Chapter 43
Chapter forty-three
“Peace is an illusion, I believe. I watch Father all day long answer questions and read reports, and know this is to be my fate. No, I would much rather hide behind Aidan.” – from the diary of Oren Byrne, age sixteen.
Irested against Abnus’s side, and he ran his fingers up and down my spine while I traced the thorny vines on his skin. They moved toward me, pulsing and wiggling under my touch. It made me smile. His tattoo only did it for me because I was his mate. I could not believe it, but I was beyond happy.
Abnus was mine. Now and forever.
Pressing my lips to his smooth skin, I inhaled his icy fragrance and moaned.
God, he was perfect. Abnus hooked his fingers under my chin and molded my lips to his.
I moaned. Abnus kissing me was still new.
So new, but so wonderful. I loved every brush of his mouth, every flick of his tongue, every gasp of pleasure I swallowed.
“Abnus,” I whispered.
“Not yet,” he muttered, tongue plundering my mouth. I met every swipe with my own. I gripped his back, trying to pull him on top of me. Abnus followed my direction and hovered over me, weight braced on his elbows.
When I pulled back, he protested, making me smile. “Was the reason you would not kiss me because we were mates?”
“Yes.” Abnus pressed his lips against mine, muttering, “At first, I would have marked you the instant your lips touched mine. It took great control once I started, but I could go no longer without tasting you.”
“I wanted to kiss you so badly.”
“As did I, a ghrá. I thought about your lips all the time. That’s one of the reasons I fucked you from behind, so I wouldn’t be tempted.”
“You also do it because you enjoy it.”
He nipped my nose. “Yes.”
“I do as well,” I said, smiling up at him.
Abnus laughed, and something inside of me burned at the sound. I’d made him do that. I’d brought his laugh forth. I brushed my fingers over his smiling lips. “I want this, with you.”
His head cocked. “What do you mean?”
“I want to spend my life making you smile and laugh. I want to fall asleep next to you and wake up next to you. I want to research things and explore with you. I want it all.” Swallowing my nerves, I asked, “I know we are as good as married in fae culture, but would you marry me?”
Abnus crashed into me, lips frantically moving over mine. “Yes. Yes, a ghrá, my Oren, my pet, my mate.”
“What does ‘a ghrá’ mean?” I asked, kissing the line of his jaw.
“My love.”
“Abnus.” I hooked my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck, drawing him down. My cock hardened in a rush, desperate. Abnus grunted, equally hard. The kiss grew frantic and wet as we rutted against each other. My hole clenched. I needed him.
My hands slid down his sides, then stopped on his ass, gripping him. Suddenly, my hands were trapped above my head and Abnus stared at me with his glittering eyes.
“I going to fuck you, my mate.”
I swallowed, nodding.
He flipped me over and yanked my hips into the air before I could track his movements.
“Abnus,” I cried out.
He swatted me, making me cry out from the sting, and yet I pushed my ass back toward him, craving more. Abnus didn’t strike me again. Rather, he ripped my trousers down to expose my ass.
The cool air made gooseflesh appear on my exposed skin, but I did not wish to stop. I wanted my mate inside of me, claiming me for himself. Abnus worked my trousers off of one leg so he would have free access to me.
Pulling my cheeks apart, Abnus pressed a kiss to my hole, then whispered, “Hard or soft, pet?”
“Hard,” I demanded instantly. “I want to feel you for days, Abnus. I want to feel your claim on my every time I sit or move.”
I cried out when he bit the fatty part of my ass. He licked the same spot, then said, “As you desire.”
And true to his word, Abnus fucked me hard and fast, using my hole for his pleasure while I screamed, moaned, and begged for more. By the time my release came, I was a sobbing mess. Abnus had to clean me up, but his tender movements and his gentle kisses lured me to sleep.
A knock sounded on the door, and I slipped out of bed. Abnus didn’t even react. He was asleep after our vigorous fucking. I didn’t see a robe, so I grabbed one of Abnus’s shirts and pulled it on. I cracked the door open, hoping that it wasn’t the same fae as earlier.
The hallway was empty, and a tray with a silver cloche, a pot of tea, and two cups sat on the tray.
I picked it up and brought it toward the low table near the sofa.
Shivering because there was no fireplace, I snagged a blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around me.
I peeked at Abnus, but he was still deep asleep, so I opened the cloche.
Scones, eggs, bacon, and slices of blue apples sat on a plate.
I poured a cup of tea and munched on a piece of bacon.
I grabbed the top leather-bound book and opened it.
I was greeted by my own face. In the sketch, I was sitting with my legs drawn to my chest, a book underneath my nose.
