Chapter 15
Of cages and kings
JUDE
Lorien pulls me closer and I sink against him, letting the heat of the water soothe my muscles and my soul. My body aches and my mind is uneasy, unsettled after the seismic shift that happened between us several hours ago.
Inside of me.
I hadn’t quite realized where picking something other than Lorien’s bed would lead, and in a way I wish I hadn’t discovered the answer to that question. But now I know, and there’s power in knowledge, and in acceptance as well.
Maybe Lorien hadn’t realized how much he asked, or how much change was required. Maybe he assumed I’d adjusted, but whatever spark ignited our fight lit a fire that turned into an inferno.
I’m sore, and not just from the confines of the cage.
“Were you frightened?” he asks, dragging me out of my thoughts.
I mumble something, and he nips my ear.
“Pay attention,” he teases. “Or at least be honest and admit you’d stopped listening. I was talking about the night of the storm. When the kelpies came.”
I stiffen against him, the memory rushing back like a cold tide. The storm, the blinding rain, the thunder that sounded like it could split the sky in two. And the kelpies. Their faces pressed against the window, their screams tearing through the wind.
“I was terrified,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper. “At first, I didn’t even realize what was happening. One minute I was in my house, trying to make sense of the storm, and the next...” My words trail off, but the rest is still vivid.
The shadows in the dark.
The figure rising from the sea.
The way their eyes glowed, otherworldly and menacing, promising things that were both seductive and horrifying.
Lorien’s arms tighten around me, his claws pressing lightly against my skin as if anchoring me in the present. “They would have killed you,” he says, his voice low and deadly. “Or worse.”
I nod, swallowing hard.
“The moirai was protecting the ocean, Jude. It didn’t mean you harm, not specifically. It saw you as a threat or a promise. They don’t act without reason. Helena’s blood, her magic—it called to them.”
“They didn’t feel like salvation,” I say bitterly. “They felt like another nightmare.”
“And yet here you are.” His voice is softer now, a thread of something tender woven into the usual command. “Alive. Here. With me.”
I don’t know what to say to that. I don’t know if I should thank him for saving me or curse him for the cage he’s built around me since.
But the warmth of the water and the steady rhythm of his breathing lull me into a reluctant calm.
I let my head rest against his shoulder, the tension in my body easing slightly.
“And now?” he asks, his tone turning sly, almost playful. “Are you still frightened?”
I turn my head to look at him, my nose brushing his jaw.
“Of you?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intended.
“Of the depths,” he replies, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. “Of what lies in them. Of what you’ve become.”
I hate the way his golden eyes glimmer with amusement, like he’s enjoying my discomfort. But I hate even more that I don’t have an answer. Am I still afraid? Or have I become something else entirely?
Instead of answering, I shift in his arms, letting my hands trail over his chest, testing his reaction. His skin is cool against my fingers, firm and unyielding, but there’s an energy beneath it, a coiled power that makes my breath hitch. His smirk fades, replaced by something darker, hungrier.
“Careful, Jude,” he warns, though his hands slide lower, gripping my waist with a possessiveness that makes my pulse quicken.
I bite my lip, torn between defiance and surrender.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for Lorien, not in the way he wants me to be. But I’m tired of fighting, tired of pretending I don’t feel the pull between us. Tired of pretending I don’t want to try.
The kiss comes out of nowhere, sudden and searing. His mouth claims mine with a ferocity that steals the air from my lungs, and I find myself gripping his shoulders, holding on as he drags me under. His teeth nip at my bottom lip, and I gasp, opening for him, letting him take whatever he wants.
The water around us feels hotter, charged with the electricity sparking between us. His hands roam over my body, mapping every inch of skin with an intensity that leaves me trembling.
“You’re mine,” he murmurs against my lips, his voice filled with both promise and warning. “Say it, Jude.”
“I...” My words catch in my throat as his hand slides lower, teasing, coaxing, demanding.
“Say it,” he repeats, his golden eyes blazing as they lock onto mine.
I close my eyes, my body arching into his touch as a moan slips past my lips.
“Properly, Jude.”
“I’m yours, Master,” I breathe against his lips.
His smile is wicked, triumphant, and when he kisses me again, it’s softer, slower, but no less consuming. In this moment, with the water lapping at our bodies and his hands drawing pleasure from me in ways I didn’t think possible, I forget the storm.
I forget the kelpies and the moirai and Helena’s magic.
I forget everything but him.
