Kane’s jaw tightened.
"She knows."
That made Slovia pause.
She came back into his line of sight, one brow lifting.
"Does she?"
"She told me to do what I have to."
A disbelieving laugh left the queen.
She stepped closer, inside the red barrier’s edge, until the transparent silk almost touched his chest.
The scent of her filled the small space between them, warmer now, richer.
"How generous of her," Slovia murmured.
"The little wife gives her husband leave to fuck the mother so the alliances stay sweet. Tell me, barbarian, when she said those words, was she still full of you? Still aching from the first time you finally put that thick cock where it belonged?"
He didn’t reply.
"You were watching us."
"I know everything that happens inside."
Kane didn’t look away.
"Yes."
The honesty landed. Something sharper flickered through Slovia’s assessing eyes: interest, calculation, a spark of genuine heat.
She lifted one hand and traced a single fingertip along the open edge of his shirt, not quite touching skin.
"She must have been very tight," Slovia said.
"First time usually is. Did she bleed for you? Did she cry? Or did she take it like a good little political bride and thank you afterward?"
"She took it," Kane said.
"And she told me to come back to her when this is done."
"When this is done."
Slovia’s fingertip reached the base of his throat and stopped.
"You speak as if you’ve already agreed to the price. Have you?"
"I’m here."
"That’s not the same thing."
She withdrew her hand and continued circling, the long dark hair swinging against the almost-transparent robe.
"I could make you strong, Kane. My loyalty is not cheap, but it is thorough. Ships. Men. Coin. The southern courts listen when I speak. The beast clans on our borders think twice before testing roads that fly my banners. All of that could be yours. All of that could protect the girl you married."
She stopped directly in front of him again.
The red barrier glowed between their bodies like a thin wall of heat.
"But I don’t give those things to men who only take what is easy," she continued.
"I give them to men who understand that power is a negotiation. You want my help. I want to know what your body feels like when it stops pretending to be honorable. Fair trade."
Kane’s breathing had gone slower, deeper.
The red magic kept his hands at his sides, but it did nothing to stop the heavy pulse of blood lower down.
The transparent robe left almost nothing to imagination: the full, mature weight of her breasts, the soft curve of her stomach, the dark shadow between her thighs when the silk shifted. He remembered the press of that body against him the first night.
He remembered the calm way she had cupped him through his trousers.
"You’re still testing."
"Of course I am." Slovia smiled, slow and knowing.
"You’re a barbarian who walked into my study smelling of my daughter’s cunt and still managed to leave without fucking me. That kind of restraint is rare. It makes me curious how long it lasts when I stop being polite."
She lifted both hands this time.
The red barrier shimmered, then tightened, forcing him back one step until his shoulders met the edge of the wide desk.
The wood pressed against him.
Slovia followed, staying just inside the magic’s limit, close enough that every breath he took carried the scent of her skin.
"Look at you," she said, voice dropping.
"Big red-haired brute. Shoulders that fill a doorway. Cock that already wants out of those light trousers. And still trying to negotiate like a courtier. It’s almost endearing."
"I’m not negotiating with my cock."
"Everything is a negotiation with a cock."
She tilted her head, long hair sliding over one shoulder and across the almost-bare curve of her breast.
"Tell me what my daughter said, word for word. I want to hear how she permitted you to put that thing inside her mother."
Kane held her gaze.
The red light painted both their faces.
"She said I do what I have to. That if fucking you makes me stronger and buys your loyalty, then do it. She said she was unhappy before because I had never been inside her. Now I have. She said she knows I won’t be as passionate with you as I was with her. She told me to plan properly. Take my time. And if you really push it, then do it. And come back to her. We have empires to unite."
Slovia was silent for a long moment after he finished.
The smirk had faded into something more complex, respect, perhaps, or the recognition of a player who understood the board.
"She has more spine than I gave her credit for," the queen said at last.
"Good. That makes this cleaner."
She raised one hand.
The red barrier pulsed once, then dissolved into drifting sparks that faded before they touched the floor. The sudden absence of the magic left the air between them charged and open.
Kane’s hands were free. He did not immediately reach for her.
Slovia noticed. Her smile returned, smaller and sharper.
"Still holding back," she observed.
"Even after all that. Even with my robe this thin and my hair down and the door locked. You’re either very loyal or very stubborn."
"Both," Kane said.
"We’ll see which one wins."
She turned away from him and walked to the sideboard, pouring two cups of dark wine with unhurried grace.
The transparent silk clung to the round shape of her ass as she moved, the long hair swaying above it. When she returned, she held one cup out to him.
"Drink," she said.
"Then we talk about what loyalty actually costs. And whether you’re prepared to pay it with something more honest than pretty restraint."
Kane took the cup. Their fingers brushed. The contact was brief, but the heat of it lingered.
He drank.
Slovia watched him over the rim of her own cup.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter