60. Chapter Sixty
The throne, riddled with engraved snowflakes and delicate swirls, was rough against my skin.
Such craftsmanship was rare, the golden wood glimmering as moonlight bled through the large windows. The snow was coating the ground outside, silence blanketing the air. I’d spent my days wondering what exactly this room looked like in its prime, but now that I saw it at its worst, I struggled to imagine the wonders that happened here.
We’d done it. We’d outwitted Sólkon and Myrthana—for now—and made it into the very palace Eero once considered home. His destiny.
And I’d finally shared a sliver of what happened leading up to this very moment—the chaos that unfolded by my hands. To think that he listened to that, and still vowed that I was a bigger piece of the puzzle than his throne? His crown?
Then again, this wouldn’t be the end. In fact, it only painted a red beginning. An ice-cold shiver slithered around my spine, gooseflesh chasing after the tail of such an unforgiving snake. I traced the embroidered pattern over each and every puff of cushioned fabric, allowing the chill to numb my senses.
Eero, my kind, charming, and oh-so-merciful Eero, had won this battle. His throne. Yet, I was so selfish to dare touch it before him—to behold its beauty after years of being neglected, abused, and occupied by a king who split his time between a snowy wasteland and hellish heat? I understood that Yenira held the crown as a symbol for the past few weeks—but that was inconsequential. In the end, she was useless.
Eero’s presence loomed a few paces behind as he watched me admire the king’s throne. To the left was a similarly elegant seat—the queen’s.
“I almost expected him to destroy this throne, if only to symbolize my downfall.”
Months ago, I would have jumped out of my skin at the deep vibrato of Eero’s voice, but now, it warmed my heart in even the tensest situations. It took everything in me not to turn when his feet kicked up bits of crumbled stone as he prowled closer.
“Funny,” I said with a small scoff, “I feel as if his neglect was no worse than wrecking it.”
Only when he was behind me did I turn to face him, head dipping back to hold his stare. The warm light highlighted his features, face scored by war. I reached to trace a delicate finger over the longest scratch. It stretched right beneath his eye, across the smooth skin of his cheek, until nicking the tip of his lip. It’d certainly scar a human man, but Eero wasn’t human.
He was unapologetically fae, beautiful, disastrously dangerous, and tempting.
“This, Aurelie…this is our fate. Our destiny. Without you, I do not want it.” He lifted my left hand and moved it over his mouth. I closed my eyes as his lips pressed to the bruised knuckles, flashes of the previous night swarming my head. Magic like I’d never known erupted from the very fingers dancing across his lips. I was a visceral explosion waiting to happen.
They said halflings were powerful—but I don’t think even the Circle of Sorceresses could have anticipated that sort of fury. It burned in my belly like a beast stalking in shadow, awaiting its prey patiently.
“I’m okay, Eero,” I said softly. He shook his head. “Genuinely, I am. I survived—and she”s gone.”
All softness hardened as his lips tugged into a small frown against my skin. “And if she was not gone, I would send all my soldiers until we found her. I’d make her pay.”
It was rare I looked at Eero as such a thing as king, but the regal power in his tone made me still. He commanded the attention of others, if not for his wits and charm, then for the allure of his attention. I couldn’t help the human part of me that envied the ways others looked at him. In need, yearning, desire.
Whatever little humanity remained since the gods gave me a second chance.
Slowly, with the delicate intent of a feather flitting in the air, he lowered my hand to my side before reaching and tucking strands behind my ear. Then, his lips pressed to my forehead, a hum vibrating through him into me.
“I am so sorry,” he repeated. “But, to answer your question.” I watched as he pulled from me to circle the throne, a lazy hand dragging against any part of it he could reach. He was studying it, like it was some unfamiliar heirloom he’d only heard of, never seen. “I will ensure you are, at the very least, in the know. As queen, you deserve to understand what is happening.”
My heart skipped. Queen.
“The light is in sight. We can restore peace in the fae realm—perhaps further than that, too.”
