39. Farron
39
Farron
“B reathe with me, Farron. Breathe.”
Blood hammers through my head as Ezryn’s soft voice drifts through me; the tight embrace of his roots hold me still, keeping me safe in their cocoon.
Back, I think to my wolf. You’re not needed here. Stay back.
“That’s it, Farron. Listen to my voice. Stay with me.”
Inhaling deeply, I flutter my eyes open to see the shine of Ez’s helmet, his bare hands holding my shoulders. “H-hey.”
The roots release and I fall against Ezryn’s chest. “Good to have you back, brother,” he says, a firm hand around my back. His armor is cold against my cheek and stinks of goblin blood, but I don’t care. I need a moment of connection.
I hate losing myself to the wolf. Hate that after all these years, it still has such a hold on me. And unlike the others, when the wolf comes out, I have no control. Whatever base instinct the snarling demon inside of me wants, it gets.
I’ve accepted that every night, the wolf is going to win. But during the day or the full moon, I’ve never had an issue losing myself to my anger and to the beast like the others have. I always keep it under wraps. But tonight—
Dayton.
I push away from Ezryn and stagger up to where Dayton leans against the wall, gingerly touching his bruised cheek from where Ez slugged him.
“Stop it,” he growls.
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like a sad puppy.” He turns away. “If you two hadn’t lost your fucking shit, Keldarion would never have been the wiser.”
“So, you were going to hide the fact you have a relationship with Keldarion’s prisoner?” I grit out.
Dayton rolls his eyes. “I don’t have a relationship with her. We were going to fuck.”
Ezryn stands, his armor clattering, and walks stiffly to the mirror.
“And what’s your problem, huh?” Dayton calls after him. “What do you even care what I do with her?”
The glowing light from the mirror paints Ezryn’s armor like a swirling aurora borealis. His voice is too calm as he says, “She’s not one of your playthings, Dayton. You have a responsibility to protect her. As Keldarion’s prisoner—”
“I’m fucking sick of hearing she’s Keldarion’s prisoner,” Dayton roars and I stumble back. “She’s not his fucking property. And she wanted me. So Keldarion can stuff that up his frosty asshole.”
Ezryn gives a deep sigh. “I’m going back out on patrol.”
“Why did you even come, anyway?” Dayton grumbles.
A blanket of silence settles in the room, a heavy breath held within armor and stone. Ezryn says lowly, “I felt a… disturbance. I needed to be here.”
Before anyone can reply, he shimmers through the mirror and disappears.
How strange. After returning from the Autumn Realm, I’d been in the library browsing the top racks of a bookshelf when I’d nearly fallen off my ladder. It was like a heady scent had wafted in front of me, a pull from the deepest recesses of my chest. It hadn’t been unpleasant… until I’d seen Rosalina and Dayton.
Together.
“I’m going to bed.” Dayton shoves past me, heavy steps echoing out of the room and into the hallway.
I stay still. My head feels like a flood of every emotion, all rushing too fast. I can’t make sense of them.
“Well?” Dayton calls. “Are you coming?”
And then one emotion shines out the clearest: anger.
I storm after him. He’s giving me the most satisfied little smirk anyone could conjure. I draw my fist back and smash it off his face.
“What the fuck?” Dayton cries, grabbing his cheek. “What is your problem?”
My hand throbs with pain and I give it a shake, trying not to make it obvious. “You couldn’t finish your fuck with Rosalina, so you’ll find the next available body, isn’t that right? That’s always what I am to you, Dayton. Something to be fucked, filled, and discarded.”
Dayton leers down and grabs my chin. “When you put it so romantically, how could I not?”
I slap his hand away.
“Okay, okay.” Dayton steps back. “You’re jealous. But over me or Rosalina?”
“No, I—” I stop and turn around, my face on fire. Am I jealous? Is that what this feeling is? Or is it something else?
It wasn’t that it killed me to see Dayton and Rosalina together. In fact, the image of him holding her in his arms, the look of ecstasy on her face—it was the most beautiful sight I could imagine.
