Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
“It's Christmas, and I'm being punished. I couldn’t go down to the ball, so I found Aidan. We played. Now, we're both sitting in the school room. Father says we have to write how sorry we are, but I’m not. Mrs. Ryan shouldn’t have brought me back.” – from the diary of Oren Byrne, age seven.
Everything was quiet, and it bothered me. Eilis Duffy being a necromancer rang false in my mind. The glimpse of fear I’d caught in his eyes before I killed him wouldn’t leave my thoughts. But Aidan and Father had spoken to his family, or rather, his daughter—his only surviving family member.
Miss Eileen Duffy couldn’t believe her father would use dark magic. Though she’d stated that he’d been acting oddly in the recent months since she’d gotten sick, he’d never hinted at using magic. And where would he have learned? Where would anyone, though?
Until a few days ago, I hadn’t known of my necromancer heritage.
It was possible that Mr. Duffy had been the same, and once he learned of it, he’d decided to become a practitioner, which made my stomach curl in unease.
Of course, one had to have the gift. Not all born to magical lines had magic themselves.
Miss Duffy insisted he’d been returning to normal since she’d started to recover.
His odd behavior had been nothing more than worry.
Aidan had said she bore the same skeletal appearance as her father, so he didn’t know if that meant she too was practicing necromancy or if it was simply how they appeared, a matter of blood.
Necromancy was supposed to corrupt the body and soul.
How? Neither of us knew. When Aidan asked Cethin, he’d said it was different for each necromancer.
The one that assisted Lord Rhett had withered like a husk.
Her skin had become paper-thin, ashy gray, and wrinkled beyond belief while her body grew thinner and thinner.
No one that any of us knew looked like that.
I wanted to take my suspicions and what I’d seen in Mr. Duffy’s eyes to Aidan, but I hesitated. What did I know?
Abnus snuggled behind me on the bed, stroking my stomach as he buried his face against the nape of my neck.
He’d stayed in my room every night since the injury.
Aidan knew, I was sure of it, as did the rest of my brothers.
I was almost positive Father and Mother were clueless about this sleeping arrangement.
We’d been exceedingly careful, but it was still not wise.
The Christmas party was tomorrow, and the manor was full of nobility and gentry from the surrounding areas.
Apparently, Mother had planned a party under all of our noses.
She’d said she was positive that Aidan would end the threat in time, and nonetheless, we all deserved a reason to celebrate.
As well as dance with eligible marriage candidates, of course.
The woman was on a crusade to see us all married, and she wouldn’t be swayed or deterred no matter the circumstances.
Mother called it her duty to me and the mothers of the rest of her sons.
She had to care for my brothers in place of the women who couldn’t be here, and she would do it to the best of her ability.
But with the manor full of guests, the chance of someone discovering Abnus in my bed was high, too high. Not to mention, if someone did happen to find out, the cost was far greater than my brothers teasing us or the servants’ tongues wagging. And yet I couldn’t refuse him.
I rolled toward him, careful of my shoulder, and Abnus lifted an eyebrow in askance.
We hadn’t fucked since I’d been hurt, and I wanted to.
I needed to feel the reassurance of him inside me, but it was more than that.
Our time was coming to an end. Abnus had to return to the fae realms soon.
After the party, Aidan would have time to hear everything the Night Queen wished, and Abnus would have to leave to report back.
This was probably our last night together.
“Can you get something for me?” I asked.
“Yes. What do you need? Anything.” His voice was rough and the words spilling out rapidly. “Whatever you need.”
I directed him to the small box in my trunk, and he placed it in my waiting grasp. I pulled him back down next to me and grabbed his left hand. Kissing his palm, I said, “I have a gift for you.”
“You do? Why?”
“Christmas.”
He simply blinked.
“It is a human tradition. Close your eyes,” I ordered, and he complied.
I ran my fingertips over his face and smiled.
My fingers trailed down his neck, making him gasp, over his arms, to his left hand, which rested comfortably on my hip.
Lifting it, I wanted to slide the ring onto his ring finger, but I couldn’t bring myself to.