“With the right support,” I said in agreement, taking a half step back so he could sit if he desired. It was his, after all. “It starts with you, Eero.”
My king.
He turned his attention to me, and he shook his head. “I don’t think it does. The gods have been absent. So absent to a point that the sorceresses who should be cowering at their wrath have, instead, turned to Elders who hold even a fraction of power. But this second chance they’ve given you is a sign, an omen, one of good faith and magic. I don’t think it’s me who makes this change.”
I clasped my hands behind my back, lowering my focus to the ground beneath the throne. “I don’t know about that.”
A small chuckle brushed past his lips as he stopped on the left side of the throne. His dual-colored stare slowly grazed from the rich red fabric to my place on the first step down. “I wouldn’t have won that fight without you, Aurelie. You may be my queen”—again, without the mere essence of uncertainty—“but you will always be my witchling. Your power…it bled the most violent, chaotic of sorceress white.”
A shiver rocked through me again, the small smile slipping off my face. He was saying it like it was worthy of celebration, but I wasn’t so certain. I never complained about his admiration, though. It never failed to make my heart skip a beat.
“You and your blood,” I muttered with a breathy snicker. “It was live or die. I wasn’t about to lose you.”
Eero closed the gap between us again and offered a hand. I accepted it, allowing him to guide me closer so our chests were flush against each other. In one swift movement, his lips enveloped mine gently. “And I will always be indebted to you for that.”
I gasped. “You will never be indebted to me, Eero. You are my love…my—”
His eyes twinkled as he stared down at me, our noses brushing against each other. I swallowed the nerves, moving to cup his cheek, and let out a shallow breath. My chest was tight since witnessing war, like I was waiting for the ceiling to collapse and engulf me in a void of darkness. Would that be a fit enough punishment for the things I’d caused?
Despite this thought, that wasn’t what truly shook me up. No, it was the taut string that wound around my heart, guiding me to Eero time and time again.
“My mate,” I finished.
Silence. Unadulterated, raw silence. He merely observed me, his chest rising and falling no harsher than it had when he pulled me closer. When he turned his head, he first kissed my palm, then my wrist before reaching for my elbow to trail further up.
Like a spider, his fingers eventually laced a web across my skin before intertwining with mine. I’d been with men before—the kind who were gruff, abrasive, rugged—but Eero made me weak in the knees like a first love. By the time he made it to my shoulder, I was already fluttering my eyes shut and arching my neck. His laugh reverberated against my skin, warming the cool, anxious ache that had been suffocating me from the inside out.
“Sit.”
And just like I would with a first love, his command forced me to a halt. From my breathing to the heart pounding in my chest, everything stilled. He’d nuzzled into the crook of my neck, concealing him from my prying eyes. Back home, I was in control. I led the song and dance, and although Eero would argue I still did, it was different.
I wanted nothing more than to bend a knee and submit to his every edict. The desire to be powerless putty in his hand was alarming—and the more I discovered about my king, the more that primal yearning turned visceral.
“Sit?” I repeated, cheeks turning red hot.
“Did I stutter?” he purred against my skin, his lips painting a perfect picture. I could see it vividly: those canines that were a hair sharper than ordinary, that crooked smirk that oozed all the confidence I envied, the unspoken invitation that led to many—happily—sleepless nights. “Sit on the throne, witchling.”
The breath caught in my throat. With one hand gripping my waist, he carefully guided me so my back was facing the cushioned seat. In that same moment, his teeth grazed the sensitive skin before showering me in kisses so delicate, they were like a gentle song concealed in the wind. It felt wrong to sit in the thing he had coveted for years. Two hundred, technically.
Eero guided me back until my knees were flesh against the edge. My fingers dangled to touch the armrests before I finally gave way and sunk into the soft cushion, my gaze catching his as soon as he was pulled from my neck. He loomed over me, head cocked with the same, crooked little smirk I’d just envisioned against my neck.
“I’m sat,” I said softly, picking at a loose thread in the fabric mindlessly. “Are you satisfied?”