But I’d held myself back every single day since she’d been here. There were so many moments where I’d been leaning over her to look at her work, and she’d cast her glance up—what if I had moved before Dayton had? What if I had kissed her first?
But I hadn’t. Because I followed Keldarion’s rules. Because though none of us said it out loud, we all suspected it.
There could only be one reason Keldarion was keeping her here.
Even if that reason made no sense at all.
And maybe… maybe a small part of me is jealous. Because I understand Dayton well enough to know he lied to Ez when he said Rosalina was just another fuck.
He’d only ever looked at one other person the way he’d looked at her.
We may never find our mates, but I thought we’d always have something special.
“You know I don’t care who you fuck,” I force out. “If you hurt Rosie, I’ll show you what real pain feels like. It will be an agony you won’t forget.”
In a swift movement, Dayton has me pinned against the wall, his forearm against my throat. “I will never hurt her,” he says, his voice a raspy growl.
My breath surges through my throat. His face is so close to mine, the smell of sea salt and fruity wine mixing between us. Stars, even with his expression coarse and rigid, he’s so damned beautiful. Dark lashes over storm-blue eyes, his wide jaw appearing as if chiseled from marble. His long blond hair flows in a messy mane over his thick neck and collarbone.
Suddenly, his expression softens, and he drops his forearm. “And I’d never hurt you, Fare. Not on purpose. I’m just an idiot.”
“No arguments here,” I mumble, massaging my neck.
Dayton backs up and stares at the ceiling, as if this confession is for the sky and not me: “And here’s the problem. Even though I know it’s going to hurt so much more, even though I know my whole fucking self is going to get destroyed,” he finally meets my gaze, voice cracking, “I can’t stop myself from wanting you.”
I close the distance between us, pulling his neck down toward me, and kissing him as if this were the first time, the last time, a kiss for infinity. He wraps his arms around me and twists until his back is against the wall, and he’s holding me as tight as possible. And I want this so badly, want to be closer to him, want to feel the distance that has always been between us fade away. I would crawl into his skin if I could.
He breaks the kiss and snatches my jaw. “You fucking hit me.”
“You fucking deserved it.”
Dayton barks a laugh and grabs roughly for my ass. “Come with me, pup. Let us fuck until our worries disappear and we are but on a cloud of bliss.”
“Everything is so easy for you. Drink or fuck the problems away.”
His lips catch my earlobe. “If only I was as good at that as I pretend to be.”
The words send my heart surging because I always knew they were true; knew the more reckless Dayton is, the worse his heart feels.
“Let me in,” I whisper against his mouth. “Let me help you.”
A blankness crosses his expression before being replaced by a wild grin. It’s a mask. I know it, but I don’t press.
“No more talking,” he says. “I’m going to make you scream until your throat is too raw for words.”
I give a small smile back. It’s alright. I’m used to this.
And I won’t give up. Because maybe one day, he’ll realize he’s safe with me. He can let down the walls he’s built so high. One day, he’ll let me protect him.
W e stagger through the hallways back to Dayton’s chambers in the Summer Wing. He throws me on the bed and stands between my legs, peering down at me like some sort of sea king from legend: his chest naked and shiny with perspiration, hair wild and mussed from my hands; the seashell necklace dangling between his pecs.
The blood on his chest only makes him look hotter.
“Do you see this?” He grabs his thick cock through his pants.
How could I not see it? It’s the cock of a god: huge and straining, and I know it so well I can practically taste the salty pre-cum I know trickles down its girth.
“Answer me.” He yanks my shirt collar and pulls me up so I’m eye level with his cock.
“I see it.” My voice comes out a wavering tremble.
He grabs the back of my head and smashes it against his groin. The hard length rolls over my face, the damned fabric of his pants an evil barrier between me and the silky skin beneath.
“Do you feel it?” he growls.
“Yes,” I mumble against the hardness.
“Tonight, this is your cock. All yours, Farron. I’m going to make you feel so good.”
