Chapter 30 #2
My mind traveled back to when that had happened. Caden had been different afterward. Quiet. And when Tink had seen him, what had he asked? Should I bow? Tink had sensed that the Prince had become the King.
“Why? Why do you not want to be King?”
His gaze shifted then to a place above my head, and he was quiet for a long time. “Certain traditions are…well, they are more like law. The kind that supersedes even biology. And…it was not something I wanted. Not after…”
Supersede biology? That made little sense, but the world of the fae was drastically different than that of the humans, just as it was similar. “You don’t think you deserve to be King, do you? Because of what you did while under the Queen’s control.”
Caden’s eyes shot back to mine. “There are a lot of things I don’t think I deserve because of that, but the kingdom is not one of them.”
“But—?”
“But, this?” His hand slid around to my ass.
He squeezed, wringing a gasp from me. “I don’t think I deserve this either.
Knowing that hasn’t stopped me.” He shifted suddenly, and I felt his hardness against my hip a moment before he rolled me onto my stomach.
“And knowing what I do, it isn’t going to stop me now. ”
My fingers dug into the sheets as I felt his mouth on my spine. He trailed a path of kisses down to my ass before he lifted my hips. “I’m selfish. I don’t think you realize that.”
A cry of pleasure left me as he entered me in one deep stroke that would’ve hurt if not for what we’d done before.
Bracing himself on his arms, he caged me as his hips moved ruthlessly against mine, plunging in and out at a pace that was almost brutal and yet unbelievably hot.
His lips pressed against my temple as he lifted a hand, working it under me.
Those agile fingers found my bundle of nerves, and the combination of sensations was like a streak of lightning electrifying my blood.
I rose onto my elbows, moving my hips back against him, panting as the release building in me came closer and closer to the edge.
He seemed to know when it was coming because he pulled out and rolled me onto my back again.
There was only a brief rush of cool air against my heated, damp skin, and then his body was pressing down on mine, pressing into mine.
I tangled myself with him, arms and legs and tongues twined, and when I came, so did he, and it was just as intense as the one before.
This time, after it was over, I somehow ended up sprawled across his chest, my muscles and bones completely gone.
If this was Caden being selfish, I had no problem with it. At all.
His fingers idly moved along my lower back, and I might’ve dozed off. I wasn’t sure. But the feeling of being…content was pure bliss.
I never wanted to move.
But I had to. And then what? Where did we go from here? Part of me was afraid to ask, but we’d just shared bodily fluids, so I needed to get over that.
“Caden?”
“Yes?” he rasped.
Keeping my cheek against his chest, I swallowed. “Where do we go from here?”
His hand stilled for a fraction of a moment. “I imagine you will continue hunting for Aric.”
That wasn’t what I had been asking about, but since he mentioned it… “Yes, I will.”
Caden’s chest rose beneath my cheek as he let out a heavy sigh. “I wish you would let me handle this. I plan to kill him, and I will make it slow and painful. I will make sure that he begs for your forgiveness before I end his life. Isn’t that enough?”
I lifted my head and propped my chin on his chest so I could look at him. “It’s not enough. It’s not the same.”
His eyes closed. “What else did they take from you that night?”
I pressed my lips together as I sorted through what I wanted to say.
“Ivy and Ren don’t think I’m capable enough to be out there hunting.
Like, at all. Not even run-of-the-mill fae.
They just want me to be the Brighton I was before, one who was content to be on call doing research. I was happy that way.”
Caden’s hand started to move again. “And that changed?”
“Yeah.” I returned my cheek to his chest, staring at the dark wall. “They took that. My contentment. My happiness with the way things were. I saw value in my purpose before, and they took that, too.” I closed my eyes. “And they stole what I thought I knew about myself.”
“Were you happy before?” he asked. “Truly?”
I opened my mouth, but I found I couldn’t answer that question.
“You were afraid,” he stated, and my eyes opened. “You were afraid of me before. You helped my brother, but you were afraid of him, too. Even Tink. You blended then. Or at least tried to. You didn’t want to be seen. You just wanted to exist in your own corner of your world.”
My breath caught.
“Afterward, you were no longer afraid. You stopped trying to blend in. Now, you’re seen, and you’re heard. You stand up for yourself. You’re living. They did take a lot from you, Brighton. Your mother. Your contentment. But it also seems like you gained a lot. Not from them, but from yourself.”