36. Dayton
36
Dayton
I can barely see Rosalina; she’s buried in a couch surrounded by fae males. The bastards descended the moment I left her side. The scent of their desire is sickening. They’re ready to fuck her the moment she gives the go ahead.
Which she will because that’s exactly what I told her to do.
“Uh, are you not into this?” the fae female lounging beside me asks. Her finger runs down my bare chest. I lost my shirt an hour ago.
No idea who took it. I was drunk—but I need to be this drunk to stop myself from doing something incredibly stupid.
“Time to wake up.” The fae female squeezes my flaccid cock through my pants. I can’t focus on her.
It was a stupid idea to bring Rosalina here. But she’d looked so desperate. I can’t give her true freedom without defying Kel, but I could give her freedom for one night.
I just didn’t realize how hard it would be. Like when she’d first taken off that cloak and I’d seen what she was wearing. How little she was wearing. I’d wanted to take her straight to a room so no one else could lay eyes on her. Seeing her in the clothes of the Summer Realm, my realm, awoke something primal in me. I wanted to— No. Anything I wanted to do to her was a betrayal to Kel. An even worse one than if I let her go. He’d told none of us to touch her. And if it was for the reason we all suspected—the only fucking logical reason for any of this—then I couldn’t.
It doesn’t mean she can’t have some fun on her own. I doubt Kel would approve of this, but she deserves to let loose. Especially after the way he treats her.
If I can grant her that, I will.
It’s just so fucking hard.
One of the fae males strokes his hand up and down her arm. Another one massages her shoulders. She glances over at me. She keeps doing that. Maybe to see if I’ve left for my private room yet. Nope. There’s no fucking way I’m letting her out of my sight until I have to.
Her arousal is so strong, I can smell it from here. Almost as intense as the time she’d been standing outside my room.
Fuck . When she’d walked in on me and Farron, I’d nearly run after her butt-ass naked and dragged her back between us. Fare and I have shared women before, but he’s never been that into it. But he’d be into Rosie. I know he would.
“There we go,” the fae female giggles, her pert tits wiggling in my face. “You’re hard now.”
I look past her to Rosalina. One of the fae males pulls her on his lap, right over his hard cock. My fists tighten and I stand, accidentally throwing the fae woman to the ground.
The male kisses Rosalina.
Anger ignites in my chest. The monstrous golden wolf rages up inside me. I need to get out of here before I turn.
Rosalina pushes him. “Let me go!”
She crosses the room, but the fae male follows her. “I thought you wanted that,” he slurs.
“I changed my mind.”
Relief floods my chest, and the wolf settles down.
“I haven’t,” the fae male growls. He pulls Rosalina to him. The braids in her hair fall out, exposing her rounded ears. “A human?”
So we’re not fucking done. I push the crowd out of the way to get to her.
“Don’t touch me,” she cries, her eyes dancing around the room. She’s looking for me.
“Worry not, little human,” the fae male leers. “I’ll try not to break you… too much.”
“I said stop,” Rosalina snarls, fury etched on her face, and the fae male hesitates for a moment.
That moment is all I need. I emerge from the crowd and haul him away. “You should have listened to her the first time.”
Fear blanches the male’s face. “Prince Dayton,” he stutters. “I barely touched her—”
“She’s the last thing you’ll ever fucking touch.” A crowd forms around us, but I push them out of the way and slam the male down on the table. His scream only enrages the wolf inside me further. I force his arms out before him.
“W-what are you doing?” he cries, tears falling down his face.
My sword is answer enough. I draw it and arc it down in one swift movement, cutting right at the wrist bones, hard enough for it to embed in the table. His disgusting hands fall to the ground, painting the floor red. Blood sprays from his wrists, drenching my torso, and coating his screaming mouth.
The crowd erupts in a wild frenzy, pushing and shoving each other to escape. I turn to see Rosalina frozen in shock, her face a mix of disbelief and terror. Not wasting a moment, I snatch her arm and drag her from the bar.
Through the chaos, I hear the whispers: “Damocles never would have done this.”
“Maybe this is why Dayton’s absent. Locked away for his rage.”
“Should have left the baby prince in the ring with the wild monsters. Where he belongs.”
I need to get out of here. “Send the bill to my sister,” I snap at the owner as we leave.
The night air does nothing to cool my burning skin.
“Dayton—” Rosalina grasps my arm. “Dayton, are you hurt?”
I could almost laugh. Of course at a time like this, she would be worried about me. “Didn’t you see? It’s not my blood.”
“Day,” she says, “your eyes… They’re glowing.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. I pull her into a nearby alley. “We need to go back to the castle.”
“I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” she mumbles. “I thought I wanted to—y’know. But as soon as they touched me, I got this major ick. I assumed it would go away once we kissed, but it got worse—”
I brace my hands on the stone wall. “Rosalina, I really need you to stop talking about kissing that fae.” It feels like I’m burning from the inside out. I’m not sure if I’m going to shift into a wolf or explode and take the whole Summer Realm down in flames with me. Shit, it’s been decades since I’ve felt this out of control.
“I was going to say, it was even worse when he kissed me,” she continues, because she always has to finish her point. I find it cute as shit when she snaps at Kel this way, but now that she’s doing it to me, I want to shut her pretty little mouth.
Forcing my eyes closed, I try to ignore the fire that’s burning in my chest. I release the clasp of the largest shell on my necklace and reveal the small mirror inside. I angle the object toward the wall, reflecting the light until it builds a spinning portal on the surface.
“How?” Rosalina gasps. “You have portable mirrors?”
“No time for another magic lesson, blossom.” I grab her wrist and pull her through. She needs to be safe inside the castle before I explode.
The magic wraps around us until we stumble into the cool entrance hall, the familiar sight of those bloody thorns welcoming us home.
I take in a deep breath and pinch the bridge of my nose. What the fuck is wrong with me?
Rosalina looks up at me, her eyes wide with concern. “What happened back there, Dayton?”
“I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“I wasn’t scared. He deserved it.” Her face is stern. “Now he can’t touch anyone else against their will. At least, not as easily.”
“Well, I’m sorry you didn’t get your carefree night.” One of her sleeves has slipped down and I reach to pull it up.
“I didn’t want any of them, anyway.” Her hand clasps over mine before I can pull away. And damn if the contact of her skin isn’t lighting another sort of fire inside me. “I don’t understand what happened to your eyes. You seemed so—”
“No one treats you that way, Rosalina,” I snarl. “And if I didn’t get out of there, I would have torn every one of them apart, then my beast would have shown up to finish the job.”
Her fingers curl around mine, breath heavy in her throat. She looks up at me with those big brown eyes, and I’m fucking gone. “Day—”
I pull her toward me and kiss her with everything I have.