The Shadow Princess (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 6)

“Tell you what?” I ask breathlessly.

“You know what I want to hear.” He dips his head, licks me, and I buck. “Tell me the truth,” he demands.

“Fine!” I groan, lifting my head to glare at him. “I’m not marrying Baynor. Are you happy?”

And perhaps what will actually be the most monumental thing tonight, the thing I’ll take with me, that I’ll turn to for hope time and again… Bastien smiles at me.

Genuine, warm, relieved. “Yes. That makes me very happy, and I’m getting ready to make you very happy you told me that.”

Done with this torturous teasing, he dips his head, latches his mouth onto me, and brings me to the fastest orgasm I’ve ever had.

I scream. There’s no helping it. Delirious with pleasure and my heart pulsing with hope, I barely even register Bastien coming back up my body. He spreads my legs, pushes the front of his pants down to free himself, and with one punch of his hips, enters me.

Fills me up so completely that tears spring forth. It’s so beautiful.

Bastien doesn’t hold back, pumping in long, luxurious strokes. He kisses me the entire time, elbows dug into the mattress and his hands on my face to hold me still.

It’s everything I remember. It’s like it always was, and yet, it’s different too. Because no matter how much things have changed tonight, there is one thing missing… love.

At least on his part.

I’m sure it’s still missing, but I push the thought away.

It can be recreated. I know it.

With every stroke, Bastien drives me higher and higher until a second orgasm builds. I can’t even hold it back. Don’t want to, really, because surely there will be more later. Tonight. Tomorrow?

Bastien’s hand slips behind my neck, and he pulls me up slightly. Lifting his mouth from mine, he stares down at me, hips still thrusting. “Give it up to me again, Thalia.”

Words.

Words alone command my body, and the orgasm rips through me so fiercely, Bastien feels it. I know he feels it because his entire body jerks. He plants deep, drops his forehead to mine, and growls out his release.

Our breaths are harsh, mixed, and I’m boneless.

I’m also madly in love with him. That’s never changed for me.

Bastien presses his lips to mine briefly before rolling off my body. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he glances back at me and frowns. “So, what did you have to give Sorin to get his troops?”

So much for cuddling after. I sigh with the knowledge that this might have changed some things, but not all things. I roll onto my side and prop my head in my hand. “It was easy to figure out he doesn’t want me.”

“Oh, he wants you,” Bastien growls.

“He wants Kestevayne,” I say firmly. “I am just the means to get it. Anyway, it appears Croyden is not doing well financially, so he hoped to expand his holdings to infuse money into his city.”

“You bought his troops?”

“Basically. I told him I would deed him lifetime rights to the largest salt mine in Kestevayne. Contingent, of course, on us winning Kestevayne back.”

“A diplomat,” Bastien proclaims, and I hear the tinge of pride in his voice. It gives me no warm fuzzies, for he stands and buttons up his pants. He bends and grabs his shirt from the floor and then moves to the chair to grab his boots. “I’m going back to Conclave Hall since I now have a much larger army to manage. If you want to visit Archer, the guards will accompany you.”

He turns for the door but stops when I ask, “And what was this?” My tone is soft but accusing. “Was this just to soothe your pride? You wanted to prove I wanted you and not Baynor?”

“I already knew you wanted me and not Baynor,” he replies. “I didn’t need to make you come twice to know that. But make no mistake, I would’ve never let you marry him just to get his troops. You’re far better than he deserves.”

I don’t know how to take that.

“What about what I deserve?” I ask curiously.

Something flickers over Bastien’s face, a pure emotion I’d label as regret.

“You deserve to be happy, Thalia. For everything that was done to you, for what you suffered and continue to suffer. That’s all I want for you.”

It’s what I want too.

Bastien would make me happy if he’d open his heart, but he’s clearly not ready to do that yet.

“I want to leave to see Hephastus,” I say, rolling off the bed and grabbing my ripped dress and panties. I don’t hold them in front of me. I make no attempt to hide my body and take heart that Bastien watches me like a hawk. “I’d like to go today.”

Bastien nods. “I can make that happen. Give me two hours.”