Chapter 24 – Neve #2
Vale moved his mouth to the other nipple. “So far, no secrets I have not already discovered, but I must be thorough in my assessments.”
And he was thorough. So very thorough, I was squirming beneath his touch when he stopped showing my breasts attention. His head lifted, a fiendish grin on his face.
“That sweet sound you made is the secret?”
I swallowed. I’d not been aware I was making a sound.
“It was a bit like a kitten.”
I laughed. “In no world would I make a sound like that!”
“Another challenge.” He began tugging off my trousers, and the moment they were free, I rose to remove his shirt, leaving only the spider silk against his skin. He obliged, mock weariness in his tone when he added. “I grow tired of excelling in all these trials, love.”
“That’s too bad. I was about to give you another.” I scooted back on the bed, and my hand drifted to my sex. Slowly, I began rubbing at the apex.
Vale’s eyes widened. “Tell me.”
I didn’t reply right away, just continued stroking myself. My breathing deepened, and I felt a flush cross my face. Inside, my magic responded too, a cold wash fluttering through me like ice fire.
“You test me,” Vale growled as he crawled over me and pressed his cock against my hand.
Test him? I tested myself! And I feared that soon, I’d fail this test of my own making, but in the best possible way.
I leaned closer, brought my lips to his ears. “Make me come so hard that I see the dead gods.”
A low rumble of a laugh rolled out of Vale. “Gladly.”
He pulled my hand from my sex, gripped my hips, and flipped me onto my stomach. I gasped as Vale lifted my hips, and his thick cock pressed into my entrance as he began circling my clit with two fingers.
“Hmmm, you will be the death of me, won’t you, Princess?”
The question was not one he meant for me to answer, for when he thrust inside the next second, he stole all my breath. Stopped my heart. Made my mind blank.
No one had ever fit me so perfectly, nor been so deep inside me. And as Vale began to rock, and I matched his rhythm, I knew it was the same for him.
He struck that deep spot inside me, and my soulmate mark glowed, almost blinding.
“There’s one secret,” Vale laughed. “I’ve found it and so easily.”
I pressed my rear into him, halting any more cocky remarks as his moan added to mine. Gripping the black fur on our bed, I rolled my hips, desperate for as much of him as possible to—
Snow fell on the bed, light fluffy flakes. I stared at it as Vale pulled me up, positioned me so that I sat on his cock with my back to him.
“That shouldn’t happen,” I breathed. “We’re wearing spider silk.”
“Another secret, possibly accessible only to the mated.” His voice was filled with reverence, with awe. “Do you feel my magic upon you? It’s not coming from inside me, but the magic is . . . attracted to us, I think.”
I hadn’t until he said something and then I noticed the swirls of air around my nipples, teasing as his hands had moments before.
“Astounding,” I breathed as I rocked against him once more. Needing the friction, to release the tension building inside me in the most pleasurable way.
Vale appeared to be of the same mind, for he thrust deeper, harder, faster, one hand on my hip, the other fondling a breast. Sweat built in my cleavage, and I threw my head back. Vale’s lips kissed along my jaw, taking full advantage, as we both spiraled up to the stars.
And when our release came, it was together, in a flurry of snow and air and light in my eyes, that did, in fact, make me think I might have glimpsed the dead gods.
A fist pounding on our door woke me sometime later.
“Neve!” shouted Anna, the peace-stealing culprit. “Someone is here to speak with you!”
“Who?” I curled closer to Vale, savoring the warmth of his skin against mine.
“Well, I don’t know! A soldier! He has a message for you.”
The three pesky Fates did not want to give my mate and me more than a moment of peace. I rose reluctantly, as did Vale.
He reached for his pants, giving me another delicious view of his malehood before his trousers covered him up.
“You spoke to no one but the guards who brought you here?”
“No one,” I replied. “Odd that a message would come just for me.”
“Not if they want to speak with the Falk heir. Remember who these people fight for, Neve.”
I pulled my shirt over my head. In no way had I forgotten that white hawk symbol painted in a bold red across the curtain in the Royal Theater. Nor the fight.
Who did they follow? Likely a bastard, for before Harald Falk married my mother, he’d sired several children. As had other members of House Falk over the turns. Hawk Seeds, they called them.
Dressed, we left our room, and when we reached the common space, half of our friends stared. The others must be in their rooms. Resting, I hoped.
Anna watched me carefully, Clemencia, Luccan, and Arie with her. I turned to the annex door to find a faerie with only one arm waiting for me.