Also, it appeared to be too large. Gently, I placed it on his pointer finger.
Whispering with my lips against his palm, I said, “Open your eyes.”
His purple eyes widened as they landed on the thorny vines wrapped around his finger. “Oren.”
“Do you like it?” I bit my lip, stomach churning.
Abnus pressed his lips against my forehead. “I love it. I have never received a gift I love more.”
My heart thudded against my ribs. Words failed me. I rocked against him to signal exactly what I wanted.
“You are hurt.”
“So be gentle.” I needed this. I needed him.
“You don’t like gentle.”
“Not usually,” I said, kissing his jaw. I grinned when I felt him swallow. I traced his tattoos and they shifted and twisted beneath my touch. “But I want it tonight.”
“You will have to be quiet,” he warned.
Not something I was good at, but too many guests were within the walls of the manor tonight. I teased, “You don’t want to be forced to marry me? How rude.”
Abnus didn’t even crack the barest hint of a smile. “I did not say that.”
I swallowed. What? Would he marry me? No. He’d said as much. Abnus would only marry his fated mate, which I was not. “Fuck me, Abnus.”
He gently rolled me to my back. We hadn’t fucked face-to-face yet, and nerves prickled my stomach.
This felt oddly different than our previous times.
More intimate. I planted my feet on the bed and opened my legs for him, my breath harsh.
Abnus trailed his fingers over my face, skating over the bruises.
When they touched my lips, I pressed a kiss to his fingers.
Leaning over me, he kissed along my face, and I turned to give him my neck, but Abnus tilted my face back toward him. His lips brushed mine in the lightest of touches, but it seared me to my soul. He’d never kissed me, and how I’d craved it, longed for it, needed it.
I moaned.
“Quiet, pet,” he whispered, not sounding the least upset. His mouth returned to mine, gentle yet insistent, while Abnus held my chin with one hand and stroked my side with the other. Every touch sent tingles south and brought warmth to my limbs. I buried my hand in his hair.
Abnus kissed my mouth open, and his tongue slicked against mine. I groaned in pleasure. I arched up, seeking friction for my aching cock, but Abnus wouldn’t be rushed. He kissed me thoroughly, gently, insistently, until I was shaking beneath him.
I was certain that kissing Abnus was my favorite thing in the entire world. I wanted to spend the rest of my life kissing him. I never wished to stop. Not ever.
He cupped my cheek, thumb teasing my bottom lip. “Oren.”
I smiled as I touched his face in return. “Show me you. The real you.”
“You want to see me.”
“I like your glamour, I do, but I love your real face.”
His face shifted and changed, growing sharper and harder like ice, and two ice-white horns stretched up.
I grinned, stroked one of his horns like it was his cock.
The cold and hard surface slid over my palm like slick ice.
God, he was beautiful. I leaned up to kiss him and paused out of habit, but Abnus met me, pressing his mouth against mine.
The kiss seemed to last forever, neither of us in a hurry to move on. This night was ours. Just ours.
His lips moved down the column of my neck, licking and kissing my skin. “Oren.”
“Please, Abnus. I need you.”
He continued downward until he licked my weeping cock. The feeling sent fire up my veins and made me cry out. “Hush, pet,” he admonished, slapping my thigh.
The sting of the hit was perfect and made my cock throb with need. Abnus swallowed my prick, encasing the whole thing in wet heat.
A strangled scream came out as I covered my mouth.
Abnus worked my cock in slow movements, sucking up and down. His fingers fondled my balls, playing with the sensitive skin. Pressure built as sweat gathered on my forehead.
“Fuck,” I whimpered as Abnus swallowed around the head of my cock. He moaned, and the vibrations went up my shaft, making me cry. I gripped his horn with my one good hand to keep him where he was. I was so close. But Abnus sucked off my cock with a loud pop.
“Can you lift your legs?” he asked.
I tried, but a sharp pain in my side made me hiss.
He nipped at my thigh. “Don’t hurt yourself.” Abnus hooked my legs over his shoulders before he kissed his way down my shaft. He sucked one of my balls into his mouth, circling it with his skilled tongue, then did the same to the other.
