10. Present Day
10
PRESENT DAY
Caly
M y nerves danced a thousand tiny pirouettes. Tingles erupted across my skin. The eerie sensation of invisible fingertips ghosted over the sensitive skin on the backs of my thighs and knees. I groggily turned my head to the side, shoving the pillow off my face where it nearly blocked my air. Was that the sheets making that sound?
I groaned, adjusting the pillow over my head once again to dull the bloodred glow that poured from the windows. The light abruptly shifted, and a large black shadow dropped over the bed. Flinging the pillow off my head with a gasp, my eyes darted to the window directly in front of the bed.
My breathing stopped.
Pressed against the window was the silhouette of a man. A very large, broad-shouldered man.
I bolted up from the bed, reaching for my glasses with the blades hidden in the temples on the nightstand, only to realize all of my weapons were still in my bag in the bathroom. Feeling the familiar hum of exhilaration, I moved for the nearest weapon.
Of course I had nothing nearby in this luxurious, pampered space but a small bottle of linen spray that had somehow escaped my earlier destruction. At best, my attacker would end up smelling like freshly tumbled sheets.
Fuck!
I grabbed it; maybe the ethyl or isopropyl alcohol would at least cause bleeding in the stomach and intestines. I needed to be better prepared than this.
As soon as I turned back to the window, the large silhouette was gone and back was the eerie red glow of the sun.
What the fuck? Was I seeing things?
I was seven stories up in a heavily protected, royal castle. Nothing should be hovering outside of this window.
I shook myself, remembering I was no longer in the human realm. Something winged could be hovering outside of my window; in fact, it could have been a royal guard for that matter.
I raced to the opposite window, scented weapon in hand, and checked.
They would have expected me to go to the other window to look for them, so I at least had a better chance of seeing someone hiding from this side.
Nothing but the warm red sun blanketing the flower-speckled fields and turning what looked to be a sea off in the distance a bloody-gold color. A few dark birds, maybe crows, took off from one of the turrets overhead.
I tried to convince myself that was all it had been—a bird.
After thoroughly checking the room, I grabbed the squishy comforter off the bed and hung it over the window by carefully wedging a few corners. I would work on getting better curtains made, but this would have to work until then. I could barely sleep with a crack of light under the door at home, let alone the creepy, red sun pouring in. Granted it was closer to a murky glow than a full sunset, but I needed it as dark as my tainted soul when I slept.
I let out a sigh so deep, it seemed to rise from my toes as I crawled back onto the bed and under the cool, white sheets. I shivered with the lack of a blanket, but the newfound darkness quickly lulled me to sleep—a sleep so deep I dreamt the wildest things imaginable. Like so many times in the last few weeks, I let myself fall deeper and deeper into the paradisiac dreams of him .
In this unconscious state, no one could reprimand me, no one could make me do a thing I didn’t want to. I didn’t have to be the betrayer. I wasn’t forced to be a different person.
I was just me, and he was just Malum.
Deep in my wondrous dream, a powerful hand flattened on my hip. A warm, sharp jaw pushed into the crook of my neck as I inhaled the clean, masculine scent of him so close. My mind burrowed into the dream, savoring every sensation.
I moved to roll over, but the strong hand gripped my hip tightly, keeping control and keeping me on my stomach. Did it tremble slightly?
The fingers splayed, gliding over the side of my rear and onto my thigh. Less controlled this time, they indented my flesh with an unchecked need that coursed through my own body.
His barely audible whisper rolled over my ear and neck. “I cannot watch you for another minute without touching you. It will kill me,” Mendax growled into my neck.
I arched, moving my back into his hard chest and exposing my neck for him. My butt followed, nestling into his crotch. Even in my dreamy state, the bare skin of my legs burned with excitement. His pants and body felt so hard and solid behind me. I lifted my ankle and rubbed it against his outer leg, wanting to feel the texture of his clothing and body.
He groaned softly into the back of my neck. The sound vibrated in my head and chest and ran all the way to the soles of my feet. My lower stomach hummed, his small noise making my thighs quiver.
