Chapter 26
The power of the diamonds in my tiara gave me far more confidence than I expected. Enough to dance, drink, sit on my husband’s lap, and look him in the eye as I felt his arousal for me underneath the far-too-thin cloth he was wearing.
The logical Sybelle, who was cautious and calculating in everything she did, would have balked at my audacity. I could almost feel her screaming against the walls of my mind, begging me to use common sense.
But I couldn’t hear her against the adrenaline coursing through me. The heat of Varius’s body seeped into mine, drawing me closer. He was firm and large, and he smelled of spice and rain.
And he was not at all as monstrous as he claimed to be.
Here in the darkened ballroom, I couldn’t even tell that his skin was a different shade from mine. His black horns blended in with the darkness around him, and his clawed hands were surprisingly gentle as they held me securely on his lap.
Sitting so closely with him reminded me that he was just like any ordinary man. Yes, he had his differences, but his firm chest and muscular biceps and… well, hard arousal… were exactly the same as the human men I’d encountered.
I leaned into his chest, and a rumbling growl vibrated through him .
Well, I amended, perhaps not exactly the same .
But, to be honest, I was more intrigued by Varius than any human from my own court. Even Gerard.
And I was far too interested in how much his body responded to mine. We were different species, after all, and he had made his disgust for my kind clear.
But when I arched into him or leaned closer or writhed against his hardness, he visibly reacted.
Perhaps it was as he said, and it was only a result of the revel.
But the daring side of me, brought out by the diamonds, wanted to test my theory.
I dragged a fingertip between his two pectorals, tracing a path all the way down to his navel. He stiffened, his breath catching as he held perfectly still while I stroked him.
A couple had each other pressed against the wall next to our sofa. The male kissed her neck, and the female’s legs wrapped around him as she threw her head back.
They weren’t the only ones engaging in such activities. In fact, the entire ballroom was full of such couples. But this one was so close. I could hear the male murmuring something in Agnarrish against her throat as he licked up and down. She cried out, gasping as she tugged on his violet hair.
The male reached up her skirt, his fingers working her, and she moaned loudly. In Agnarrish, she told him, “Don’t stop. Oh, please don’t stop.”
Her skirt hitched higher, and the male fumbled with his trousers.
She ground against him, and the wall rattled as he slammed her hard against it.
She shouted in ecstasy, her legs tightening around him as he thrust inside her.
They both grunted from the impact as he drove harder and deeper inside her.
Her animalistic sounds rose in pitch and volume until she was screaming.
She rode him so hard that she was bouncing on him, and he continued to plunge inside her, growling and snarling, his movements becoming frantic and demanding .
The female’s eyes closed, her mouth falling open as she continued her strangled sounds of pleasure.
Varius’s voice in my ear made me jump. “Enjoying the show?”
My thighs clenched around his knee as desire turned my insides molten. The way the female was crying out, the look of intense delight on her face…
I said nothing for a long moment, still watching the writhing couple. They only seemed spurred on by their desire, moving faster and harder. But still they did not stop.
“Do—Do the fae have a longer stamina than humans?” My throat was dry.
Varius chuckled. “Yes. We are immortal, after all.”
“I—I just mean… how long does it last?” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them. “Won’t they finish soon? What will they do afterward?”
Varius was silent for so long that I looked at him. His expression was torn between amusement and confusion. “I thought you said you were familiar with the male body.”
My cheeks heated. “I am . But… it… well for me, it hasn’t lasted very long. Not this long.”
Varius tilted his head, considering this. “Then whoever is pleasuring you is doing a terrible job. When done properly , it can sometimes last for hours. With multiple climaxes.”
My heart seized in my chest, and heat pooled in my belly. Stones, multiple climaxes? Surely this had to be something unique to the fae. I couldn’t even imagine such a thing with Gerard.
My thighs tightened, and I resisted the urge to squirm on Varius’s lap.
Something brushed against my arm, and I turned to find Varius’s barbed tail coiling toward me. Despite the sharp points, its touch was soft and feather-light. I sucked in a breath as it dragged slowly down my arm, then curled against my calf.
The first time I’d seen his tail, I had perceived it as a weapon. If he thrashed his tail against an opponent, it could easily tear through flesh.
