6 #2
I look away, grinding my teeth so hard they’d turn to dust if I was human.
Yeah, what do I think? The truth? Nothing, really.
I can’t go back there, to the time where I fell apart when Caryan and I broke up.
I’ve clawed my way out of the dark pit I fell into after that, and I’m sure as hells not going back there.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I growl, showing my teeth.
Connus, the clever fox he is, gets the hint and changes the topic. “And you said that this girl can sense them,” he asks, still eyeing me closely. “The artifacts?”
“I never said that she can.”
“But you found Caryan and his entourage on the cursed Mount Silas, where one artifact is rumored to be buried under the eternal ice. And the girl was with him. Before she appeared in the fae world, no one knew where the missing artifact was. One plus one—”
“I get it,” I snap. “Clever asshole.” Then I shrug.
“I don’t know what she can do. I just know that Caryan had her find one artifact.
But that didn’t end well. She almost died because that damn artifact on Mount Silas was protected as hells.
You have to be a badass high fae with a whole lot of power to retrieve them, Connus, because the magic and spells up there are killing you.
Even Caryan’s lackeys almost died at the attempt. I saw it.”
“Huh. Well, I have a lot of sway with Lorvil, and he happens to be a badass high fae. When I was in prison, we came to an agreement. I got to know him better after that. He’s not all that bad, you know. As long as you don’t court his ire.”
“I don’t know…sounds a hells of a lot like Caryan.”
He pushes himself off the bedpost. “What would you rather? Bring her to your witch coven? Deliver her up to Perenilla?”
I snarl, turning my head to the side, looking at the flickering flames in the fireplace. I’d thought about that, truly. But then my very own mothers—my sweet, beautiful Aurora—had warned me not to bring her to Perenilla. Maybe Palisandre wasn’t so bad after all.
“And think about yourself, Blair. I could help you. You could start all over in Palisandre. You’d be safe, even without magic. And besides, no one would need to know that you lost it in the first place.”
“Right. Except for you.”
He laughs. “Well, it will cost you from time to time to keep me quiet.”
“Maybe I’ll just kill you,” I muse, half in earnest, half joking.
“Maybe that’s what turns me on.”
Renfris’s spectral tongue starts to trace my throat, and my breath hitches despite myself.
The second illusion moves behind me, his hands—warm, impossibly real—sliding over my slick skin, cupping my large breasts with a firmness that makes the water still clinging to my body run hotter.
The rough pads of his thumbs tease my nipples, sending a low ache spiraling directly to my core.
Connus hasn’t moved closer yet. He just stands there, shirtless, chiseled muscles glinting in the firelight, watching me with that sorcerer’s gaze. He liked to watch, always. Before he finally fucked me into oblivion.
I writhe in expectation, because, gods have mercy, I haven’t been fucked for weeks, and I know exactly how good he feels inside me.
One of the doubles lowers his head, his mouth replacing the thumb that’s been tormenting my nipple.
His tongue is hotter than the bath had been, curling and flicking until I have to bite back a moan.
The other illusion drags his hands slowly along my body, his lips and teeth grazing my ribs, my stomach, the soft curve of my hip.
Connus finally moves—slow steps, a predator in no hurry. “Spread your legs again, Blair.”
I don’t. “Screw you.”
His eye narrows, and he wriggles a finger. “Unruly witch.” He flicks his wrist and the illusion between my knees takes my ankles in his big hands, nudging me open, parting me for Connus to see.
“So perfect,” he drawls, heat threading through every syllable. “And untouched for weeks? No wonder you’re so prickly.”
“I’m not—” My protest cuts off with a gasp when phantom-Renfris’s mouth descends on me, tongue stroking along my slit in a slow, devastating drag.
Connus’s smile deepens. “Look at me,” he orders.
I do, right as the other guy sucks harder at my breasts, at the very same time Renfris curls his tongue right over that sensitive spot that makes my hips jerk.
“You always liked to be punished,” Connus says, voice teasing. “And I will punish you until you’re a good girl again.”
The mohawked illusion between my thighs begins to suck harder, the glorious other guy bites lightly into my hard nipple, and Connus steps close enough that I can see every perfect line of his abs, the trail of dark-bronze hair leading down to where his cock already strains against his trousers.
“Do you want them to stop?” he asks.
“I want your cock,” I pant.
“Then ask nicely.”
I just flip him the finger. He chuckles. Then he leans down over me. His hand cups my jaw, forcing my gaze back to him when my eyes threaten to flutter shut.
“Oh no, you don’t get to look away, little witch,” he murmurs. “Come for me. Watching me.”
The double’s tongue flicks quick and sharp over my clit, and I break—hips arching, a sharp cry spilling from my lips as the orgasm tears through me like a ravine.
Connus’s smile turns slow, wicked, and unbearably satisfied. “Good girl.”
The magic in the air shifts suddenly. One heartbeat, the illusions are still working me apart, the next, the one between my thighs dissolves into smoke, the other following suit.
And Connus has taken Renfris’s place.
