Chapter 7
Actually, it did take a while. In fact, it took the full two hours we had to wait for everyone to assemble downstairs. And as Incendis cleaned and I supervised, I realized he wasn’t a bad guy. I’d been thinking he was because who could curse everyone like this and not be terrible. But he wasn’t.
“I just didn’t know what else to do but help Father,” he said as he dumped another dustpan full of glass into the bin. “At least, if I did, one of us would know what to do later on.”
“Except you don’t know.”
He sighed heavily and nodded. “Except I don’t.”
Because what had sounded like a reasonable desire—princes changing their ways for the better—wasn’t specific enough when faced with the reality of actually changing to save them all.
Incendis still had no idea what he was meant to change about himself; and I had to wonder if any of the other princes knew they were meant to change at all.
“Did you tell your brothers what to do about the curse?”
He looked around for the next thing to clean up unprompted. “I sent messengers, but they were their own citizens returning to them, so I don’t know if they delivered their missives.”
“What do you mean by their own citizens returning?”
“Hydris had been trying to lure me into joining him against Flurris, so a messenger from Spring was here. I sent that messenger back to Hydris with what I knew about the curse and when it would take effect. There were messengers from the other courts as well, so I sent them back the same information. We haven’t been able to effectively communicate since, though. ”
And he’d already told me about everyone getting sorted back into their court of birth, which had really ticked me off. They’d separated families. For three years!
“Lars said the person who cast the curse was desperate and impulsive,” I told him, “but I think it was much worse than that.”
Incendis nodded. “Arrogant, self-righteous, possibly a touch maniacal.”
Wow, maybe the king should’ve taken a look in the mirror before he blamed everything on his kids. I didn’t know the other princes, but from what Incendis had said, if they were like their father, then he only had himself to blame.
“Where’s your father now?”
“Locked in amber in the center of the realm.”
I blinked at him. “Is he…alive?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged, his head ducked so I couldn’t see his eyes. “We knew a sacrifice would be required for such a spell. He didn’t bother to know what it was ahead of time.”
Impulsive. It was entirely possible Lars had been the king’s trusted…somebody. A person who’d been there to witness what had happened but, out of loyalty to the family, had kept the secrets. Until he met me. The person who was supposed to save everyone.
Incendis held his hands out, broom in one, dustpan in the other. “There doesn’t seem to be anything left to clean up.”
I stood up and walked around, making a show of inspecting his work. Honestly, he’d done well. He might’ve needed me to demonstrate how to do something, but he’d learned quickly and, actually, he hadn’t complained once. While there was a lot less stuff around, the room was clean.
“Excellent job,” I allowed. “Now we can find out where to take the trash and put the cleaning supplies back where they go.”
I could see that he wanted to comment on that. His lip twitched and his eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he reined himself in. I smiled. He smiled back. His looked a touch snarly.
Someone knocked on the door. “Pardon me, Your Highness, but Mister Danbury has all of the castle staff members you requested in the back parlor now.”
“What excellent timing,” I said and sashayed toward the door. “What’s your name?”
“Curtis, sir.”
“Lead the way, Curtis.”
“Yes, sir.”
As we headed down the hall, I heard Incendis drop the broom and dustpan before his heels clicked on the floor while he hurried to catch up to us.
At the prospect of finally figuring out who Lars was, I felt a strange kind of excitement and dread. Like what if he was the bad guy and worming his way into my life so he could do even more damage? We’d find him now, expose him, and he’d cackle like a demon before enacting his final revenge.
It could happen. I was in a realm of the fae after all.
But when we walked into the room and saw six men standing at (sort of ) attention, I sighed and put my hands on my hips because my Lars wasn’t one of them.
And then I looked at the portrait hanging above the fireplace. My heart gave a thump because what castle anywhere would have a painting of a servant hanging on the wall?
“Who’s that?” I asked only to realize I’d interrupted Incendis and another man talking to each other. “Him,” I said, pointing, “right there.”
“We can discuss my father’s portraits after you tell me which man here is—”
“Oh, my god! Your father?”
“Yes?”
Shit. Oh, shit. “Did you see him die?”
“Excuse me?”
“Did you actually witness his death?”
But Incendis turned to everyone else in the room and smiled. “Thank you, gentlemen. Please return to your duties now.”
Okay, yes, oopsies. I probably shouldn’t say anything in front of anyone else, but… No, I probably absolutely could because there didn’t seem to be a person in this place who didn’t know the details of the curse. We could let it all hang out, and they’d just nod and say they knew that already.
Once everyone had left the room, Incendis rounded on me. “What are you doing? It’s not dignified to discuss—”
“That’s your father?” I pointed again.
“Yes, Zalman. What—”
“That’s Lars.”
Incendis blinked at me. Blinked at the portrait. “Pardon?”
“The skinny old man who said his name was Lars, who gave me a burrito and wanted me in bed with you as soon as possible, is that guy right there.” The portrait could’ve been finished yesterday, it was so accurate.
“My…my father visits you?” he whispered.
I gulped at the heartbroken look on his face, feeling awful that his father wasn’t visiting him. “Maybe he can’t come to you,” I whispered back. “Maybe it’s part of the curse?”
He closed his eyes, nodding, before he moved to sit down in one of the wingback chairs facing the darkened fireplace. He seemed so sad, his hand even shaking as he leaned over his knees and held his forehead.
