24. My Queen, My King
24. MY QUEEN, MY KING
RUSH
Anticipation rushed up and down my body, testing my control as I held Elowyn close to my chest and loped through the woods with her in my arms. I’d never in my entire life wanted anything for myself more than I wanted this woman.
What I’d come to think of as the mate-bond beast that Elowyn had awakened within me gnashed and scrabbled to be let loose, to feast upon her body—her glorious mouth, so responsive to my own; her plump, scrumptious breasts with those hard, straining nipples that begged for my tongue; the curve of her neck, so elegantly feminine; the sexy-as-fuck bend of her waist; absolutely everything. I needed every bit of her all at once—to lap up her arousal, licking up every drop, which I could scent above the smells of the forest and through her leathers.
Never would I have imagined that love could make me this ravenous. Over the decades, whenever I’d encountered bonded mates, I’d paid close attention—much as most fae probably did while pretending they weren’t tamping down envy. Few fae were bestowed with the fortune of dragons in their lives; most had to do without the one pairing that legend held to be inimitable. I’d closely listened to mates’ stories of how life-altering it had been to find each other. I’d tracked their shared smiles and lingering touches and how they seemed to light up, as if mates had also been gifted with their very own secret language.
Now I understood, and wondered only if I’d ever be able to get enough, or if I’d forever be driven by an insatiable need for her.
Although my arms vibrated, I lowered her to the grass of a pretty glade with the care a treasure like her required. I’d summoned a second lumoon so I could see farther and run faster, and I directed both to hover a few feet away so I could admire her while my heartbeat and breathing slowed after the run.
Talisa reckoned herself the most beautiful female in all the realm, wearing her arrogance like a medal. But Elowyn, who shared many of her aunt’s features, was stunning in a way the evil queen could never be. Warmth radiated from my mate, and though I couldn’t see it with my eyes, I knew it was her light, drawing not just myself but also our companions to her side. Elowyn’s natural beauty, when melded with her character, became a transcendent lure, like she’d been sent down from the Etherlands to walk this realm.
I beamed. She returned the gesture, and the sight of it warmed my chest like a shot of sunrise spirits on a cold night. Languidly, she rolled her head back and forth across the thick grass beneath her body as if we had all the time in the world—by the Ethers, how I wished we did. How I wished I could entirely banish the fear that this unfettered time we were sharing might be the last of its kind. We were about to head into battle with the most formidable adversary the fae had ever encountered. One outcome was guaranteed: our world—the Mirror World—was about to change forever.
Her hand rose to caress my cheek. I leaned into her touch as she asked, “What is it? What has you so lost in thought?” She grinned, mischief dancing across her face. “I thought you’d be all action now that you finally got me alone.”
I chuckled hoarsely. “Mmmm, good point.” My stare landed on her lips. They were luscious and full and a deep, bright pink. She licked them and they glistened enticingly. “I have big plans for you. Very fine … enticing plans.” I wanted to be witty, to dazzle her with my oratory skills before desire drove me to rip off her clothes and claim her. But I found my mind dazed, too overcome by the beast’s needs. “I was just appreciating you,” I admitted. “I can’t seem to help but do so.”
Her smile softened—she was pleased—and I leaned into her touch even more.
“I’m grateful for you too,” she said gently. “I was really freaked out I might never see you again. That was almost worse than the pain of what I went through.”
As if my body knew exactly where it belonged without my direction, I discovered myself already settled over hers. Her legs had parted for me as I leaned onto my elbows to either side of her chest. Disturbed by my thoughtlessness, I inched back off of her.
“By a dragon’s roar, I’m so sorry, El. I was so overwhelmed by, well, you that I forgot all you’ve gone through.” I was in the process of sitting back onto my knees when she gripped my tunic and tugged me forward so suddenly that I had to scramble not to land on top of her.
When I was back on my elbows in the same position I’d been before, she said, “That’s better.” Heady, sultry desire replaced the former playfulness in her eyes.
My dick throbbed then thickened. “But you’re hurt. You even have fresh cuts on your face.”
She chortled darkly. “Yeah, seems pretty much everything in this place wants to take a bite out of me.”
I know I do .
Her eyes widened suddenly. She craned her head to look around us in all directions.
I rose onto my hands, urgently asking, “What is it?” I peered into the darkness beyond the range of my lumoons. A copse of trees enclosed the small glade, and beyond them all I heard were the usual creatures to be expected in the woodlands.