“Hello? What is it?”
The soldier stared at me, and in his gaze, I couldn’t decide if he viewed me as an enemy, a friend, or someone he had not yet decided on.
“Our leader wishes to break bread with you. The others will eat elsewhere.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.” I took Vale’s hand. “Show us the way.”
“Not him. Only you.”
A low growl left Vale’s throat, and the soldier curled in slightly, regretting his words. He found his courage, however, and straightened once more.
“She wishes only to dine with Princess Neve,” the soldier said. “No harm will come to her.”
“She?” I asked.
“Yes, as I said, you will dine with our leader. Her two closest advisors as well.”
Could their leader be the same whisperer who had spoken to Vale? Or someone I had not met?
I should have been more cautious. With a ribbon of ice spider silk wound around my middle and stuck to my body with a magical adhesive, I couldn’t access my magic, and I had no weapon. Then again, I was only a touch safer being here, with my friends and mate.
Truth be told, though, a dinner with the rebels did not faze me. That they had not already harmed us spoke volumes. And while they might take precautions around us, I had to see our release from cages as a giant step forward. It was time to take another and gain the trust of their leader.
“Vale, I’ll be fine.” I kissed him on the cheek. “As you were.”
He locked eyes with me, a clear and heated recourse brewing inside him.
“If they wanted to hurt me, they would have already done so. We’re outnumbered, and with the silks against our skin, overpowered too. Yet we haven’t been harmed. Given those facts, we can assume this meal is just that. A meal. An opportunity?”
Not without noticeable effort, Vale inclined his head. “I’ll be waiting for you to return.”
We kissed, and I spun to face the soldier. “Show me to your leaders.”
The soldier led me down the hall and until we turned the corner, I sensed eyes on my back. Vale’s certainly. Probably the others too. My heart swelled with the knowledge that they cared so deeply for me.
As we walked, we passed parts of the castle that were open to the elements. A hole in the ceiling let in the falling snow and winter chill. I looked up as I went beneath and shuddered.
“Why hasn’t that been fixed?”
The soldier turned, eyebrows arched. “The curse.”
“That prevents repairs?”
“That and our lack of coin.” His tone dipped into annoyance.
We walked the rest of the way in silence and when he stopped at a door, I blinked. “No guards on watch?”
“They don’t need them.” He pounded on the door.
“Yes?” a male voice answered on the other side.
“The princess is here.”
“Let her in.”
He opened the door for me to enter. Ready for whatever may come, I stepped through and found myself in a small dining room that was in better shape than much of the rest of the castle.
The dining table in the center was meant for intimate gatherings of six people, though today only three others were present around the circle.
One I recognized: The archer, again dressed in plain, black clothing suitable for traveling or working.
I studied her, and she did the same to me, until the eye contact made me uncomfortable, and I moved on.
Next to the archer sat a female faerie. The white streak in her brown hair told me she was older.
The last took up the archer’s other side.
He was a male, his dark brown skin gleaming in the candle light.
Bread, cheese, and cut roasted meat decorated the middle of the table.
“Princess Neve,” the male said, golden eyes flashing. “Please sit.”
I did so, taking the place across from the archer.
The older female leaned closer, a small smile playing on her lips. “It’s good of you to come. I’m sorry that you had to be detained, but you’ll understand that we must be careful.”
“I do,” I said, though I’d been furious to be caged, and more so when the rebels took Anna, I did understand. “So you’re the leader of the rebellion?”
The faerie laughed; the tone airy. “By the dead gods! No, Princess. As delighted as I am to be thought royal, I’m just Brynhild, an advisor.”
The soldier who led me here had said the leader was a she. Which meant that it was the archer . . . But she was so young. Around my age. Shocked as I was, I did not let it show on my face.
“Nice to meet you.” My attention turned to the male next, wanting to leave the younger female for last, if only because she’d been so rude when I was caged. He held himself with a powerful bearing. “And you?”
“Bac. Named for a river near my home city. A pleasure to meet you, Princess Neve.”
“The pleasure is mine.” No longer able to put off the inevitable, I locked eyes with the archer. A shiver darted down my spine. As ever, her ice-blue eyes reminded me of King Magnus. “And will I finally be able to put a name to the fae who tried to kill me?”
She stared back at me, the corner of her lips pulling up so slightly. Then, the leader of the rebels leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table.
“I suppose I should apologize for that day in the theater, shouldn’t I, sister dearest?”