I lifted my arm to wrap around his and head, needing desperately to pull him to my lips. I needed more than anything to feel that connection with him one last time, dream or not.
Normally my dreams were just of his mostly shaded silhouette watching me. Occasionally they’d be of him saying the most heinous, absurd things to me. He’d usually just be standing by my bed or in a doorway, watching me broodily. This was by far the most exciting.
“Are you ready to play, pet?” he whispered as he hovered his full lips just out of reach.
“Play what?” I drunkenly asked, continuing my attempt to crane my neck so I could push my lips into his. But all it did was push my body against the length of his arousal, stoking a frustrated fire between my legs.
“A game.” I could hear the cocky smile in his rumbly voice.
I pressed back harder, arching against his hardness and letting out a groan.
“You should really stop that, Calypso. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands to miss this body of yours,” he stated in something of a command and a whisper.
My whole body tensed—the sound of my real name flowing from his mouth did something to me. It sparked a sensual danger that both frightened and ignited me.
I wished I could have actually heard him say it like that…before he died.
“You don’t really want me to stop, do you?” I purred. “I can feel how hard you are, and you’ve barely even touched me,” I whispered triumphantly, grinding my ass into his hardness.
“Never in my immortal life have I ever wanted anything more than I want to feel you under me right now, pet, but I am not a gentle, benevolent man. I have hurt others I barely desired, killed others because of my lack of control; others, I haven’t wanted a modicum as much as I crave you,” his voice whispered across my neck. “I won’t allow myself inside of you in that way until I can control myself enough to know you will still remain with me forever. Unharmed.”
His hand trailed down my cheek and grazed across my breast before rubbing my nipple between two fingers for a moment and then pinching it roughly.
I inhaled a sharp breath.
It hurt, but only enough to cause a torrent of arousal to heat between my legs. I was sure there were oceans that weren’t as wet as I was.
Yes, I know, him saying he literally killed someone as they fucked shouldn’t turn me on, but something about how rough he was sent an absolute fire through me, like a challenge.
“You wouldn’t hurt me. I know it,” I practically moaned, slipping my palm between our bodies to feel his cock.
My hand found my reward immediately, and I salivated like a monster. He was as hard as a fucking brick.
“As frequently as I have been getting off to the mere thought of you, love, I would fuck you into the dirt under this castle,” he groaned into my neck before grabbing my wrist roughly and stopping my massaging hand. “And you’re very, very wrong. I do want to hurt you. I plan on it. Why do you think I’m here?”
I recoiled slightly at his words and his harsh grip on my wrist. Even my dream senses heightened, readying me to fight or run.
Mendax was an unpredictable, menacing fae predator. Even in my dreams, he radiated danger and raw power.
The bed shifted, and cold air hit my back.
Immediately my happiness ebbed at the absence. Mendax left the mattress and stood at the foot of the bed. His large silhouette was outlined eerily with the deep red of the scarlet sun behind him.
I rolled on my back to protest, prepared to sell my soul to whatever fae devil existed for a few more moments of him in this dream. I wouldn’t even try to unpack how fucked up that was until morning…or maybe never.
“Please come back, Mendax,” I whined.
He took a step forward, leaning over and grabbing my knees, pushing them wide apart. The bed lowered when he kneeled in the space between my legs. My heart kicked into overdrive while my body thrummed with excitement.
Finally.
The Unseelie prince braced his body over mine, grabbing my face roughly in one hand, my lips puckering out above my teeth.
This close, I could practically see the collagen fibers in his iris, causing the ice-blue streaks of color as they looked straight through me. Like the rope of a noose pulling tight and strong, our connection was unwavering. Even if it was unwanted, we were coal to the other’s flame.
“For forever you are mine. I alone own you. Do you understand that yet?” he asked, dropping his hand from my face to graze across my chest and stomach before settling it between my legs, cupping me firmly.
I heard the breath catch in his throat before his grip grew firmer, more intense. The sultry rhythm of his breathless chant made my head spin with need.
