mere inch. "Although your huffing is louder than Owen's snores."
"I will turn into a tiger right now and bite your hand off if you don't show me that letter," I growled.
"There's my girl," Aric said, and he ducked down, nibbling at my throat as I snatched the letter from his fingers.
"Why are you distracting me?" I hissed, squirming in his arms as he laved and sucked at my neck. I held the letter behind his head, ignoring my rising Hunger from his kisses as I tore it open. "It's from Griffin!"
"Do you two have to do that here?" Morgan called from the corner of the room as Aric's now free hand squeezed my bottom.
"I agree with her, what are you on about?" I gasped as Aric lifted me from the floor, his laugh vibrating against my skin as he carried me backward to the bedroom door. It was an effort to keep my eyes open at his assault, but it was even more of a challenge to focus on the words on the page.
The situation as it stands in your northern court can't continue, Bryony. I'm on my way south to speak with you in person, and this letter will likely arrive at the same time I do. Meet me in the southern thieves court at the edge of the capital on??/p>
"Aric, she's here! She's in the capital! Aric!" I nearly dropped the letter altogether as we reached the bedroom, the door still hanging open behind us. Aric had done some trick of his on the back of my dress, laces unraveling, and his hand was already down in my skirt, clutching and squeezing roughly at my ass.
"If I'm taking you to Thatcher's thieves court, I'm taking you there full to the brim with magic," Aric growled.
"You read the letter? Of course you did. Scoundrel," I moaned, rocking into Aric briefly before my eyes widened. "There are thieves here in the capital?!"
Aric laughed and lifted his head finally. "Princess, there are thieves everywhere."
"And Thatcher? That's the king here?"
"Cassius Thatcher is a rogue, a scoundrel, a thief, a king, and a man so dangerous, I am tempted to tell Griffin she can come to the castle if she wants to speak to you," Aric snarled, tugging my dress down my shoulders and roughly over my hips.
I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes at Aric. "That sounds like praise coming from you. It is, isn't it? You like him?"
Aric paused, his arms wrapping around my now bare shoulders, pressing my breasts to the soft linen of his shirt. He kissed the tip of my nose and smiled at me. "I do. He's an old friend. That doesn't mean I trust him with your safety. King's agreement or not."
The king's agreement was a thief code where no king would act against another or encroach on each other's territory.
"I should've introduced myself to him already," I murmured, frowning. "It's what I would've done if I visited another country."
"You're here as the princess, not the king," Aric answered quickly. Which only meant he'd known all along I should've already made my addresses to this Cassius Thatcher. "You'll pay your respects tomorrow evening. Until then?? Aric pushed the fabric of the dress down to the floor and then lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his hips automatically.
"I should close the door," I said as Aric carried me to the circular bench, sitting me at the center platform and kneeling on the cushions in front of me. It was the perfect height for him to slide inside of me. The furniture in our bedroom was well-considered.
"You should call the others," Aric whispered, brushing his mouth over mine as he opened his trousers. "After I'm done with you."
I'd spent very little time on the streets of the capital, at least outside of a carriage. Wendell and Aric knew their way around much better than I did, not that it mattered much. I had to keep my head down, even with the glamour I wore from Aric.
We'd informed Head Guard Amos that we had an errand in the capital but refused any extra guards. I had seven men who would give their life for me, but more importantly, I had my magic and my tiger. I was my own best defense if it came to any danger, but we traveled through the city on horseback, each of us disguised.
The city was beautiful, especially near the castle and on the main road, but Aric's directions soon veered us