“Come,” he says, breaking our kiss and pulling me with him.
I follow him, half-dazed, half-unsure.
My feet move and he stops, turning around and pushing me onto his bed. I’m completely overwhelmed, still in some sort of trance as I back up and Lorien lowers himself, crawling toward me like he’s prowling. Like he’s stalking something he’s about to kill. Or devour.
I swallow.
“You’re mine, yes?” he asks, the hint of danger in his voice sending a pulse of pleasure through me.
I nod, still backing up.
“Don’t make me hunt you. Not your first time.”
I whimper and my cock throbs.
Lorien flicks his eyes down and he knows. Of course he knows.
My dick’s turning hard, and he hasn’t even touched me.
“I’m…”
His eyebrow arches as he lowers himself on top of me, caging me in under his arms. The gold in his eyes burns with lust and I’m staring up at them, praying he won’t burn my wings.
Lorien’s mouth crashes onto mine, and his kiss is deep and all-consuming. I reach for him, trying to keep up as I run my fingers through his hair. My back arches and I want more, and I writhe beneath him, trying to ease the growing tension building in me.
“You’ll take what you’re given, and you’ll thank me for it.”
I nod.
This is a game that I definitely want to play.
With him. For him. Fuck, I’d do anything to get him to play with me.
“Good boy,” Lorien says. “Now, behave and you’ll get rewarded.”
I’ve never made a sound like the one that rolls up my throat and leaves my mouth. I don’t think I’ve ever heard one either, and it’s full of need and want, a desperate plea for pleasure, and it’s laced with more than a hint of vulnerability.
“God, I love you like this,” he says, rubbing his cock against mine. “A beautiful, pathetic, needy mess lying under me, begging me to fuck him.”
His grin is wicked and his intentions worse, and I’m lost in a heady daze of arousal, wanting nothing more than what he’ll give me. Except I want everything and I need more, and I grind against him, trying to match his pace and his rhythm.
“Did I say you could move?” he teases.
I shudder and descend into madness. “Fuck.”
“Such a good boy. Shall we take the edge off your excitement?”
I nod and kiss him as he holds me down, pinning me beneath him.
His cock is hard and he isn’t being gentle, but the sensations surging through me are driving me insane.
His dick catches mine and the brief moments of pleasure only make the agony worse and I need more.
I want more. And I’m certain I’d do anything to get more.
“Please,” I mumble, almost oblivious to anything but him. “Please, Lorien. I need this. Need you.”
He kisses my jawline, licking where my skin is still sore from the collar. I arch my back and he laughs against me, trailing bites and kisses down me as he slowly lowers his head.
“Remember the rules, pretty boy.”
My dick jerks and I’m his. I know it. He knows it. I know he knows it and he knows I know.
“Lorien, I’m lost.”
I don’t even know who I’m talking to anymore. I barely know what I’m saying. I’m drunk on arousal and all I want is for Lorien to put me out of my misery and let me come. My dick’s in agony, and I’m breathless, consumed by heat and need and want.
“Maybe we can skip the formalities, since you’re such a desperate little whore.”
I nod and I don’t care how degrading this gets. I’m so turned on that it’s unreal and Lorien knows it. He knows he has me exactly when he wants me, and he knows I’m going to give him everything I can.
“Jude,” he murmurs as he trails his mouth over my stomach, “I am going to fuck you, and you’re going to take me. You’re going to take every inch of my cock in your ass and you’re going to enjoy me fucking the disobedience out of you.”
His hand wraps around my cock and I moan, relieved he’s finally playing with me. Lorien has me on edge in moments and I writhe, caught between the desperate need to come and the agony of knowing it’ll be over. I want this to last, I want to enjoy this and I want this to be perfect.
“Lorien, I’m close…”
“I know, Jude,” he laughs. “I know. Now be a good boy and let me taste your come.”
He takes me into his mouth, my dick sliding straight down his throat. Lorien flicks his tongue around my tip every time I thrust into him, and the warmth and wetness are perfection, and within barely any time at all, I’m struggling to hold back my climax.
Lorien sucks harder and his throat relaxes, and when my cock slides all the way in is more than I can withstand. The ecstasy breaks into something even more divine, and I throw my head back, screaming as I come so damn hard I think I might die.
I feel Lorien swallowing as he milks every last drop of come from my cock, and I shiver, already sensitive. Already panting and burning up.
“Such a good boy,” he says as I relax back.