I pressed myself harder into his palm, causing my eyes to flicker closed as I opened my insolent mouth to tell him exactly what he owned.
I wasn’t generally a passive sort of woman, as he had figured out by now. No man or fae would ever own me.
But it was a dream, and an unbelievably good one at that, so I wasn’t going to ruin it.
“A good pet should always listen to their owner’s commands, don’t you think?” he questioned softly as he hooked his thumbs into the sides of my sleep shorts and underwear and slid them slowly down and off my legs.
My knees pulled up and now rested on either side of his body as he knelt between them.
I was fully exposed and vulnerable to him.
“You are immaculate,” he murmured after a moment of stillness.
Mendax leaned his muscular frame forward, hovering over me and grabbing my hand and tucking in all but my pointer and middle fingers.
Hot, wet need pulsed violently between my legs as he pushed my fingers inside his mouth, his eyes angrily glowing at mine. He ran his hot tongue over my fingertips, closing his mouth around them before pulling them from his mouth, then pressing them on my exposed sex roughly, all in one motion, still warm and wet from his mouth.
I let out a small whimper, shocked by how much I liked his angry touches and the unbelievable realness of the dream. Is this how we would have been if he were still alive?
The prince removed his hand with a groan to stand at the foot of the bed again, towering over me with his large arms crossed.
“Wait—”
“You will touch yourself gently because I cannot. Do not move your hand from that spot until I command you to, my queen.” His gravelly voice held so much roughness, I swore I felt it.
I was so shocked and so turned on, I didn’t even realize I’d started moving my fingers over myself. The heat from our angry stares, though shadowed with darkness, had jumped from being coal to chlorine trifluoride. I was on fire.
“I want you to touch me, please, Mendax,” I begged.
Unable to bear another moment of his lustful stare, I slid my fingers lower to feel my pulsing clit—I wouldn’t be taking orders well.
Without warning, my throat choked, something tightening around it with heavy pressure. I gasped for air while I tried to sit up, but I couldn’t rise.
“Did I tell you to move yet, love?” Mendax said nonchalantly from where he stood.
I clawed and ripped at the force strangling me until I saw the smoke coiled around my throat like a fucking python trailing back to Mendax’s large hand.
The grip lightened slightly as I stilled and heaved large gulps of air into my straining lungs. The mixed sensations of arousal, fear, and aggression swirled into a confusing puddle of desire between my legs. I glared harder at the towering fae. Since when was I into rough sex?
“Be a good girl and listen to your owner, pet, or I won’t let go next time. I do owe you for stabbing me, after all.”
My hand had already moved to rub me.
I wanted him wild and violent with need. I wasn’t afraid of him. I wanted him so badly, I could feel the desperation in every cell of my body. My thalamus was going to explode trying to regulate my arousal.
“Touch yourself while I watch you. Back and forth,” he commanded in a deep, sultry tone. “Good, now slower.”
My toes curled as I listened for more requests.
“Fuck, Caly. I would die for you all over again if it meant I got to watch you in this moment,” he groaned breathily as his hand moved to his hardness.
A moan escaped my mouth as I watched his eyes drag over me—harsh eyes filled with such intense affection and desire.
I began to move my hips to the rhythm of my fingers.
“I want you to press your two fingers as deep inside of that needy, little pussy as they will go. I wonder how hard you’ll come for me knowing you lay beneath me, a smoke curl away from death. Rub yourself in a circle with your thumb,” he stated, a deep, raspy breath escaping his cocky grin.
I didn’t need another nudge. I pushed into myself, letting out a silent cry as I thrust my hips up, wishing it were him. He was so close to touching me.
Like a viper, a coil of smoke snapped out and tightened around my throat, causing me to falter and gasp, tightening my stomach.
“ Do not come until I tell you to,” he whispered before loosening the smoke from around my throat but not letting it off completely.
The blood and panic seemed to rush from my neck straight down to my clit. I had barely touched myself and I was already on the edge of an orgasm from the intense sensations.
