Chapter 22 #2
“Now the question, my dear,” Frederick says gently, pulling Thea’s attention back to the throne where I stand stiffly before it, the great dragon watching over us all, “is will you fight with us?” Frederick knows the truth of who Thea is.
I sent a raven with word as soon as I learned it myself, not just because I share everything with the old man, but because I wanted him to start sending out scouting parties for the true fire bitch.
She sent Thea to be kidnapped and tormented in her place.
She betrayed my love twice. She would not be given a third chance or a respite from the punishment due her for all her wrongs.
Tesni de Moreau will pay for all that she’s done, mark my words.
Thea looks from the dragon over my shoulder, out the window overlooking the kingdom, and finally to me. She holds my gaze for an endless eternity, but finally turns to Frederick.
“Yes, I will fight with you.”
I exhale roughly, the tension in my chest easing as if an iron fist has released its hellish grip on my heart.
“But you and I,” she says, turning her burning gaze back to me, “have much more to discuss.”
Frederick and Dessa both look between Thea and me, then share a look.
“We’ll just let you chat then, shall we?” Odessa says, backing away. I shoot daggers at her and mouth traitor, but she only smirks, winks, and turns to run from the room, Soren trotting after her with what I swear is amusement in his eyes.
“Fucking traitor,” Thea hisses at the cat, who merely swishes his long tail in response, not deigning to slow or even look over his shoulder. Frederick clears his throat lightly and I can tell he’s fighting to hold back his own amusement.
“I’ll see to training arrangements and send correspondence to Ryker.
I’ll, um, speak with you later.” The old man quickly disappears through one of the doors along the side wall.
It closes with a loud, echoing thud and the two of us stand facing each other.
I can see her ire churning, the temperature in the room chilling further, skin shimmering with frost once more.
“I’d like to point out that you lied about your identity first,” I say before she can speak. Her mouth pops open and I plow on quickly, “and I didn’t technically even lie. My name is Killian Blackheart—I’ve never gone by Dorian and I use my mother’s surname.”
She sputters, words failing her. She yells through her teeth in frustration and then a ball of icy snow hits me in the chest, sending me stumbling backwards a step in surprise.
I look down at the shards glittering against my leathers.
I look up, incredulous, only to have two more sail at me, one hitting my shoulder, the other my stomach.
She arches a brow and I read her intention just in time and block my crotch before another ball lands squarely on my cock.
It stings my hand and I curse, shaking my fingers out against the sharp pain.
“Thea! Come on!”
“You bastard,” she seethes, baring her teeth in a near snarl, and for a moment I’m reminded of Soren. “You let me think I was walking into a monster’s den to be tortured or worse!”
“When I let you think that, I thought you were your sister! And, yes, I was all too happy to see that fear in your eyes—her eyes, I mean, I won’t lie about that.
Your sister is a fucking cunt who deserves to be dragged across all seven hells for what she’s done to people all through Hypathia, but mostly what she did to you.
And I vow she’ll fucking pay for it, by all the Makers she will pay,” I growl.
She softens ever so slightly at that and I push my advantage.
“But once I knew that you weren’t like her at all, by the way you acted, the kindness you showed and the feelings I had for you, even before I knew the truth, I tried to assuage your fear.
I couldn’t tell you the full truth, Thea, not out there.
I’m not bound to keep the secret when I’m outside these walls like the others, it's true, but I just…I needed more time with you as Killian Blackheart, the Commander you came to love before I had to be the King you’d been raised to hate.
I needed more time, Thea,” I say, practically begging.
“And the cages?”
“Where we keep the petting zoo on market days for the children. I swear.”
She stares, studying me, another ball of ice hovering above her palm.
I wait, letting her come to her decision, but I hold my fucking breath while I do.
She can’t possibly choose to walk away from me…
can she? I had to hide things, just as she did, but everything I told her about myself, about the way I felt, it was all truth, more truth than I’ve ever shared with another, truth I didn’t even know existed pulled from deep in my soul.
Finally, the ball of ice shrinks in on itself, disappearing with a tiny burst of powder and I blink—I’ve never seen her do that before.
There’s so much I long to discover about this woman…
but first, I need her to tell me that things are ok between us.
