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“I’m just bragging about what an excellent judge of character I am. I knew you were suspicious, and in fact, just yesterday I asked Nadine to investigate you again. But I also knew you were a good person, so I fell in love with you anyway.”
Whisper takes a deep breath and pushes him away. “I can’t think while you’re touching me.” His throat feels rough. “I need to think.”
Fisk bumps his shoulder against Julien, then nuzzles his face against Whisper’s stomach with so much force that Whisper staggers back. Rumi sits behind Fisk, cleaning her paw with a large, raspy tongue. Tell the kitten I’m not speaking to him, but Fisk has forgiven him because Fisk is an idiot. She pauses. You are also an idiot.
“How do I destroy this safely?” Julien asks. Whisper straightens up from Fisk. “You shouldn’t. You can use it to control me, even if you’ve never used blood magic before. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. Ask me a question, and I’ll answer it truthfully.” Julien grins, though his heart hurts. “One, that’s very illegal in Silaise. Two, do I really need blood magic to get your obedience, kitten?”
“Wait, why Nadine?” Julien asks. “I know I just refused to use it, but if anyone is going to illegally question you with the magic truth bottle, it should be me.” “You’re biased,” Whisper and Nadine say in unison.
Behind them, Nadine says, “First question, did I really hear him call you ‘kitten?’”
“I could have died because I fell in love with him. Instead, I’m alive because he fell in love with me.”
Gaspard’s chest heaves. “What are you going to do with me?” “Nothing.” Hope glimmers in Gaspard’s eyes, but Julien’s next words extinguish it: “I’m going to send you to my mothers.”
“I don’t remember the name my parents gave me.” He shakes his head. “But even if I did, that wouldn’t be my real name. I’m a Hound, and my real name is Whisper. I can’t separate myself from that.”
“What token of mine were you planning on taking?” Julien asks. Another wave of guilt crashes cold through Whisper’s lungs. “Nothing.” Each word hurts. “Nothing was good enough, and I couldn’t forget you anyway.” “Fuck.” Julien reaches towards him. “And they call me a romantic.”
“I know you tried to kill me,” Julien muses. “But you hesitated. And you’re still just as clever, stubborn, and kind-hearted as you were the first time I fell in love with you.” His palm curves around Whisper’s neck. Not threatening. Comforting. A protective control Whisper craves. “I want to get to know you all over again, if you let me.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Whisper says, voice breaking, “but I want you so much.”
“You still don’t get it.” Julien stares into his eyes, intense and searching. “You don’t have to deserve me.”
Joy—relief—hope blooms beneath Whisper’s skin. A bone-deep healing that doesn’t hurt. Whisper bites back a reflexive sob, and when Julien kisses him, he kisses back through his tears. Their lips taste of salt. Julien’s breath tastes like home.
The bedraggled ragdoll zips across the lawn at impossible speeds. Julien leans against the pavilion railing, watching as streaks of blue and tan fur barrel after the doll. Rumi leaps to snatch the doll from midair in her powerful jaws. Pivoting on her sleek haunches, she sprints back across the lawn. Lord Cupcake chases after her, his tail aloft like a happy flag. He doesn’t mind that Rumi only allows him to catch the ragdoll one time out of five; he’s just excited to have such inexhaustible playmates. Well. One inexhaustible playmate. Fisk sprawls in a sunny patch at one end of the lawn. His
...more
I’m sobbing
She tosses a rude gesture back.
SJM
“Tell me how this feels,” Julien says, and sinks to his knees.
I thought this was gonna be the last line of the book and I wasn’t even mad
“Julien.” Whisper squirms. “It feels too good. I don’t know what to say.”
a princess 🩷
Julien grins up at him. His lips are smeared with Whisper’s precome, his eyes hazel-gold. “I love you too.”
his balls,
I’m so sad I thought we were safe :(
But he obeys, because he wants to. Because Julien’s worth it.
globes of his ass.
omg we really weren’t safe :/
He never knew he could fall apart like this. He never had someone to put him back together before.
“I’m so in love with you,” Julien says softly. “I love you, too.” Whisper’s still getting used to saying it. But it’s worth it because Julien always lights up at the words. And because it’s the truest thing he’s ever said.
Whisper melts into the living heat of Julien’s kiss. The kiss that always makes him feel more alive than he ever has, binding him with love instead of blood to a man he’s honored to serve. Maybe long jobs aren’t so bad after all.
😭😭😭
“Come on, I handled it great. You wouldn’t have seduced anyone, so you’d probably be dead. Meanwhile, by fucking my assassin, I neutralized the threat, uncovered a conspiracy against the realm, strengthened the border, and found the love of my life.”
