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Chapters (76)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. PART II
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. PART III
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. INTERLUDE
  35. PART IV
  36. TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. TWENTY-NINE
  39. THIRTY
  40. THIRTY-ONE
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. INTERLUDE
  45. PART V
  46. THIRTY-FIVE
  47. THIRTY-SIX
  48. THIRTY-SEVEN
  49. THIRTY-EIGHT
  50. PART VI
  51. THIRTY-NINE
  52. FORTY
  53. FORTY-ONE
  54. FORTY-TWO
  55. FORTY-THREE
  56. FORTY-FOUR
  57. FORTY-FIVE
  58. INTERLUDE
  59. PART VII
  60. FORTY-SIX
  61. FORTY-SEVEN
  62. FORTY-EIGHT
  63. FORTY-NINE
  64. FIFTY
  65. FIFTY-ONE
  66. FIFTY-TWO
  67. PART VIII
  68. FIFTY-THREE
  69. FIFTY-FOUR
  70. FIFTY-FIVE
  71. FIFTY-SIX
  72. EPILOGUE
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  75. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  76. Newsletter Sign-up

She laughed again, so he put his finger in her mouth. Her tongue played with its tip. “I’ve told Richard a thousand times that I want him to rule, and rule long, but he doesn’t trust me. He did nothing to earn or purchase my loyalty, so he doesn’t believe it. So he bought it, retroactively. He showered me in property and power, in both England and France. I have so many titles now I can’t recognize them. But even though I suddenly had all the land I could need, I was still betrothed to Isabelle and one simply doesn’t break those things. So I’m told. It was a punishment, really, for not being any of my ambitious dead brothers.”

Myla moved from finger to finger now, and John felt an urge as he fought to focus. “The best part was days later, when a papal envoy informed us that our marriage had been annulled by the pope himself. After some investigation, it had been discovered that Isabelle and I are related through a mutual great-grandfather. Richard fought it, and eventually the marriage was condoned by the Church, under the strictest—and most pleasantly ridiculous—doctrine that we refrain from sexual intercourse.

“Which was fine,” he added, drawing Myla to the floor, bidding her to lie on her stomach. “I haven’t seen her since.”

He carefully poured a small amount of wine onto the gentle curve of Myla’s back, pooling into the subtle cup just above her cheeks. He lapped it up with his tongue, even as she squirmed and long red streaks escaped, which he chased around to her navel, turning her over. This is how he had spent his time, surveying his lands from the southwest finger of England up to Tickhill, his northernmost city. From here he frankly had no plans on where to go.

He was ready for another go. He poured himself a cup of wine and dipped his prince in it that she might taste it.

“The good news,” he sighed as he felt her tongue, “is that I’ll never be king. Richard’s appointed that curse to my dead brother’s son Arthur. Of course, he’s only four or five, so he wouldn’t make the best king. So the real fear is that Richard gets himself killed at his little war, and they ask me to take over until little Arthur gets his first bleeding.”

He raised the cup and drank from it. “So long live the King.”

Myla paused just long enough to ask, “Why wouldn’t you want to be king?”