His large, calloused hands palm my breasts, pinching my hard nipples while his tongue flicks over my clit at an excruciatingly slow pace.
I thread my fingers into his dark hair, nails scratching his neck, his wide shoulders.
He only growls. I moan when he slides two fingers into me, curling them until pleasure blurs my vision.
“I want more,” I snarl.
He pulls back just far enough to look at me, his lips and chin wet with me. “Say please, Blair.”
I swallow hard, refusing at first, but his fingers curl just right inside me. Then he shifts, moving back down to my hips, his mouth finding me again, and my resolve cracks like glass in a fae’s grip.
“Please, you fucking bastard,” I gasp, the words trembling out of me.
He rises in one fluid movement, stripping his trousers without a single wasted motion. And finally, his cock—thick and dark—springs free. He gives me no time to think but slams all the way into me. And again. And again.
A moan rips from my lips as he keeps plowing me until my nails rip the flesh off his shoulders. Invisible bonds form around my wrists and drag my hands away from him, tethering me to the bedpost, my wrists above my head.
“That’s much better.”
Before I can protest, Connus groans, angling his hips so he’s entering me even deeper.
Something unseen ghosts along my inner thigh—soft at first, then firmer, a stroke that makes my hips jerk. Another touch grazes my nipple, teasing, pinching just hard enough to make my breath catch. Phantom hands are touching me everywhere all at once, warm and wicked, formed of dark-blue smoke.
“Abyss,” I rasp, my body arching into their touch, my mind a hazy mess of sensation.
Connus’s laugh is dark and knowing. “I remember exactly how to make you come undone.” He pulls almost all the way out again at that, slow enough that I feel every inch of him leaving me, then pushes back in with a deep, grinding thrust that makes me see stars.
The wicked phantom fingers tease my clit in perfect time with his movements.
“You like that?” Connus pants, his lips brushing my cheek as he thrusts into me again. “Being spread open, fucked, and played with at the same time? Gods, I could keep you like this for hours. I will keep you like this for hours.”
His hand grips my jaw again, forcing my eyes to his. “Don’t look away. I want to watch you fall apart for me.”
The phantom hands’ gentle touch becomes harder, and he slams into me one last time, burying himself deep. My vision blurs, my cry comes muffled against his shoulder as I shatter.
Connus groans low, his hips grinding into mine as he keeps fucking me through the aftershocks until I’m limp against the bindings.
And still— still —the phantom touches don’t stop.
They slow now, coaxing, as if the magic itself wants to wring another climax from me, even when my body sags against the magical shackles.
“Connus—” My voice is broken, almost pleading.
His eye darkens, the smile turning wolfish. “Mmm…I’m not done with you yet, little witch. Come again. Let me take it all from you.”
With that, he drives into me again, pounding me in a rhythm that has the headboard knocking against the wall. The phantom hands mirror him perfectly—one pinching my clit, the other rolling my nipple, the rest sliding over my thighs, my belly, everywhere at once.
I thrash against the restraints, every muscle tightening as another orgasm gathers deep inside of me. “Connus, I—gods—”
“Look at me.” His voice is a pure command.
My eyes lock with his just as the heat inside me detonates and my body seizes around him.
I scream his name, the sound ragged, almost a sob.
Connus groans, his thrusts stuttering as he buries himself to the hilt.
Heat spills into me, and the magic flares one last time before loosening from my wrists and ankles.
I collapse back onto the pillows, every muscle trembling, sweat cooling on my skin.
He stays inside me for a long moment, bracing himself over me, watching me through half-lidded eyes.
“There she is,” he murmurs, almost tender now, brushing damp hair from my cheek.
Then he gets up, shoving his long hair out of his face, sweat coating his muscular back as he strides over to the bathtub to fetch our wineglasses. “Now we’ve settled the matter of your brooding mood”—he returns to me with a smirk, handing me one glass—“let’s discuss the terms of our arrangement.”
“You’re truly helping me? Why?”
He shrugs a muscular, tanned shoulder, taking a sip from his wine. “I always liked you. And I’ll gain Lorvil’s favor.”
I frown as I survey him. Somehow, I can’t believe that he wants to be nice. Because no one ever, except for my mothers, wanted to be nice to me. Not without getting something back. Fae are not nice. And witches—don’t even get me started on them.
Connus cocks a brow as if he can read my mind. “Trust issues?”
I get up from the bed, stalking over to the huge window. “How the hells did you create all this?” I ask, making a wide gesture with my hand, including the lovely garden outside.
“Easy. If you have the right connections and Lorvil’s power. And since I always stay true to my word, people like me. Trust me.”
“I guess that’s why you haven’t ended up with a sliced throat yet,” I counter with a smirk.
“Let’s bring that girl and you to Palisandre. We’ll let her find Caryan’s artifacts, let Lorvil absorb their magic.”
He comes up behind me, one hand fisting my long, white hair while his lips trail down my neck. His cock is already hard again.
When I protest, he bends me over a desk and slams into me again.