But this… The movements were delicate enough to tickle my skin, proving that even the prickliest parts of Varius were capable of tenderness.
I sucked in an unsteady breath. “What are you doing?” My voice was as shaky as my breathing.
“Proving to you how much I can make you feel … even without my hands on you.”
Cool air whispered against my skin, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. I suppressed a shudder, glancing down to find a tendril of Varius’s shadows creeping up my leg.
“Don’t worry, dannahla ,” Varius murmured in my ear. “I meant what I said before: I won’t touch you until you are begging me to.” He paused, and a shiver of pleasure rippled through me. “But I can’t speak for my shadows.”
More shadows encircled my legs, then tightened like ropes. I inhaled sharply at the cool contact. The shadows loosened, then warmed slightly, and I wondered if Varius was reading my reactions and making it more… pleasant for me.
Why? Why was he doing this?
I was about to ask him when a thick shadow slid up my skirt and plunged between my legs.
I jerked wildly, unable to keep myself from crying out.
The shadow withdrew, leaving me panting. My legs parted of their own volition, and Varius’s shadows inched closer, as if waiting for me to stop him.
I did not.
My body quivered with a need I didn’t know I possessed. Could he really do… this ? With his shadows alone?
The strand of his shadow thickened and solidified until it was almost corporeal. When it met my sensitive flesh again, it was firm and almost hard . Just like… just like …
The smoothness burrowed between my thighs. I let my head roll back against Varius’s chest, my eyes closing.
“I think, darling wife, that you have been deprived of true pleasure.” Varius’s voice was hot in my ear. His shadows pushed inside me, and I writhed my hips with a low moan. “This is merely a taste of what I can do for you.”
The shadows thrust hard, and I bit down on my lip to keep from screaming. My thighs spread wider, urging him onward. The shadows twisted, curling inward, driving into me with relentless intensity.
“Oh, Stones ,” I breathed.
“If you want me to stop, just say the word.”
“Don’t stop.”
His shadows pounded into me, harder and faster. The feel of them, gliding through my body, burrowing deeper than I ever thought possible, made me see stars. Sweat trickled down my neck, and my body seemed to burn with each movement as his shadows claimed me. Again and again.
My arms lifted, needing to touch him. My fingers found his neck and tangled in his hair, which was thicker and more luscious than I imagined.
“Varius,” I whispered. Tension coursed through me in violent waves, winding tighter and tighter until I couldn’t breathe.
The sounds and sights before me faded. All I felt—all I knew —was the force of that hard strength thrusting into me.
He consumed my senses, driving all other thoughts from my mind. I needed more of him. So much more.
All too suddenly, the shadows vanished, leaving the wetness between my legs painfully unsatisfied. Panting, my eyes opened, and I found myself stretched out on Varius’s lap, legs wide open and back arched against him like some feral creature.
I swallowed hard, righting myself as I turned to look at him. He offered an infuriating smirk that made my blood boil.
“If I made you come right away, where would be the fun in that?” he taunted .
I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the restless heat stirring within me, begging to be satiated. “That was cruel.”
“That was a mere demonstration. Your pitiful human lovers might bring you a moment of release, but I can make it last for hours, dannahla . Just say the words.” His dark eyes glittered with a challenge.
I met his stare and lifted my chin. I refused to admit just how much his shadows had affected me. And I would never reveal how much I yearned for that release. It would mean that he’d won. “No.”
He grinned, showing his fangs. A hungry look sparkled in his eyes. This was a game to him. A dance. He had made the first move.
Now, it was my turn.
“Dance with me,” I said.
Varius’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why?”
I smiled, feigning innocence. “Because you are my husband and I want to dance.”
“You were dancing perfectly well without my help earlier.”
My eyebrows lifted. “So, you do not want to dance with me?”
“I—you—” A growling sound resonated in his throat.
My smile widened. He couldn’t say no; that would be a lie.
I slid off his lap, my movements slow and deliberate as I made sure to drag myself directly over his hardened length. Stones, it was much larger than I expected. And the cloth was so thin that I did indeed feel the raised bumps he’d been referring to.
His eyes shuttered, and he groaned. I yearned to rip off that measly piece of cloth to inspect him myself. And the bolder side of me was itching to know how it would feel to have something like that inside me.