CHAPTER TEN
Astrid
“Good morning, baby,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head. Opening my eyes, I realize, after starting out the night on the edge of the opposite side of the bed, that I’m now firmly on his side, my thigh between his, head on his bare shoulder. Lifting my head, I try to move away from him, but he tightens his hold.
“That was the best sleep I’ve had in days.”
It was mine, too, but I wasn’t about to admit that.
“I have to go see Zython,” I say, but Rave simply holds me against him, sighing deeply.
“I’m going to zip with you there so I know you’re safe.”
“Rave—”
“Nonnegotiable. I won’t stay… I’ll just deliver you to him,” he says, pushing my long, brown hair off my face. “We have a meeting with my father today about the war with the vampires. We need to decide if we will keep defending our lands or enter their territory to attack.”
I don’t know why he’s suddenly so open with information, but maybe he is trying to include me and make me feel like I belong here again.
“Or you could tell your father to stop fucking the Vampire Queen and give her back to her king,” I reply without thinking.
Rave stills. “What did you say?”
Shit. I didn’t tell Rave about what I saw in my vision because I’d have no way of explaining how I knew that. Taking my time stretching, trying to come up with something to say, I decide on, “I just heard that perhaps the Fae King and the Vampire Queen are lovers. So, this war we’re all fighting is really just a lovers’ dispute.”
He pulls me back to the bed and straddles me, making sure not to put his full weight on me. “He told me he saved her because the Vampire King mistreats her.”
I shrug, looking away from those icy eyes that can see right into my soul. “Just repeating what I heard.”
Or saw, as it was.
He nods slowly. “Thank you for telling me.”
When he lowers his lips to mine, he gives me time to pull away. And I want to. However, the bond purrs its approval, and I find myself wrapped up in him. The kiss is gentle at first, testing, but it deepens into something else completely when I kiss him back. He kisses me like he’s starving, and I’m the only thing fueling him. It’s like our lips contain the answers to all life’s problems, and he’d rather give up oxygen than my mouth.
But his kiss still tastes like betrayal.
And like an apology, all mixed into one.
He lifts his shirt I wore to sleep in, paying attention to my breasts, kissing and sucking on the pebbled nipples before moving further south. He’s in a rush. Maybe he thinks I’m going to change my mind about letting him touch me, and who knows, maybe I will.
And then my panties are slid to the side, and his mouth is on my pussy, licking up and down my slit before circling my clit in a clockwise direction, causing my back to arch.
It’s been too fucking long, and I need this release.
I fucking deserve it.
Apparently, my body can’t hold a grudge as long as my mind can.
My fingers thread into his thick, dark hair, pulling on the strands as my hips reach up to him. Just as I’m about to come, he pulls away, lifting his head to look at me, his lips wet.
“Don’t stop,” I demand.
“Who do you belong to, Princess? I want you to say my name as you come. Remember whose pussy this is,” he orders, and I bite my bottom lip, not wanting to give in to him, but also so fucking on the edge that my pride has taken leave. I feel tendrils of shadows twist around my body, pressure on my nipples, and what feels like a hand on my throat, making me so wet there’s nothing I wouldn’t say yes to right now. His lips and chin glisten with my wetness, and I’ve never seen a more erotic sight.
“ You , I belong to you,” I call out, moaning as he lowers his face back to my sex and slides his talented tongue in all the right places. I’d say anything right now to get what I want, but that doesn’t mean my words should be trusted.
“Rave,” I whisper as I fall over the edge, pleasure hitting my core and extending all over my body. “Fuck.”
“That’s my good girl.” He growls against me.
Even after I’ve finished, he keeps going down on me, and I come again and again until it’s too much, and I push him away.
When he stands up off the bed, I see how hard his cock is through his tented pants, and I lick my lips, reaching out for him.
He takes a step back, heated eyes going back to my pussy. “That was just for you.”
“And I want your cock inside me,” I demand, reaching down to stroke myself as he watches.
“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?” he asks, swallowing hard.
No, no, it does not.
“You think a few orgasms is all it’s going to take for me to forget what you did? Your tongue is good, Rave, but not that good,” I reply in a saccharine-sweet tone. “Now fuck me, or someone else will. Mate .”
I’m playing a very dangerous game here, and I know it, but I want the angry hate sex. I want him to fuck me hard, punishing us both for the mess we’ve got ourselves in.
For the fuck-up that is our relationship.
His eyes dilate, and he slides down his pants with an angry jerk, his perfect cock jutting out proudly in front of him. It’s long, hard, thick, and makes me almost forget I hate him.
Almost .
Without any warning, he straddles me, spreading my thighs and sheathing me with one smooth stroke, the bed shaking with his strength. He continues to fuck me ruthlessly, reaching between us to stroke my clit. I’m so wet I feel it dripping out of me and onto the sheets. My hips meet his with every thrust as I push back against him.
He brings his lips to my ear. “You won’t fuck anyone else. If you do, I’ll find out and destroy them. Do you hear me? There is no other fae alive who could take me. You are mine . This wet little cunt is mine .”
My eyes widen at his dirty mouth. And why is it so fucking hot when he speaks to me like that?
I moan as heat pools in my lower belly. “Actually, there is another fae alive who can take you,” I pant, scoring my nails down his muscled back. “Me.”
And if he hurts someone I care about, I will step in.
“Astrid—”
My moans cut him off as I start to come all over him, and he joins me, his spine stiffening as he releases inside me. He rests his forehead against mine with his eyes closed as we catch our breaths, and I feel that he’s already hard again inside me. He presses a gentle kiss to my lips. Then he pulls out, sliding his cum all over me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, sitting up, turned on as he coats my inner thighs.
“Making sure you’re covered in my scent before I drop you off with a bunch of males I don’t fucking trust,” he seethes, his jaw tightening. His eyes are now swirls of ocean blue and shadowed black, and I know it must be hard for him to send his mate away to another kingdom. But it’s also hard for me to be here, reminding me of his fucking omissions and lies.
Rolling my eyes, I get up and go to have a bath. He follows me, sitting by the tub when I slide in.
“When will you be back?” he asks, his gaze locked on mine.
Shrugging, I pick up some soap and start to clean myself. “I don’t know, tomorrow?”
Shadows streak his eyes. “Remember that favor you owed me? To be called upon at my time of choosing?”
It feels like I made that agreement a lifetime ago when he let August leave the royal dungeons.
“Yes?” I reply warily, wondering if he will ask me to stay.
“Come back tonight,” he orders.
My eyebrows rise. “You’re using the favor for that?”
“I am,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck. “I want you back in my bed tonight.”
I study him for a few moments before hesitantly agreeing. “Okay, I’ll be back tonight then.”
His shoulders relax slightly, and he nods slowly before joining me on the opposite side of the tub. Rave doesn’t bring up Vera or Vale. He lifts my feet onto his lap and starts massaging them, his head tipped back, eyes hooded.
I know he means everything he says.
He would try and destroy any other man who had me.
But what he needs to remember is that the winning team…
… is always going to be whichever one I stand on.