17. Seventeen
Colm and Tirriel laugh hysterically at my suggestion that trade be open to people other than those hired by the countryitself.
Kairon slams a fist on the table, shutting them up immediately. ”Elva,” he tells me. ”While I appreciate your optimism, you”re operating based on the assumption that everyone is always willing to do the right thing. How can you be sure this won”t invite people with bad intentions?”
”No, I”m not.”I barely hold back an eye-roll when I respond, ”I”m simply stating that most people are willing to do what”s right if there”s a guarantee that it will benefit them.”
”And how will this benefit everyone?”Colm asks incredulously.
”Opening trade routes to private citizens gives everyone more freedom. The artists I met at the market here could travel and sell their wares to new customers,”I tell them. ”Obviously, there will be people who take advantage and pass through with bad intentions, but those people can do that now anyway if they”re determined to.”
”I would be willing to allow this if the women have chaperones,”Colm suggests. ”You know they have no sense of direction, and I can”t have them getting hurt and blaming me for it.”
”If you just want people running about in every country, then we may as well not have borders at all and let it be a free-for-all. No laws at all for anyone!”Tirriel laughs again.
”Is that what fucking I said?”I finally snap, weeks of this shit weighing on me until I”m ready to kill someone.
I really thought Kairon was exaggerating when he said this would take forever. We argued over whether Fastid”s flag looked phallic or not for three fucking hours yesterday. When I say we, I mean Colm and Tirriel, mostly, with the Eyes adding commentaryjustto inflame them further.
The only positive aspect of it all has been how many times Kairon has stood up for me and supported my ideas, even adding to them to make them better without making me feel foolish. Not once has he badmouthed my thoughts, often reprimanding Farhan and Tirriel for doing so.
Even during our private breakfasts, he”s made several comments about my ideas and how I could present themin a waythattheothers will listen. It”s not about whether the idea is good, which it is, as he told me yesterday. It”s about knowing who you”re selling it to, and you”re selling it to two assholes who think they know better than anyone else. So let them think it”s their idea.
”Maybe we should revisit this topic later once Elva has calmed down a bit,”Colm shrugs.
My attempt at being charming and demure for him has been in vain. He”s such a colossal, disgusting ass that a woman opening her mouth at all is too much for him.
King Kairon barks, ”Just shut the fuck up for a second, Colm. Elva”s suggesting giving private citizens the right to have registration travel papers, right? Just like we already do for our own royal traders?”
”Yes.”
Kairon gestures both hands towards me like he”s showcasing me, and my chest fills with pride that he”s supporting me so brazenly. ”See? Easy. In order to get these papers, they”ll need to prove why they are traveling, how long they”ll be there, and where they”re from. It is beneficial to all of us.”
”And if I don”t want uptight, prudish, self-righteous Rhymans in my country?”Tirriel asks, looking pointedly at me. Prudish? He”s been trying to fuck me, complimenting me, and showering me with attention since he arrived, and nowthat he knows for certain that he won”t get to, he”s resorting to calling me names.
”Then they”re better off. Who wants to travel to a country where the crown prince will try relentlessly to stick his dick inside anything with legs? Well, I guess even legs are optional,”Maren finally comments, glancing at her nails. She”s remained out of the arguing for the most part, but for some reason, she does not like the prince at all.
His face turns bright red, and he speaks through clenched teeth. ”I told you that in confidence. I had been drinking the Fae wine. It doesn”t count.”
”Which time?”Ovoor asks. ”If I recall correctly, which I always do, you”ve had her several times.”
”What manner of creature was it?”I can”t help but ask.
Maren beams, leaning in to stage whisper so the entire table hears. ”Tirriel was on holiday in Suva and bedded one of our lesser-known fair folk, the Naga. Gorgeous, powerful, and similar to the Syrens, except their tails are those of snakes, not fish. He”s since made it a regular trip just to see her.”
My jaw drops, disagreement forgotten entirely. ”How?”I ask him.
”Are we really here to get into the logistics of how one would sleep with a monster?”Colm scoffs.
”Watch who you call a monster, Colm,”Olath comments from her seat between her sisters. ”One might say mortals are the most monstrous of us all.”
”Naga have intercourse just like Syrens, not all that different from the humans, just with scales hiding their most sacred parts, rather than it being between two legs,”Maren explains. ”They feel desire and pleasure the same as anyone else, and from what I”ve heard, they can be very creative with their tails.”
”No,”I gasp, smiling, enjoying just a moment of this friendship I”ve found with Maren. She reminds me of Alya a bit, talking about strange and wild things withoutan ounce ofshame. ”Really?”
”Oh, yes.”She grins back. ”Very creative. They can— well, you”ll have to ask Tirriel. He knows all about it.”
”Maren,” Kairon warns. ”Please. You can gossip about Tirriel”s countless sexual escapades in private, like the rest of us.”But even he can”t hide the smile in his voice at how red she”s made the crown prince.
”Alright, alright,”she relents. ”I”m just saying, Tirriel, there”s no need to be embarrassed about it. Everyone has their proclivities.”
Tirriel stands, slamming both hands on the table. ”I”ve had enough of this flying horse shit for one day.”He storms off, shoving the doors open and disappearing into the hallway.
Raya pops up next to me. ”Ha. Pay up. I knew today would end early.”
I grab a few of the coins I brought with me to her. I really hoped today would be the day things go smoothly.Thatmaybeeveryone hashed out what they needed yesterday or the day before.Or the day before.