I flipped through the pages and saw different versions of me—sleeping, eating, smiling, laughing.
It never ended. Grabbing the second one, I found more.
Most of the sketches were of me, but I found others of trees, flowers, and even animals. I smiled at one of a field mouse in a tulip. I flipped to the next sketch and paused. It was me. I was asleep with the sheets mussed around my hips.
“I see you’ve found my obsession.”
I jolted, flush rushing to my cheeks at being caught. I guiltily hugged the sketch book to my chest. “I’m sorry.”
Abnus ran his fingers through my hair before dropping a kiss to my head. “Don’t. I don’t mind. You have been on my thoughts and on my fingertips since I met you.”
He sat beside me and poured himself a cup of tea before taking a scone. I stared at him, knees to my chest, his sketchbook trapped in between. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but Abnus held me fast, not relinquishing his hold in the slightest. I still felt guilty about keeping him away.
He kissed my neck when I tried to escape once again and he said, “Do not leave.”
Wrapping my arm around his neck, I leaned back. “I don’t want to.”
“Then why do you keep trying to slip out of my hold?”
“I feel guilty I kept you away.”
His hands retreated, then started to turn me around until I straddled his lap. Abnus pulled the sketchbook out of my hands and tossed it on the closest stack. With his hands on my bare thighs where his shirt had slid up, he asked, “Why did you?”
Looking into his eyes made this so much harder, as I could see the hurt in their depths. I cradled his cheek, brushing my thumb over his cold skin. “I needed time.”
“Why?”
“At first, I didn’t know I was your fated mate.”
He frowned.
“I thought you gave up your one chance for me,” I whispered.
“Oren.”
I cleared my throat. “You said you would only marry your fated mate, so I thought you gave that up because Aidan forced your hand or you felt like you had to for honor’s sake or something.”
Abnus caught my mouth with his, silencing me with a harsh kiss. “I told you that because I was trying to give you a hint of my feelings. I wanted you to know who you were to me.” He kissed my forehead. “Oh, my Oren.” He looked into my eyes. “I would’ve picked you even if you were not my fate.”
Tears burned the backs of my eyes as my romantic heart bloomed. “Really?”
“Yes.” Abnus placed gentle kisses over my face. “You have entranced me. There is no escape from you, and I want to be nowhere you are not.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
“And I love you.”
Dropping my arms over his shoulders, I sighed.
Abnus had given up so much for me, and I supposed I should do the same for him.
I didn’t have to go to school. Abnus and I wouldn’t have to be apart that way.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t help Aidan out right now.
I hardly needed schooling to do what I’d been trained to do my whole life.
“I guess we should figure out how we’re going to split time between Sídhetír and the Night Court.”
His eyebrows drew together. “What?”
“Well, I know you won’t be able to stay all the time, but I can travel with you. I will have to help Aidan as his… steward or assistant. I haven’t picked a title yet, but we can still come back here when you need to.”
“Oren, you are going to school.”
“I can hardly do that now that we’re getting married,” I teased, but sadness plucked at my heart. I was so selfish. Abnus had sacrificed so much for me, and I couldn’t even give this up without tears.
“Why not? I don’t understand. Your parents wanted you to marry Miss Quirke and she was, I assume, to go with you.”
“You can’t do that. Well, I suppose you could, but you have responsibilities,” I replied, running my hands over his bare chest. “Anyway, we can figure it out later. Let’s eat.”
He gripped my ass, not allowing me to move. “Oren, you believe I would make you give up your dream?”
“You’re not making me do anything. I simply am doing this.”
Abnus bit my neck, hard, and I bucked, moaning at the pain. My cock twitched and started to grow. He licked the spot, then glared at me, and I flinched. He said, “I want only good things for you. This,” he held up my left hand, “changes nothing. If anything, it has intensified my desires.”
“You can’t come with me, Abnus. At least not all the time,” I whispered.
“I cannot. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go.”
“What?”
“I shall write and visit, and so shall you.”
I gaped at him.
His lips quirked. “It’s four years, my mate. We can make it.”
“Cethin and Aidan couldn’t.”
Laughing, he kissed me. “They could not, but we are not them.” Abnus nuzzled my cheek. “I will come so often that you feel as if I am there.”
Tears slid down my cheeks. “You are too sweet to me.”
“No, Mr. Byrne, I simply love you more than anything in all the realms.”
“And I love you, Lord Abnus.”
Abnus kissed the ring on my left hand that matched his. “You’re mine. Now and forever. Just mine.”
“And you’re mine.”
“Now and until the world goes dark. Nothing will take you from me.”