He leaned, supporting his hands on the sides and boxing me in. The lighting was dim here, but his fire and ice stare glowed like a predator tucked in shadow. Though my mouth turned dry at the sight, something stirred that begged me to open myself up. All of me.
“I wanted to see how stunning you’d be on the throne,” he admitted. “Through all this chaos…it made me realize something about you, Aurelie.”
I tightened my hold on the chair so hard, the knuckles turned white, watching the notch in his throat bob in anticipation. I was hung on to his every word, and I didn’t want it any other way. My voice was raspy when I finally found it. “And what’s that?”
My chin lowered as he bent onto a knee, one arm shifting so he could snake under the bend of my knee and feel the skin of my calf. “That I would do anything to be witness to your mayhem again. That I, in all my wrath, would never take your existence for granted again.”
I was the one to gulp now. The hand closest to mine made contact, tracing soothing shapes mindlessly. Nothing—and I mean nothing—would distract me from the hand against my leg, as innocent as it was. He hadn’t even lifted above my knee yet, and I was already a puddle of desire in his hands.
“You’ve always loved a little bit of chaos.” I leaned forward, letting strands of my hair fall in front of my face as our noses brushed. “So, what is the verdict, king? Tell me how I look on your throne.”
Eero’s lopsided smile evened into a radiant beam. When I closed my eyes, I could still see it—something so warm that not even the coldest parts of me could hide. It was the only thing keeping me from trembling beneath him. “You look ravishing.” A pause, then, “Like my mate…my queen.”
My fingers dragged against his sleeve before grappling his hair. It was rare that I was taller than him, so I used the opportunity to tug and guide his head back. His dual-colored gaze locked onto mine, hardened despite the smirk firmly planted on his lips. Eero wasn’t the sort to give up power, but he made no move to stop me.
“Your wrath should not tempt me, Eero. It should terrify me.”
“My wrath? Witchling, my wrath is nothing compared to yours.” Inch by inch, his fingers dared higher, higher, higher. He was grazing the side of my thigh with the tips of his finger before pressing into my skin. “There’s not much in this world that can kill me. If you were my end, I would thank you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh harsher, letting my lips brush his. “In no world would I let myself end you.”
“And in no world would I be remorseful of your violence, witchling.”
In a moment of adoration, I whispered an honest request. “Then mate with me, Eero.”
Silence. I parted just enough to look at him. He didn’t look fearful. No, he looked…serious. So serious, in fact, that I wondered if I’d said it wrong. “You wish to go through the ceremony?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “I do. I have no doubt in my mind that this is real. I don’t want Sólkon’s terror shadowing the bond we have anymore. I want it. I want you.”
He reached up to trace the shape of my jaw. “And you have me, Aurelie. Ceremony or no ceremony.”
“But I want it,” I pleaded and leaned forward, our noses brushing against each other. “Death taught me a lot of things—but, more than anything else, it’s taught me not to fear the greatest things in life. And you, Eero…you are the best thing to have ever happened to me.”
“Aurelie…”
“I mean it.”
Then, his lips crashed onto mine, slipping his tongue against the ridges of my teeth before he found my own. I brought my other hand into his hair and pulled him as close as this position would permit, his hand slipping underneath my ass. “Then it will be so,” he said, laughing against my mouth in utter joy. I smiled back. “We will formalize it. I promise you.”
I gasped and arched my neck when he trailed his kiss from my lips to my neck. He clawed at my neckline, revealing my chest for him to suckle and kiss. I dipped my head back and breathed out in euphoric anticipation. Flashes of the battle occupied my headspace, but nothing could beat the vision of Eero’s fury. I would do anything to see it firsthand.
I’d told him just how close he was to losing me—and in his affection, I felt that fear. He was painting a portrait of my existence—mind, body, soul—so he’d never forget it again.
“Eero,” I gasped and lowered my head to capture his gaze. “We are…not alone.”