I went over because it felt like I’d hurt him. On my knees in front of him so I could see his face, I said, “I’m so sorry, Incendis. If I see him again, I’ll ask him what’s going on, but from everything he’s done and said, he’s trying to explain and help. I’m sure of that.”
“I never got to say goodbye,” he said so mournfully. “The spell snatched him up and encased him before I had a chance to say anything.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” I pushed up and into the circle of his arms and wrapped mine around him.
He’d been through so much, tried so hard to do all the right things, and the fact that he was wounded and hurting anyway was tugging at my heart.
“We’ll figure all of this out,” I said against his cheek. “I promise.”
He nodded, and I thought I felt a tear slid down where our skin touched.
Incendis might’ve contributed in some ways to the problems the courts had faced by not getting along with his brothers, but he was a good person at his core.
Or he was now? He could’ve been changing for the past three years. Changing for the better.
And now it was my turn to do my part to break the spell.
I pulled back enough to see his face. Red-rimmed eyes, flushed cheeks, tear tracks…
I gently wiped the wet away and knew right then that my resistance was a waste of time.
I liked him. He was trying so hard to improve himself—something not a lot of men did in my experience—and I was over here saying he couldn’t have the thing he needed.
Was it so bad to be a goal? A line on a checklist?
It could lead to better things down the road.
With the curse broken, I could come and go as often as I wanted.
We could make a real relationship work. Because if the guy who’d cast the curse said to get with the sex, maybe I shouldn’t argue. This could be how we started.
I kissed Incendis. He flinched, and I eased back to look him in the eyes. His gaze flicked all over me before zeroing in on my lips. My eyes. My lips. I chuckled and kissed him again.
It was clear that Incendis was new to kissing, but he was enthusiastic and the breathy sounds from him were really turning me on.
He didn’t hesitate or hold back; this was him desiring me and letting me know he liked what I did to him.
When he clutched me close, pulling me up against him, I felt how hard he was getting and moaned because he was literally huge.
While he breathed shaky and fast against my neck, dropping kisses here and there, I looked to the door.
It was closed. So was the other one. Not locked, but maybe no one would come in without knocking?
The windows were closed and the gauzy curtains might obscure us just enough to keep who we were a mystery.
“Incendis? Baby, can I blow you?” Because I really needed to see the rod that was poking my guts already.
He sat back a bit, lips slightly swollen and cheeks pink. “Pardon?”
“Blow you. Give you a blowjob?”
He blushed more.
“Oh, right.” Virgin. Remember the virginity. “It’s putting one’s penis into another’s mouth for the purpose of pleasure.”
“I-I see. Yes, um, of-of course you may.”
So polite. Maybe taking someone’s virginity could be fun? Because I was going to blow his mind in addition to his cock.
I pushed him back, pulled his hips forward, and got to work unbuttoning entirely too many buttons in a three-sided square around my prize. With that out of the way, then I was fishing through the bottom edge of his shirt and his silky drawers before— “Ah! Hello, gorgeous.”
Incendis took a shaky breath as I stroked him, moaning it out as his hips rolled with my hand. Long and thick and ruddy red, his cock really was lovely. When a drop of precum burbled free, I leaned in and licked it up. He honest-to-god whimpered.
Yeah, this was gonna be good.
“Don’t hold back,” I told him. “Come whenever you can’t resist any longer.”
“Oh, goddess…” he whispered.
I gobbled him up and smiled inside at the way he hollered.
Warm and velvety, I lost myself for a while in the feel of his beautiful dick riding my lips and tongue.
For the first time in my life, I had to hold the base of him so he couldn’t choke me as he kept rocking his hips.
I’d thought I’d been with some big guys, but they were nothing compared to Incendis.
“Zalman,” he said on a moan.
I hummed and deep-throated him, my own pleasure building to a level that had me wishing I’d unbuttoned my own trousers. He hollered and came. Swallowing every drop he gave me, I laughed internally because I was definitely consuming something from the fairy realm now. I was well and truly caught.
I eased away slowly, savoring him, and looked up to see him flushed and panting. And then he lunged forward and kissed me, no doubt tasting himself on my tongue.
“Tell me what I can do for you,” he said breathlessly. “Anything you wish.”
I started unbuttoning. “Just kiss me. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Oh, no, you won’t.”
I gasped when he lifted me right up off the floor and deposited me on his left thigh.
My legs were between his as he took over working my pants open.
He got my dick out and, oh man, it looked so hot in his elegant hand.
But then I couldn’t watch anymore as he thrust his fingers into my hair to hold my head just so as he ravished my lips.
A moment later and he was stroking me at a pace that had me moaning into his mouth.
Definitely a quick learner. Deliciously, determinedly quick.
I looped an arm around him, holding on as he jacked me so perfectly. I could barely kiss him as I started panting in earnest, so he moved to sucking at and kissing my neck. Fuck, I loved that! He used his hand in my hair to pull my head back, and I was gone.
I hollered and came, and he slicked my cock with my own cum as he kept stroking me. Finally, I looked around and realized he seemed fascinated by what he was doing. I let him play, shivering as he kept me hard.
“Perhaps,” he said quietly, “I might blow you next time.”
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “Sure. We can unvirginize you in all the ways.”
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me close.