I need her to tell me that she hasn’t changed her mind.
I need her to tell me that she still loves me.
She closes the distance between us and brushes crystals of ice from my chest before wrapping her hands around my neck and pressing up to her toes to kiss me. I sigh against her lips, wrapping my arms around her back and pulling her hard against me.
“I understand,” she whispers and I feel her lips curl upward against my own.
“I still plan to make you grovel, mind you, but I understand…” She squeals when I growl and lift her up, urging her lips apart and kissing her deeply, my tongue sweeping roughly against her own.
She wraps her legs around my waist and I settle my hands on her ass, squeezing appreciatively.
“I am very, very good at groveling, Red,” I tell her as I walk her backwards, and she shudders.
I slide her down my body just in front of the hulking throne and pull her tunic off, tossing it aside.
Her corset joins moments later, and her breathing becomes quick and shallow as she waits to see what I’ll do next, eyes burning and pupils expanding ever outward.
I grab one leg and rest the sole of her boot on my knee, loosening the laces and tugging it off before releasing it and doing the same on the other.
I unlace her trousers, and all the while, she watches, eyes wild, chest rising, pulse racing.
I shove her leathers away and she steps out of them, standing gloriously naked before me, before my throne.
My cock throbs, the sight so fucking arousing that I need it burned into my memory forever.
I take a few heartbeats to do just that, taking in every single detail.
The way her hair falls in a waterfall of fire down her back, a few wayward curls sweeping across her temple; the way her cheeks flush and her body trembles from head to toe as my gaze drifts across every inch of her; the way the great dragon stands behind her, as if proud to have her as part of his kingdom; the way she looks like a fucking queen, head high and shoulders back, that warrior spirit nearly blinding in its ferocity.
Mine. All fucking mine.
“Turn around,” I rumble. She swallows hard but that defiance I love so much rises and she cocks a brow.
“Is that a command from the king?” Her voice is breathy and sensual. I step forward and she cranes her head up, licking her lips. I grasp her hips and turn her, my chest pressed against her back now.
I lean down and whisper, “It is. Because this king is going to devour you until your screams shatter this entire fucking palace, and then he’s going to fuck you on this throne, Thea, so hard and deep that you won’t be able to walk come the morning.
” She gasps and shudders. “Now, put your hands on the armrests and—” I kiss her softly, biting her lower lip before pulling away. “—Bend. The. Fuck. Over.”
She gasps but obeys immediately, gripping the armrests of the massive throne and bending at the waist before me.
I use my thigh to press hers apart, shuffling her feet wider.
“Lower,” I command, and a soft whimper breaks free from her lips.
My woman likes being instructed…and praised.
I shift her hair over her shoulder and kiss her nape as I run my palm down her back, over her ass, caressing and kneading. “That’s my good girl,” I whisper.
“Fuck,” she breathes and I chuckle low. I sink to my knees behind her and nearly come at the sight. Great fucking Makers. Her perfect ass. Her smooth pussy, already wet and wanting.
“Fuck I’m going to enjoy this,” I rasp as I lean in and lick her, long and slow, hands gripping her ass.
“Makers,” she breathes. I lick her again, tongue gliding between her lips and sending utter ecstasy through my veins.
The taste of her is sweeter than the heavens.
Over and over I devour this woman, fucking her with my tongue, growing harder and harder with every moan, every whimper, every curse.
I dare to drag my tongue upwards, running it over that forbidden spot.
She gasps quietly, but doesn’t pull away, doesn’t tell me to stop, so I do it again and her moans reverberate through the large room, fingers digging into the armrests of the chair and legs shaking.
“Holy fuck,” she whispers. “Fucking, fuck, fuck…Don’t stop!” she demands, breathless. I chuckle lightly but do as she asks, running my tongue in slow, sweeping circles.
“One day,” I rumble as I pull back, kneading her ass, spreading her so I can see everything laid out before me. “One fucking day, Thea, I’ll take you there if you let me—and Makers fucking help this mountain around us because I swear my roars will shake them to their fucking cores.”
“Yes,” she pants. “Yes, yes, yes.” She clutches the throne and wiggles her ass in invitation. I smile and shake my head.