Chapter 2
Iwas literally a half-second away from putting a cluster of honey-covered almond pieces into my mouth when I remembered the rule about not eating or drinking anything here.
The person who’d brought the tray of treats in had definitely been fae—as evidenced by their pointy ears—so now I was also worried that I had accepted something from them. Was I already doomed?
“Is something wrong with the food?”
I closed my mouth and looked over to find that Prince Incendis had gone from naked godlet of muscular divinity to wickedly sexy pirate.
He had a nipped-in little waist circled by a shiny brown belt holding up some kind of linen trousers that hugged his thighs and his bulge in ways I’d heretofore only seen gray sweatpants do.
Above those sinful things was a billowy cream-colored shirt he’d tucked in but forgotten to tie up, letting his chest be free to dazzle me.
His sleeves were pushed up, displaying the muscles and veins of his forearms like trophies.
His boots had heels that click-clacked as he walked toward me.
No doubt about it, I was going to fuck this fae before morning.
Which had me looking again at the sticky treat I held because did putting a fae’s dick in my mouth and swallowing his cum also count as eating something?
“Zalman?”
“Um… Will I be trapped here for eternity if I eat something of this realm?”
“No.”
I relaxed. I hadn’t eaten any of the trail mix Bridge had made for us, so I was hungry. And since he’d promised not to lie to me, I believed him.
“You’re trapped here because the magic that brought you only goes one way.”
“What?!” I tried to drop the honey almonds but, of course, they stuck to my finger. “But if I got through the barriers to get here, why can’t I go back through it to leave? After I help with the curse, of course.” I shook the treat off my finger angrily, making it ping onto the plate. “But still!”
“I’m sorry, Zalman,” he said regretfully. “It’s all to do with the curse.”
I snatched the almonds back up and crunched on them.
I wasn’t particularly upset about being here—it was, technically, a dream come true—but I did not like being unable to leave whenever I wanted to.
Me and authority didn’t always get along.
This curse saying I wasn’t allowed, made me want to show it that yes, I fucking was.
Incendis sat down at the table, too, and just crossed his legs like I wasn’t going to watch that happen.
Those long legs sliding against each other, his bulge practically sitting on his lap, and what?
I wasn’t supposed to stare? Please. I was trying not to jump him right this second simply because I was cranky about being trapped against my will.
“Zalman?” His eyes were so big and concerned.
I waved away his worry and took a drink of what tasted like a lemony black tea. If it had caffeine in it, I’d be up all night. I glanced at what I’d be doing into the wee hours, he smiled a little, and I smiled back.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I just didn’t realize the curse was going to include me like that.”
“Well, it did bring you specifically, so…”
I was the The Chosen One. A happy little noise peeped out of me and I wiggled a bit in my chair. It made sense, of course—I was pretty amazing. It had probably been inevitable that a powerful, if evil, sorcerer would recognize my awesomeness and do something like this to me. Why didn’t matter.
Wait, no. It did so matter.
“Why would the person who created the curse bring someone here who could break the curse?” I frowned as I selected another morsel to eat. This one was a little squishy and covered in sugar. “Or are there two opposing forces at work here?”
Incendis stared at me, his eyes wider as he nibbled the corner of his bottom lip. Though I wanted at that lip, too, I frowned, daring him to go back on his word.
He uncrossed his legs, his foot thumping onto the floor, and leaned his elbows on the table, head in his hands.
“The curse was intended to force myself and my three brothers to change our ways,” he practically moaned.
“All of us were combative with each other, neglectful of our responsibilities, or lacking in some way that was detrimental to our people.”
I wasn’t unsympathetic, but… “So you’ve had three years to change?”
He nodded without looking up.
“Have you?”
He sat back and stared at me, his expression pleading. “I’ve done everything I could think of! My court has never been so efficient, productive, and peaceful. Except for the hardships placed on us by the barriers and the weather, my people are happy.”
“But the curse stands.”
“Yes.”
Again, I could sympathize because it sounded like he’d been working hard to make everything better for his people. Oh. Maybe that was the problem.
“Which of the changes have been about you?” I selected another sugar-covered thing because it was like a tangy fruit gummy on the inside.
“About me?”
“Mm-hm.”
“How do you mean?”
Uh-oh. “Like what have you done to change yourself? You said the curse was about making you change, not your court or your people. You.”
He blinked at me.
“Did you used to hide away and let an evil tyrant take over? Make everyone else do the work, while you had fun? Did you have your armies fight everyone, while you sat safe and happy in your castle?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “What have you changed about you?”
A blush started creeping into his pale cheeks until his whole face was blazing red. He made a sad little sound as he tucked one arm across his chest and covered his eyes with his other hand.
Poor guy. I drank some more of my tea. “Maybe I’m here to be your life coach,” I said, thinking out loud. “I don’t know anything about breaking curses, but I’ve been known to give good advice to folks looking to better themselves in various ways. Yes, I feel like that’s where I could help you.”
He peeked at me over his hand. “What should I do?”
I glanced over at the bed, but that wasn’t appropriate at the moment. “I can’t say yet. I’ll need to observe you first.” I gestured to the window and how dark it had gotten out there. “We can officially start in the morning.”
“Oh, yes, of course. I had been preparing for bed when you…arrived.” He cleared his throat, his blush not gone completely yet. “I’ll have them prepare a room for you.”
Before I could stop myself, I said, “Any chance I could stay here?”
“Stay…here?”
I nodded slowly. “You already know that I don’t like lying. Well, I also don’t like games.” I reached over and slid my fingers across the back of his hand. “Incendis, you are absolutely beautiful in the sexiest ways, and I would like nothing better than to spend the night in bed with you.”
His mouth popped open, his blush renewed, and I wasn’t sure if he was still breathing.
I chuckled at him. “Come on, you must get propositioned a hundred times a day. Are you really so surprised that I’d make a play for you?”
“I…I’d hoped. I just didn’t…” He cleared his throat and seemed to give himself a little shake. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon.”
Smiling, I lifted his hand and brought it to my lips. I felt him shiver as I kissed his knuckles one by one.
“So is that a yes?”
He gulped and nodded. “Y-yes.”
Very happily, I stood, threw a leg over his thighs, and slithered down his torso to sit on his lap.
He exhaled hard when I ground my burgeoning erection against that bulge of his.
Maybe he didn’t get seduced much on account of being royal because the poor dear seemed absolutely overwhelmed and I hadn’t even kissed him yet.
I remedied that, claiming his full lips with a devouring kiss.
He moaned like a desperate man and slid his hands up my thighs and around to cup my ass.
I’d thought being here was a dream come true, but now I was going to get to actually fuck a fae prince.
And not just in my imagination! This was awesome.
Running my hands up into the soft wavy locks of his fiery hair, I brushed by his ears. When I came back and caressed one from lobe to pointed tip, he broke the kiss to take a shaky breath. I smiled. “Sensitive?”
He gulped and nodded. “Very.”
Feeling wicked, I stroked that ear again. He gave a broken moan and his hips bumped up. Part of me wanted to find out if I could make him come from an ear-job. But not without getting him naked first.
Standing from his lap, I took his hand and pulled him up, too. He seemed shy now, blushing even though his bulge was fast becoming a baton and his lips were already swollen. It was absolutely endearing.
“You should probably know that I, um, haven’t ever…” He gestured to the bed and stared at me like he was hoping I wouldn’t get upset.
I looked at the bed. I looked at him.
Was he saying…
“Incendis, are you a virgin?”