“Oh fuck, Mendax,” I moaned, feeling all the tension coil in my lower stomach while I resumed fucking myself in front of his hungry, unsated eyes.
“Fucking hell,” Mendax cursed as he peeled off his shirt, revealing the body of a god.
Another breathy moan slipped out of me watching the shadows dance across his broad shoulders and muscled stomach. I was so fucking close. Any second now, I would slip past the edge and my orgasm would be unstoppable.
The smoke around my neck tightened the tiniest amount, reminding me of his orders to wait for his word. With the hand not controlling the smoke, Mendax undid his belt buckle with a small jingle and pulled out his rigid cock, fisting it roughly.
“How badly do you need me to move between your legs and slide my cock inside of you, love? A little?” he rasped as he stroked his cock up and down, staring at me like a hungry lion.
Oh. My. Suns.
“A lot. Fuck, please, Mendax,” I panted, biting my lip hard in order to move myself away from the orgasm that was so close, a draft in the castle might send me over the edge.
He gripped himself so tightly, it looked painful as he slid his fist up and down wildly.
“You shouldn’t have left me then, Calypso. Maybe then I could be a bit more gentle. I wouldn’t have spent so many hours thinking about all the things I would do to you once I found you. How much I’d make you hurt. How hard I would fuck you.”
“I’m going to come if you don’t shut up and get over here,” I moaned, knowing I was about to fall into the abyss.
The Unseelie prince was at the side of the bed near my head in an instant. He grabbed my throat with his right hand, continuing to fist his cock with the other right next to my shoulder.
“Men—”
“You want to come? Then admit it: say it out loud, and I’ll let you come, my pretty little hellhound. Admit you are in love with me,” he whispered slowly, emotion turning his voice gritty.
“I love you,” I said without hesitation. It was a dream, and no one could hurt me for admitting it. No one could weaponize it or tear me apart for owning such an absurd declaration.
“Then come for me now, my love,” he whispered with a smile, straightening to his full height to watch me. He fisted himself faster now, his hand still tight around my throat. “Now,” he said squeezing my throat firmly.
I lost it. The tingles and tension built and built and built until there was nothing left for it to do but explode from within my body. I shuddered as my body clenched, no longer in my control.
Mendax tightened his hand around my throat. I couldn’t breathe at all. It was terrifying, but I continued to move my fingers in circles on my sensitive clit, knowing he would let go.
He didn’t.
My wild eyes shot to him in blind panic. My mind became fuzzy, and my vision had started to speckle. Instinctively, I lifted my arm up to turn and slam my elbow down on his arm, but my orgasm burst forth like a gift from the heavens, and I came again.
I came harder than I’d ever come in my whole goddamned life.
Just as it ebbed out and I was positive I was going to black out or evaporate, Mendax released my throat, letting out a low groan at the same time.
He was coming too. Warm ribbons of cum shot onto my chest as he slowed his fisting, now leaning on one shaking arm next to my head. He removed his hand from his cock and leaned over my face. “You look like a goddess veiled in my cum,” he whispered, leaning in and kissing me so tenderly, I couldn’t imagine never feeling it again.
He pulled away to bite his lower lip while he moved his thumb through the trails of his cum that marked my chest.
Mendax dragged the same covered thumb slowly over my bottom lip before pushing it inside my mouth. Saltiness and a shockingly smoky flavor swirled on my tongue with the taste of him. It tasted just a hint like how a roaring campfire smelled.
He removed his thumb and then gently trailed his hand down the side of my face, leaning down to kiss my shoulder.
“I’ll see you soon, my pet. I hope you’re as ready as I am for the second part of our game.” He smiled a crooked smile that forced one of his dimples to show while he pulled his black shirt over his head and fastened his pants.
What was he talking about? I pinched my eyes shut tightly, willing myself to wake up.
Something wasn’t right.
“Game?” I fumbled over the simple words.
Clothed now, he stepped back into the shadows of the room until the only thing I could make out was the black outline of his profile.
“The part of the game where I slaughter every member of the Seelie family that took you away from me, starting with the prince.”