His lips tugged into a smirk before enveloping my mouth once more. He lifted a hand, a frigid gust of wind closing the doors. The lock even clicked.
My heart pounded like this was unknown to me. As if we hadn’t done this time and time again.
The nerves didn’t truly hit until he parted, backed away, and stood upright so he was towering me. I cleared my throat and leaned back into the throne, reaching to adjust my robe.
I watched his thumb drag across his bottom lip, his hungered stare flicking up and down my body. He remained silent—too silent. I squirmed before whispering, “What?”
The muscle along his jaw feathered when he clenched his jaw. “I want you to strip.”
The air knocked out of my chest. I wasn’t fearful of his command—in fact, it invigorated me—but I was frozen in place. Perhaps I wanted to hear it again?
“Or are you set on defying your king?”
My king. I blushed, standing to my feet. There wasn’t much keeping this slip over my body, so as soon as I hooked my finger around the strap, it fell.
Meanwhile, Eero had started circling the throne, much like he had moments prior. Only this time, he wasn’t studying his throne—no, his eyes were on me. The air was brisk against my skin.
“Sit.”
I blinked, wanting him to return to the front. I turned, but he tapped his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
“I did not tell you to look at me. I told you to sit, witchling.”
My breath hitched in my throat, but I did as he said. I pressed my bare skin into the soft, cushioned seat and stared ahead.
“Good…defiant little thing.”
“You would be bored otherwise.”
“Perhaps.” The frame of the throne creaked beneath the weight of Eero’s grasp, and though I didn’t turn to look at his hands, I could hear something crackling along the wooden filigree. “Close your eyes, witchling.”
With parted lips, I closed my eyes and latched my fingers around the armrest. I heard his boots scuff across the stone platform before stopping in front of me. His knees popped as he kneeled, something so mortal to the na?ve ear. Eero was no mortal, though. He was one of the most powerful men I’d ever laid witness to.
“Do you favor ice, Aurelie?” he asked. There was hesitation, and then, “Or fire?”
“I favor the chaos that connects them,” I admitted with a small chuckle. Fire and ice contrasted one another, dancing along a thin line of total control and total loss. Either element could suffocate the other, but time and time again, the balance danced between them. “I’ve never been fearful of the cold, though.”
“Winter can be cruel,” he said low. “Even to those who have mastered it.”
His fingers traced patterns along my bare thigh, dancing from my outer and inner thigh teasingly. I sucked in a breath, yearning to open my eyes and hold the heat of his stare. But, as he warned, I didn’t want to defy him. No, there was a certain excitement to obedience tonight.
“Nothing is as cruel as fire.”
Eero hummed, breathily chuckling at the tail end. He leaned close to me, his chilled breath tickling the crook of my neck. “I don’t know about that one, witchling. I can think of a few ways to have you begging for warmth. For…release.”
I found myself at a loss, totally engrossed in the way the ghost of his lips brushed across my skin. He exhaled slowly, chilling my skin to the point it almost hurt. I hissed, but I didn’t want to escape the cage he was forming around me.
I wanted more.
He kissed that same spot on my neck, the warmth of his tongue easing the frigid strip of skin. I arched and reached for him, but he captured my wrist and lowered it back to the armrest. His mouth trailed to my pert nipples, suckling on them at the same time one hand widened my legs. I whimpered, my silent pleas echoing into cries when the icy cold nipped at my breasts.
Forcing my eyes open, I glanced down at him and watched him toy with my nipples. He hooked his arms under knees once more, and then he tugged me to the edge of the seat so I was sitting at an angle. I gasped as he trailed his tongue across my abdomen slowly. The sutures, scars, and wounds had been healed by the gods’ mercy, but for the first time, I could look at my skin and not want to recoil in recollection.
I could watch him make a map of my body without that anxious voice in my head. I still had so much to heal from—but, tonight, the stress was gone.
Tonight, every part of my body was on fire at the sight of him tasting me.
“I have neglected you,” he said, his voice a raspy whisper against my thigh. I whined when he suckled on the sensitive, soft skin. “I will not make such mistakes again.”
