He Dethroned His Queen, Now He Wants Her Home novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Until I Say

The Council's physicians examined him that afternoon, in front of the Lorne uncle.

They poked at his chest and his wrists and made him shift halfway.

They wrote that he was sick but sound, and that was all they could write.

He walked back to his rooms without a word, and I walked beside him.

Now it was past midnight, and I lay in the big bed with my eyes open.

Across the carpet, on the daybed by the window, Alaric lay on his back with his arm over his face.

He had not moved in an hour.

He had not asked for anything either.

I listened to his wolf.

It was a rough, low sound, and it did not stop.

"You can't sleep," I said.

"I'm fine."

"Your breath is going in jerks."

"It's the distance. Go to sleep, Linnet."

"It's twelve paces."

"I counted," he said.

I almost laughed.

The fire had burned down to red.

I sat up and looked at the length of dark carpet between us.

For a decade I had slept on the far side of a different bed from this man. I had never counted a single pace.

"Far side," I said. "Your Majesty."

His arm came off his face.

"That's what you said I'd be on," he said. "Until you say."

"I know what I said."

"I'm not asking."

"I know you're not."

I got out of the bed.

The floor was cold under my feet. I crossed the carpet slowly, and he watched me do it.

At the daybed I stopped.

"Tell me to go back," I said, "and I will."

"Don't make me say that."

"Then don't."

I put one knee on the daybed beside his hip.

His hands came up and stopped in the air, an inch from my waist.

"You said you didn't want to be owed," he said, and his voice was rough.

"I'm not collecting."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm taking."

I took his wrists and set his hands on my hips myself.

He made a sound low in his throat.

I kissed him.

It was not the kiss from the cliff, or the one in the inn.

It was slow, and I was the one deciding how slow.

His mouth was warm and shaking a little, and when I opened it with mine, he let me, completely.

I pulled his shirt out of his trousers and put my palms flat on his stomach.

The muscle jumped under my hands.

← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend