“Oh bless all the spirits and their mothers,” I groaned and grabbed his dark hair. He chuckled and continued, his head slowly moving up and down. “Aki, you’ve got to stop.”

Aki looked up at me and placed his arm on my knee, resting his chin on it, wiping the side of his mouth with his thumb. “What’s wrong?”

“You know you’re torturing me.” I ran my hand through his hair again, and he straightened to his full height. He grabbed my hips and shifted me further up the bed.

“Am I torturing you? And here I thought I was pleasuring you.” He chuckled and spread my legs apart, walking on his knees on the bed.

“What you do with that wicked mouth of yours is both pleasure and torture,” I murmured as he lowered his body down on top of mine.

“You don’t think it’s torture, my prince,” he whispered and softly kissed my throat. He pushed against me, and I gasped, digging my fingers into his back. “This is all pleasure for you.”

“Oh gods,” I groaned loudly.

“My prince, if you keep yelling like this, everyone will know you have a guest in your chambers.” He pulled up, resting on his elbows on either side of my head.

“Oh no, then the whole stronghold will know of my impurity. How awful. You’ve stolen my virtue.”

“Quinn,” he laughed and kissed me, jerking his hips hard. “All I’m saying is maybe we should be a little more discrete.”

“I honestly couldn’t give less of a fuck.” I grabbed his ass and pulled him forward, making him groan loudly this time.

***

Aki’s fingers slowly ran through my hair, untangling some knots in it. No one could get it nice like he could. The curls in it were so tight, it was sometimes impossible to even get a comb through it. But Aki was a magician with it. How a guard got this talented in haircare, was a mystery to me. How such a pretty man ever became a guard was an even bigger mystery.

It was also one I didn’t particularly care about, to be perfectly honest. Aki was a distraction. A very sweet one, but he wouldn’t be much of a distraction if we indulged in personal matters. Now it was effortless. We didn’t talk about court or all the drama it followed. It was perfect.

“Are you looking forward to the party?” he asked as he got another knot untangled.

“It’ll be fine, I guess. I think my sister is more anxious than anyone.”

“I guess I would be too if I was to become the head of a country in such a young age.”

I looked up at him and arched a brow. “She might be young, but she’ll be a damn good queen.”

“I have no doubts about it. She has always been kind to me.”

I sighed and pressed my face to his stomach. I didn’t wanna hear him talk. I just wanted him to play with my hair. And then fuck me again a little later.

“Are you working at the party?”

“Yeah, gotta make sure you all are safe, don’t I?”

“I do feel safer with you around.” I smirked up at him. “Who’d ever try and hurt me with you protecting me?”

“They could try, but they’d be hugely unsuccessful.” He smirked back and urged me to sit up. I spread my legs over his lap, and he ran his hands over my thighs.

“Oh, I am so helpless too. So defenceless. I’d need a big man like you to make me feel truly protected.”

And that’s all it took for him. He grabbed me and turned us around, almost violently, before showering me in kisses.