I’d forgotten how to breathe by the time he trailed his kisses closer to my cunt. When his lips found it, though, his eyes opened, and he looked up at me with shadowed desire. His presence was cool against my core, and when he breathed against my clit, I felt the icy kiss of magic. The warmth of his tongue contrasted it, like fire and ice, only it was Eero who was the balance between two elements of chaos. I cried out and latched my fingers into his hair,
“So what’ll it be?” he said before he nipped at me. I, for the first time in a long while, did not fear the thought of his initial bite. My mind had gone to a happy place. I smiled and let my head dip back, eyes shutting tight. “Ice,” he said and cooled the sensitive skin, “or fire?”
Then, his mouth covered me whole, and I gasped, tightening my hold on him and relishing in the way his tongue played me like a violin.
The air was cold, and the way his lips moved was almost like winter itself. Each time I moaned and bucked against him, he would tease his teeth along my cunt. It wasn”t enough to draw blood, but the threat was there and, by the gods, the thought of his fangs in me again was maddening.
It didn’t take much for my body to be reduced to a bundle of nerves and desire. When I opened my eyes, I found him watching me intently, those dual-colored eyes swirling with need. The way he ate me was almost ravenous, like he couldn”t get enough.
He was making a mess of me.
The knot in my stomach tightened as he continued, and when I was about to come undone, he pulled back and licked his lips clean. I cried out in frustration, glaring down at him as he grinned.
“You”re so beautiful when you”re angry.”
He kissed the inside of my thighs before he rose and leaned over me. I couldn”t speak—too consumed by the sight of him and the aching need between my legs. My chest heaved, and I reached to grab him by the collar, but he captured my wrists and pushed them back into the chair.
My jaw slacked, and a whine left my lips. The pressure he applied was harsh, but the pain was the perfect kind. I was putty beneath him, and with a smile, he bent forward and kissed the corners of my mouth. I could taste myself on his lips, and in a strange way, it made me want this more. It made my knees tremble.
“Tell me what you want, witchling,” he purred. “Beg for it.”
I whimpered, trying to pull my wrists from his grasp. I wanted to touch him, but he refused. His grip grew stronger.
“I can”t hear you.”
“I want you to fuck me,” I cried out, the desperation in my voice making me blush.
“Oh?” He leaned close, brushing his lips against mine. “You”re going to have to do better than that, little witchling. Where”s the power in your voice?”
My cheeks burned, and I bit the inside of my cheek.
“You can”t say it, can you? Not when it comes to what you want.” He tsked and shook his head. “That”s fine. I”ll play your game.”
He let go of one of my wrists and slid his free hand down the side of my body. Goosebumps erupted where he touched. Once he was between my thighs, he dipped two fingers inside me, and I gasped. His thumb found the sensitive bundle of nerves, and the pressure was so gentle that I ached for him to touch me harder.
I wanted the ice and the fire. I wanted him.
He was the perfect kind of chaos, and as his fingers pumped in and out, I felt the fire burning in my lower stomach.
“Please,” I whimpered. “Please.”
He kissed my neck, nipping at the skin and sucking. It was like he was making love to every inch of me, and the more he did, the closer I came to unraveling.
“Please what?”
“Fuck me,” I begged. “Make a mess of me.”
“Is that really what you want, Aurelie?” he whispered against my ear.
I shuddered and nodded.
He pulled his fingers from me and pressed the slickness against my lips.
“Show me.”
I took them into my mouth and sucked the taste of myself off him, moaning softly. He groaned and pulled them free.
“Good girl.”
When he stood up straight, his fingers dug into the waistband of his pants and freed his hardened cock. My heart raced as he pumped his shaft, the tip glistening. He pulled me from the throne so he could sit, lifting my body and placing me on his lap. My knees dug into the plush seat, squeezed between him and the armrests.
He grabbed me by the ass, guiding me to press his tip to my entrance. I shivered, and his lips tugged into a smile.