His words make my shaft throb and pulse, begging to be touched. Unable to resist, my tongue falls out, desperately trying to lick his length through the fabric.
Before I can get far, Dayton pulls me up by my jaw until I’m staring into his intense gaze. I probably look a trembling mess before him. “I’m going to claim you like it’s the first time. You belong to me.”
Of the four princes, I’m the youngest. The weakest. But when Dayton owns me like this, I don’t feel weak. I feel like a fucking god, my body creating feelings for him so intense, he can’t control his roars of pleasure. My body can make his cock come like a waterfall. My body can drain the Summer Prince.
Dayton smashes his lips against mine. Each tug of my hair is ecstasy. The feel of his rough hands along my neck, ripping open my shirt, pinching my nipples… It’s utter pleasure. When our cocks slam together, I groan, feeling ripe with need.
With an urgency I know he feels too, I pull his pants down and cup his heavy balls. I let out an unconscious sigh of relief to have him in my hands.
“Yes, pup.” He throws his head back. “Fuck yes, love.”
I tug delicately, first on one than the other. I could listen to his moans of pleasure forever. Why can’t it be like this? Why do we have to obsess over mates and curses? Why can’t it be me and him in this bedroom for the rest of our near-immortal lives?
Rosalina.
The thought shakes me, and my cock pulses in response. No, it wouldn’t be right to be just here with Dayton. I need her.
Her brown eyes and dark hair flood my mind and suddenly, I launch myself at Dayton’s cock, gobbling it up like a starved man. He chokes out in shock, then practically purrs as he pushes deeper into my throat.
I imagine she’s watching us right now, the way she had earlier. That I’m staring at her as I force Dayton’s enormous length deeper and deeper. What if she shared our bed? What if while I sucked Dayton, she sucked me?
I have to shove my pants off and pump my cock from the thought. Imagining her perfect lips around my shaft, her sweet gaze as she swallows my seed.
Pre-cum pearls at my tip and I slick my fingers through it. Dayton sees and grabs my hand, popping my fingers into his mouth. He sucks me in the same rhythm I’m sucking him, and it’s like I’m a man crazed. I can’t get enough of his cock: I want it deeper, harder, more, more, more.
“Easy now.” Dayton pushes gently on my forehead. “Greedy pup. My cum is for your ass, not your mouth.”
He slaps my cheek in a patronizing manner, but I don’t care. Right now, I’d eat out of his hand or turn in a circle if he asked.
He looks down at my cock and bites his lower lip. “Fucking gorgeous.” Then his eyes drift up to my face. “You, Farron, are fucking gorgeous.”
The world could be on fire, and I wouldn’t care as long as Dayton keeps looking at me like that. He pushes on my chest and lies me down upon his bed. “Legs up.”
I do as he says, the position extremely vulnerable. My whole self laid bare for him. I’ve had sex with my fair share of fae women and men throughout the years, but I’ve never been comfortable being so open with any of them like I am with Dayton. The history of our friendship—the laughter, the talks in the dark, the shared experience of being cursed—makes me safe with him, no matter how exposed my body is.
Dayton runs a lazy hand down my chest, then firmly grabs my length. “This, pup, is a great cock. Did you know? I quite like this cock.” He leans down, keeping his eyes trained on mine the entire time. “In fact, I love this cock.”
My heart dances in my chest. I know he only means we have amazing sex. But when he says that word, I feel like I could leap off the top of the castle and fly over the briars.
He buries his nose into my balls and inhales deeply. “Your scent drives me wild, Farron.”
And when he says my name, I nearly come all over his face.
“If you like my cock so much,” I manage, “why don’t you give it a kiss?”
Dayton chuckles darkly. “Oh, I’ll do more than that.”
Stars explode across my vision as Dayton’s warm tongue laps up my length. But he doesn’t stop there. He pops my balls into his mouth one at a time, eyes dark and hungry.
“Your lips feel so fucking good,” I groan.
