Page 71 of Caroline the Cruel
He knew what Caroline had been thinking when Angus had given her the paper. Since the massacre at Avondale, things had been quiet along the border. Breicher hardly believed it. The lingering threat of another skirmish was always looming, especially now that they were attempting to rule the kingdoms as one.
But somehow, against all odds, there hadn’t been one. Things were too quiet, going too well and Breicher didn’t trust it.
The feeling traveled with him throughout the day. Even as he sparred with his nephew, the feeling a shift was about to occur was unshakable. Somehow, he had to know Caroline wouldn’t allow this to go on forever.
“What has you so distracted? Doesn’t happen to be that wife of yours running around the castle oozingfuck melike an official court announcement,” Jaden asked, bending over to catch his breath.
Breicher fetched a cloth and wiped the sweat pouring down the back of his neck. It was so much warmer in the south. He’d been here for five years, but it seemed like he’d acclimated so fast being back in Veetula for the few short months he was. And now it was like going through the training all over again. “How long do you think she’s going to let things go on like this?” he asked his nephew.
Jaden shrugged, dropping on a nearby bench at the edge of the training yard. “You’re sure you won’t let it go and give her what everyone can see you both want? I told you what I found, Breicher. Short of desecrating potentially fake graves, what more proof do you need? I think she was telling the truth. It’s like you want to hate her.”
“Nothing can convince me she isn’t cruel and calculating. Even if some of what Hollis showed me was falsified, there are too many other things.” Breicher swung, releasing a pinch of his frustration out on the straw dummy.
“Like what?” Jaden asked.
“I don’t know,” Breicher said. They’d had this conversation a dozen times and he never had a better answer. Still, he said, “The thing with Felix.”
Jaden gave an exaggerated groan, getting to his feet. “You can’t keep using that one incident as your excuse. You’re not Felix. I don’t think she’s playing you.”
Breicher scoffed, taking another swing. “She’s most certainly playing me. And you too, apparently.”
“You’re being impossible.” Jaden threw his arms into the air. “What are you going to do when she decides she’s had enough of this cat-and-mouse game you two are playing at?”
Jaden stepped back into the ring and readied himself to take the brunt of his uncle’s wrath. Fucking and sparring were about the only things that eased their tension when they got like this, and since Breicher was abstaining from the first, the second got double attention. It was the only reason Caroline had begrudgingly allowed him to join them for the few days they’d be at Roskide.
It was his first trip to the sunny kingdom, and instantly he’d seen the appeal. Everything was green. Bright colors were everywhere, a contrast to the washed-out icy world he grew up in. Each night as the sun set over the farmland and rolling vineyards, he wished to ride through the fields enjoying the feel of sun warming his skin.
Breicher hadn’t answered his question. He lunged at Jaden, lowered his sword tip a little too far. A mistake which Jaden took advantage of, knocking it aside, darting forward underneath his uncle’s defenses. A second later, he was twisting Breicher’s wrist, his sword clanked to the ground, and Jaden had him up and over his shoulder. The larger man coughed beneath him, trying to refill his lungs with air as Jaden straddled him. “Like I said, you’re distracted. And you didn’t answer my question.”
Jaden helped his uncle up, watching him as he dusted himself off and placed the practice weapon back on the rack.
“I won’t give into her and let her make me look like a fool, so we will just have to be ready to do what we must when the time comes.” Defeated, Breicher left the training yard, leaving Jaden with the warning.
Jaden sat there, thinking until the sun had almost dipped completely below the horizon, mirroring the sinking feeling in his gut. If fear was contagious, Jaden would suspect he’d just caught it.
Caroline stifled a gasp. Breicher must not have heard her when she came through the door of his apartments. The bedroom door had been cracked, so she’d nudged it a little further and popped her head in to see if the king was in residence. Breicher leaned against the fireplace with one arm and the other was working himself vigorously. Part of her bristled at the image before her because she felt she should be the one wringing her husband’s pleasure from him. The other part of her, the part that was winning, which resided quite a bit lower than her brain, was responding favorably.
“I see you’re being a good boy,” she said, from the wall where she was leaning. Watching.Drooling.
Breicher started, eyes flaring open.
“You were thinking of me?” she asked, allowing a silken texture to overtake her voice. The way his face flamed answered her question.
“Get out,” he said, between pants.
“Why think of me, when you could have me?” Caroline walked over to him. He’d been aggressive to her before, handling her like a bag of grain, and she was stronger now. Turnabout was fair play.
She grabbed his arm and spun him around, pressing him against the hearth. Sweat beaded and dripped down his front, making a trail to his lowered pants. Her mouth practically dripped at the sight before her. The way his hard length jutted out toward her as if beckoning her closer.
“You know I don’t need ropes to tie you up, husband.” She grinned when the compulsion took over, pressing him back against the warm stones. Grabbing the V of his shirt, she yanked, ripping it in two, exposing his chiseled abs, clenching and releasing with each unsteady breath. His eyes tracked her every movement through heavy lids as she dragged her palms across the sweat slick surface, savoring the feel of him. “I like these,” she said, when she got to the divots at his hips leading to what was making her mouth water. Gods, she wanted to taste him.
She dropped to her knees on the plush fur rug beneath them, and he groaned, tilting his head to the heavens. A pained grimace sprouted across his features. The real reason for his anguish was seized up beneath his impressive length. Licking her lips, she peered up at him. “Tell me no, and I’ll stop.”
“We shouldn’t,” he breathed.
“Was that a, no?” she said, holding his hips, pressing the tips of her nails into his flesh, so it would sting ever so slightly. She wouldn’t move an inch until he let her know it was okay.
He gave her a slight shake of his head. She kissed his hip, letting her tongue run up the V of muscle. “So, then it’s a yes?”