“You”re so warm,” he said. “Will you always be this wet for me?”
I nodded, biting my bottom lip as he guided me to sink onto his cock. A soft cry escaped me, and he groaned, tilting his head back before closing his eyes.
“So tight, too,” he growled, his fingers digging into my flesh. “You”re all mine, witchling. Always.”
“Yours.” The word came out like a moan as he thrust into me, and I cried out. His hands moved to my hips, pulling and pushing me at a pace that was so slow, it made my toes curl.
“Say it again.”
“I”m yours,” I breathed.
He leaned forward and kissed me, his tongue finding mine as we rocked. His fingers moved from my hips to cup the side of my face as he pulled back, panting. He moved his hand to the base of my throat, applying the slightest pressure. I gasped and tilted my head back.
“Look at me.”
I opened my eyes and held his gaze, watching as he bit his bottom lip and picked up speed. He pulled his cock out, leaving just the tip before he rammed himself back into me. I cried out, and the pressure of his hand on my neck only heightened the experience.
He kept fucking me, his fingers tightening the slightest amount. My vision blurred as his thrusts grew harder and faster, the sound of his skin slapping against mine filling the room. He leaned over to kiss me with such passion, his canine nicked my lip, and he stilled.
He breathed out, and if it weren’t for the waves of pleasure that enveloped my body, I would have witnessed fear take over his lustful gaze. I grabbed hold to keep him from pulling away. “I didn’t mean to make you—”
“Shut up,” I hissed through the euphoria as I pulled his lips back to mine. “You can bite me.” My words were hushed this time, and he hesitated. For a moment, as his head tucked into the crook of my neck, he did nothing. He merely inhaled my scent, and I felt his body shudder.
His canine scraped the skin, and he moaned against my neck. I knew what he wanted—I knew that, as his body trembled beneath me as I rode him, as he let me take control, he wanted to bite me.
But he feared it. He feared it”d be too much. He’d never admit it, but I knew it with my whole heart.
“Eero,” I whimpered, heart racing before I said it again. “Bite me.”
“Aurelie—”
“Do it,” I pleaded, the knot in my stomach growing tighter.
He hesitated. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, and he groaned, grabbing me by the hips and thrusting into me in a frenzy. I cried out louder, his name echoing into the throne room. The sound of his skin smacking mine became the melody of the moans and whimpers falling from our tongues. I could feel him throbbing inside me, could feel him reaching his peak.
“Eero,” I cried, nails digging into the fabric of the armrests.
He was groaning, and then his mouth found the crook of my neck. He scraped the skin again, enough to send a wave of euphoria through me.
“I”m going to...fuck, I”m going to—”
His teeth sank into my skin. That ethereal bliss overwhelmed every sense, and I was putty in his hands, my orgasm consuming me in ways it hadn’t in so long. For the first time, my orgasm was not tainted by magic, nor was it interrupted by trauma. It was nearly enough to drive me to tears.
My back arched, and I cried out his name, holding onto the seat and the side of his neck as he pounded into me. My walls clenched around his cock, and he growled against my flesh, pulling back. His lips were stained with my blood, his eyes wild with lust and need.
His brows furrowed as his own climax flooded him.
His head dipped back, and as he came, he held me in place, the tip of his cock buried inside me. I was trembling, and as the last of his own climax spilled out of him, he held me in his arms and breathed heavily.
Neither of us said anything. Instead, I curled into his arms and rested my head on his shoulder, the aftershocks of my orgasm pulsing through me. His fingers tangled into my hair, his other arm wrapped around my waist, holding me close. We didn”t move for the longest time, and it wasn”t until I could think straight and see clearly that I found the strength to lift my head.
“Have we just defiled your throne?” I asked in a hush, a small smile tugging onto my lips.
He laughed, pressing his forehead against mine. His eyes danced with happiness, and I found myself smiling at the sight.
“I suppose we have,” he admitted. “But I wouldn”t have had it any other way.”