My balls rush out of his mouth with a wet splat. “I know.” With no mercy, he grabs them in one of his hands, lifts them up, and strokes his tongue down to my hole.
“Fuck, you are delicious.” His fingers leave red marks on my thighs.
I want to reply but I’m only capable of guttural cries and moans as his tongue swirls around and around.
“I need to make sure you’re nice and loose for my cock,” he says. “You know, Farron, I won’t hurt you.” He looks up and gives a wink. “Unless you want me to.”
I think I grunt a response but he’s grabbing the oil vial from his bedside table and slicking his fingers. An oiled knuckle slathers the warm liquid over me, and I shiver in delight.
That shiver turns into a toe-curling spasm as he pushes his thick finger into me.
“Does that feel good, pup? That’s just one finger. I know you can take more.”
“Y-yes,” I say. “But right now, I want your cock so bad—”
“Want?” Dayton growls. “Tell me you need it. Tell me you’d fucking die without this cock. Tell me you live for this cock.”
“I need your cock,” I tell him as he pulls his finger out. “I’d die without your cock. I live for your cock.”
“Good boy.” He draws himself up between my legs, gives his shaft one smack against mine, then sheathes himself inside me.
Both of us cry out from the sensation: I feel stuffed full, and I push against him, easily relaxing to take his entire length and girth. It’s like my body is made for his; the pain gives way to pure rapture as he draws himself back then smashes into me.
“Tell me you need me,” he growls.
“I need you,” I say.
“Tell me you won’t leave me.”
“Never,” I swear, an oath sworn with our bodies.
Dayton gives a mighty roar, pumping me with an intensity I’ve never felt. My cock smacks against my stomach with the force of our movement.
My vision swirls with color, and I swear my tongue hangs out of my mouth as he uses my body to purge whatever darkness is inside him. And I don’t care. I’ll wait forever if I have to. Wait for the day Dayton realizes it’s been me all along.
He’s not my mate.
But he’s the closest thing I’ve got.
“Farron,” he groans.
“Do it,” I respond. “Come in me. Fill me.”
The mere thought of his thick load exploding inside of me, filling me so deeply, stuffing me full of him, sends me over the edge.
“Dayton!” I cry and grab my cock. It explodes over my chest, pulsating with spurts of heat.
“Fuck,” he grunts, and I nearly lose myself from the pure pleasure as his cock throbs, spilling his hot seed deep inside my body.
The stars spark out before me, and I stare blankly at the ceiling. I think a trail of spit drips down my chin, but I don’t care. Dayton pulls out and rolls off the bed, grabbing a cloth from the attached washroom. With an easy grin, he lies down beside me and starts mopping up my chest and backside.
Finally, he tugs me close and kisses the top of my head. As my hands wrap around him and graze down his back, I feel the puckered skin of the large scars there.
I shiver.
My beast almost came out tonight.
Rosie had been there. What if I’d hurt her? Or hurt Dayton again? Why does it feel like the wolf is getting stronger?
We’re running out of time.
“Hey, hey.” Dayton grabs my face and makes me look at him. “You’re shaking.”
I take a deep breath. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” My hands trail through his hair. “Your braids came out. I’ll redo them.”
“Tomorrow, pup.” Dayton gives a long yawn. Then his eyes narrow. “What does it feel like to you?”
“Hmm?”
“When we make love?”
I close my eyes and relive the experience in my head. How does one put euphoria into words? “It feels like starlight igniting my whole body. Like an empty place in my heart is being filled.”
“Is that so?” Dayton whispers.
I twist my head to look at him. “And for you?”
Storm clouds swirl in his eyes and for once, I think it’s happening. The walls are torn down. The moment is now.
But he just laughs and slaps my cheek playfully. “Feels like a fucking good lay.” Then he rolls over and plops his head on the pillow. “You should go back to your wing now.”
I lay there for one moment more. One moment to pretend.
Coward.
That’s what the Enchantress had called me.
As I change into my clothes, body sore and raw, I know in my heart she was right.