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She laughed as I stepped out into the corridor, knowing that when I returned, she would be gone Patara was the only person I trusted to leave on her own accord She was the only person that had ever earned such trust

She ether And as for being er than since she married my father Four years older than me, she was the only person that ever showed me a sliver of kindness in the years between ht to Ironhaven Castle as the bastard prince

Winding otten staircases, I headed inexorably toward ates, delivering her milk pail to the kitchen

Never had such a need to be near someone boiled up inside of me My leather britches tented as a throb that started down deep incock There was no precedent for the wayNever had I harbored the unbridled lust that le to contain I understood beauty, yet it never touched ment that it existed

No woh ht now And I was loathe to suppress it now that it was here

Nobody saw ht, I was less careful when I was out in the world, but here within the stone walls, I was skilled I’d learned long ago how to becoood at it There were shadows everywhere if you kne to use theuarded courtyard, there were blind spots to be exploited Within a week of co to Ararounds, and how to traverse any path unseen

Even so, I never left my chambers unmasked unless I was headed out to the woods toI was free

It was a comfort to me not to have to see my face when I passed a mirror outside of my cha to Patara or the other few guards or servants that may address me directly My scars and cuts were e than the color of my eyes or the shape of my nose

Seconds turned to eternities as I wound through the stone halls until I took the last turn tohere I was sure she was headed

Fuck, yes There she was, her hands now holding an ee pantry of the kitchen, and that painful grinding feeling returned, only this time it centered itself in my chest where my heart used to be

Her eyes were like richme But, fuck, it was her smile that ruined me

She was hu in her hands There was a little skip in her step that made the top flesh of her tits bounce as she reen dress toldabove a lowly pauper, but far frohter or niece possibly…not a wife No fucking way, that thought turned me cold

As I followed her down the darkened corridor, slipping from shadow to shadow in total silence, I watched the way her ass reen dress, drank in the way her hips swayed

The ed, beastlike My ravenous thoughts of her tiny body squir under ers twitched, then curled into fists as I bit back the instinct to drag her against the wall and claio back out into the world

No, I couldn’t stand the thought of her out there, alone, withoutWhat if another man laid claim to her when she left? What if one had already?

My red rage returned, scorching, burning me from inside If anyone else ever touched her, my wrath would know no bounds

And that’s when it happened

She spun, her s into the darkness “Who’s there?” Her voice like starlight quavered as she spoke and the heated rush of my blood felt like fire inme for the first time in forever that I was alive “Is—is someone there?”

I stood, stock-still, barely daring to breathe, sudden understanding floodingI had been utterly silent and invisible to her