“Can something attack us while we’re, you know, distracted?” Elowyn asked, still searching our surroundings for threats. “These cuts on my face are from a freaking flower that was trying to eat me. Didn’t notice teeth on the damn thing till it was doing its best to have me for lunch.”
A low growl rumbled deep in my chest. I leaned lower, my body covering hers protectively.
She laughed bitterly. “I think I’m safe. That’s probably my first mistake, right?” Another dark laugh. “Then something comes to life to try to kill me.”
I pressed a tender kiss to each of the scabbing slices across her cheeks. “Nothing comes to life. Everything’s already alive. Even the grass beneath us is alive.”
She yelped and went to rise. But I shook my head and gently guided her back down.
“You’re safe now.” I scowled. “Well, safe enough, anyway.” By the Ethers, how was I supposed to keep her truly secured when Her Evil Cuntness was more powerful than any of us? When she was immortal , for fuck’s sake?
When my frown only deepened, she prodded, “You were saying?”
“All of the Mirror World is alive. Ether—life force energy—parsed out by the Ethers itself, courses through every part of nature. The elements are alive too. The air, water, earth, fire, all of it, is as alive as you and I are. Our magic also. We just come in different shapes, sizes, and abilities. The trees above us might not speak the way we do, but they’re equally alive in their own particular way. ”
She swallowed in apprehension, a reaction I didn’t understand until she scoffed and said, “So I’ll never be safe so long as I’m here. Got it.” She thumped her head back against the ground. “ Ow .” She tsked and sighed. “So basically I always have to assume a flower wants to take a chunk out of me, or an arbosaurus wants to yank me off my feet and fling me into the air to slam my body into who knows what, or?—”
“No, El.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Never again. You’re the queen of Embermere and the Mirror World now. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t know it yet or that she still wears the crown. All that matters is that the land has selected you as its steward. That makes you the ruler of these lands. Everything from coast to coast, including the Sorumbra.”
Her breathing deepened, as if all the ways her life was changing hadn’t occurred to her yet. “What about a ceremony? Surely some sort of ceremony’s supposed to take place before the land officially chooses me.”
“No, no ceremony.”
“But since I first got here everything’s been about one event or another. By sunshine, the Magicus Probatio was supposed to be the final event in the Fae Heir Trials. It was supposed to be a whole grand thing, the winner the one selected by the land.”
“That pomp was all Talisa. Nature doesn’t work that way.”
“When you put it that way, seems obvious. But why the Magicus Probatio, then? Why did the queen bother? ”
“Again, not ‘the queen.’ And you know the answer already.”
She sighed. “I do. She’s always been about pretenses and lies, hasn’t she? She probably never intended on choosing new heirs, or if she did, it was only to control them forever as the crown prince and princess, padding around after her everywhere she went to do her bidding like simpletons. With all her stealing of power, no heir would’ve ever grown stronger than she is. The throne would never have passed on from her.”
“Right.” When she put it that way, it was so obvious I couldn’t believe I hadn’t identified Talisa’s ruse for what it was at the start. Why had I even bothered with the Fae Heir Trials in the first place? Because I believed even Talisa must share in the sense of honor we fae hold inviolable .
I dropped another kiss to her nose. “And as much as you’re queen of the fae and magical creatures of the Mirror World, you also are of the elements of nature. No flower would dare hurt you anymore.”
“Seriously?” she asked. “‘Cause I’d really, really love not to be eaten alive by flora. Or the fauna either, for that matter.”
I smiled at her, not because there was anything funny about her fear of being wounded at every turn, but because she was my mate and she was spectacular. Every quirk made her that much more unique and special.
“The land’s power runs through all of nature,” I elaborated so she could finally be at ease at least in this. “The moment the land chose you, the plants and animals knew it. Even if they’re rudimentary and don’t think the same way we do, they still recognize your essence as that of their steward.”
Her next smile was tremulous. “If only the queen were willing to fall into line so easily, huh?”
I shook my head sharply. “Like I said, she’s not the ‘queen’ anymore, my love. You are.” Tenderly, I pressed my lips to hers. “ My queen .”
Her chest arced toward me as, breathily, huskily, she rasped, “ My king .”
My loins stirred as I licked the title from her lips, claiming it as mine.