn’t be leaving unless he was left with no choice. But I’ve never pretended to be anything but selfish.

I want to devour him.

My jaw widens and I bring my head lower still until I feel him in the back of my throat. He grabs me by the back of my hair with such for that I cry out. But the sound is completely muffled by the uncontrolled thrusts and pounds that make tears leak from my eyes.

But halfway through, I pull him out of my mouth with a suction. "Why do you have to be there? I assume there’s a reason you began with the stories."

He looks away, confirming my thoughts that there is a deeper reason. "I got a letter from... Astrea Draemir. She’s in Voss."

I jerk back. "What?"

He sighs, and no, I do not let go of his cock. If it’s what I’m thinking, because I’m always thinking terrible things, I’m going to cut it off. He doesn’t seem bothered by that, though. "It’s a bit of a tedious situation. I hadn’t decided yet, and I didn’t want you to get..." He trails off.

"Get what? Suspicious?"

"Worried," he corrects. "Valka, you’re crushing my dick," he adds, face red.

I don’t let up. "So what? You’re meeting up with her? Whatever for?"

"Val, breathe--"

"Don’t fucking tell me to breathe!"

He grunts and I stare down and find his cock turning purple in my clenched grasp. It’s still really hard, though. I wonder what that says about him. "She was amongst the first prisoners taken by the invaders," he cuts in swiftly.

My grip loosens as he continues. "She has a world’s worth of information on them, and she won’t talk to anyone but me."

I jerk up. "No. You’re not going. It’s so obviously a trap--"

"She’s... dying."

My heart halts and I meet his gaze and see the earnest look in his eyes. "What do you mean she’s dying?"

He shrugs. "Cyrus said so. She arrived in terrible health. With her daughter. The physicians say she’s not long for this world. In exchange for the important piece of information that will buy us time--years, if we’re lucky--she..." His eyes turn wary and he releases a heavy breath, like this is the part that has might make me really, really mad. "She wants us to take her daughter."