“Yes, Abnus,” I said, trying to stay quiet. “Please.”
“You are so good at begging,” he told me, and I flushed. “What do you want?”
“Lick my ass,” I begged, not caring how needy I sounded.
Abnus immediately delved down, swiping his tongue over my tight hole. I cried, arching, which made me wince. He pushed me down with a firm hand on my hip.
“Hand over your mouth, pet,” he ordered.
I let go of his horn and covered my mouth to muffle the animalistic cries that ripped out of my throat at his tongue. Abnus licked, sucked, and nibbled at the sensitive skin, setting me ablaze with need. My cock throbbed and pre-cum slipped out of my slit, dripping onto my stomach.
His tongue prodded until it slid inside of me. I pushed back into the pillow as I cried into my hand at the sensation. Abnus groaned, fingers digging into my thighs, and attacked me. I thrust down, trying to get him deeper inside of me.
Pulling back, he kissed my thigh. “Where is the slick?”
I couldn’t speak, so I gestured to the bedside table.
He pulled out the tin and gathered a generous amount in his fingers.
He circled my hole with irritating slowness that stole all rational thought from my mind.
I needed him inside of me. His finger slid in with ease, and my muscles tightened around the digit.
More. I needed more.
“Please, Abnus,” I said, voice muffled from my hand.
He kissed my weeping cock. “In time.”
The finger slid out of my hole as his mouth sucked me down.
A second joined the first, stretching me wider.
I whimpered. My balls hugged the base of my shaft, the pleasure growing with every touch and thrust of his fingers.
He kept hitting that perfect spot within me that made me weep and cry his name into my hand.
When a third finger slid inside of me, I moaned. “Abnus.”
He sucked off my cock. “What do you want?”
“You.”
When his fingers left my hole, I cried at the absence, but Abnus kissed his way up my body, hooking my legs over his hips. He hovered over me, hair falling around his sharp cheeks.
I brushed my fingertips over his features. “You are so lovely.”
He kissed my palm. “Not as lovely as you.”
Gently, mindful of my nose, his lips found mine. The kiss was slow and soft. The blunt head of his cock nudged my hole, and I moaned into his mouth. Abnus entered me in smooth long strokes, easing in until he was buried to the root.
Cupping his cheek, I stared at him. Abnus. The love of my life. The one person I couldn’t have. He pulled back and thrust into me, making me grunt. The pace was slow and soft. Abnus returned my stare, his purple eyes never leaving me. Sweat dripped off his face and landed on my own.
I ran my fingers gently over his side as I cried softly with each stroke.
This time felt different than the others.
No less pleasurable, but different. A desperation laced through us, but not for relief, rather for connection.
This was about more than pleasure. We needed to be with each other. At least one last time.
It suddenly hit me. We were making love, not fucking.
“Abnus,” I whispered.
“I’m right here, Oren.”
For now. He was right here for now.
Abnus angled his thrusts to hit my prostate, and I moaned loudly.
His mouth covered mine as he sped up. With a hand fisted in his hair, I slid my tongue over his.
My orgasm crashed over me without warning.
I cried into his mouth, eyes scrunching closed, as pleasure raced down my spine and my cock kicked, covering my stomach in spurts of cum.
I clenched around Abnus, and he ground out my name. Warmth flooded my insides, ripping a satisfied sigh from my lips.
He pulled out and rolled us to the side, keeping me tight in his embrace. I snuggled close. My fingers slid over his tattoos, making them twist to be closer to me.
“Will you dance with me tomorrow?” Abnus asked, hand in my hair.
“Yes.”
“Will you only dance with me?”
I nipped his collarbone, earning a grunt, and said, “Yes. If you want.”
“I do.”
“Very well. I shall only dance with you. Shouldn’t be hard. I look a mess.”
His hand tightened around my hair, but not hard enough to hurt. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, Oren.”
I preened. I fucking preened at his words like a damn peacock.
“Dance only with me. No one else.”
Looking up at him, I said, “No one else. Just you.”