”Are you taking bets on whether or not we reach any agreements, Raya?”Maren teases. ”And you left me out?”
Raya grins, andI almost thinkshe might blush at the Fae Queen”s attention.Butbefore she can,the king orders her to return to her station.The wayhe speaks to her when others are around vs. when they”re not is baffling. He commands her like she”s nothing, yet when no one is watching, he just gives her the freedom to do and say basically whatever she likes.
I guessI understand the need for it and how it protects her from anyone thinking they”re as close as they are.
”Elva,”Kairon commands. ”There”s something you and I need to discuss since this mess of a day is over so soon. Follow me.”
I make eye contact with Maren, and she winks at me before standing. ”Raya, can you show me the way to the garden? I seem to have forgotten since my last visit.”
Raya looks to the king for permission, and he nods, the helm moving up and down once. ”We”ll be in the library.”
The Eyes all look at each other, then at me, and lastly the king before sharing knowing smiles and vanishing into thin air, leaving behind only a wisp of smoke that slowly dissipates.
”So that”s it?”Colm asks. ”We are just done for today? Again. Because of some boy”s inability to resist a woman?”
”I guess so,”Kairon tells him. ”Dinner will be served in your rooms. Perhaps you can ask him about it since you”re right next to each other.”
”I would sooner gouge my ears out than hear of it,”he sneers.
Walking away, Kairon mutters under his breath, ”There”s an idea.”
Followingclosely behindhim, I bite my lips between my teeth to keep from snickering. I”ve been to the library a few times since coming here, but never with Kairon. He”s always had me escorted by Raya or one of his other guards.
When we enter the room, it takes me by surprise again, the same as always. There”s no getting over beauty and opulence like this. Not in 100 lifetimes could I read all the books in here. I”m frozen, staring in awe. The roof is entirelymade ofglass, letting the sunshine light the way through the room. Against the far wall, stained glass windows offer a multicolor peek at the ocean below.
”Come,”the king breaks me out of my reverie. ”I”ve been searching for this book for weeks now, and I”ve finally found it.”
”That”s what we”re here for?”I laugh. ”I thought you needed to speak with me about something.”
”Well, I can”t very well say, ”Elva, come to the library with me so we can read about dragons”, can I?”he asks as he lifts his cloak over his head.
As he does, the shirt he wears underneath it lifts, showing me just the tiniest sliver of his skin. It”s sunkissed even there, incredibly toned, with a perfect V-shape carved into his hips from the muscle and a line of dark hair that disappears under the waistband of his indecently low pants.
I breathe out through my nose, trying to calm my racing heart. I swear to the gods he”s taking the cloak and helm off slowly on purpose, letting me remain caught in the storm of his perfection.
Placing the cloak and helm on a nearby desk, he shakes his head and runs his hands through his hair, leaving it disheveled and messy and so godsdamn tempting. I wonder for the hundredth time if it”s as soft as it looks.
For a moment, images of him between my legs plague me again, but thistime, my hands are buried in that lush head of hair, holding him against me as he uses his wicked tongue on me again, with nothing between us.
”Elva.”The Kairon in front of me pulls me from my fantasy with the other one. ”Are you alright?”
”Mhmm,”I answer. ”Why wouldn”t I be?”
He narrows his eyes, equal parts playful and suspicious. ”Come on, it”s over here.”
In the back of the library, away from the windows and skylight, there is a small table with a single book, a lamp, and two chairs.
Just looking at this set-up feels intimate. The chairs are far too close together, and the light istoodim.Heguides me with a hand on my lower back, and the contact is so hot it threatens to scald me.
Rather than take a seat and risk being within his reach, I stand at thefar side of the table.I gently spin the book, its spine crumbling with age, the language written on the front long forgotten. I open it, and the first page is covered in that same writing, scribbled on every inch.
”Do you know what it says?”I ask the king.
He somberly shakes his head. ”I wish. The only bits of that language known to us are fire and breath. Dregg and Kin. Dragon. Or Drakken.”
Turning another page, my breath stops. Countless pictures of the creatures cover the wilting, yellowed book. They are beautiful, scaled creatures with wings so large they overshadow their entire bodies.
Some have two legs, some four, and some none at all.But all of them resemble each other, with iridescent scales and long pointed mouths full of sharp teeth. They have serpentine eyes and heads,withpowerful, muscular bodies and feet much like birds with sharp talons.
”They”re gorgeous,” I breathe.
The heat of Kairon”s body presses against my back as he reaches one arm past me to flip to the next set of pictures. A dragon is depicted with its terrifying mouth wide open, a stream of blue and red fire exiting its mouth and demolishing everything in sight.
The picture issostunning and terrifying, yet I can”t focus on it with him so close to me.Can”tbreathe, much less think.
”Your Majesty,”my voice comes out shaky and breathy. I should tell him to step away and keep a distance between us, but I can”t.
”My Elva,” he croons.
Swallowing around the desire building, trying to keep my head clear, I fight to focus. ”What else is known about them?”
”Not much,”he answers, one hand sneaking around to my lower stomach and pressing me back against him. ”They were powerful and feared everywhere. A single dragon could destroy a village in moments, leaving behind nothing but ash.”
His hardness against my back leaves me speechless, the ache between my legs growing to unimaginable pain. I never thought desire could hurt like this. He”s whispering in my ear, telling me stories of fierce and terrible beasts, yet my legs quiver with the need to surrender to his touch.
”Powerful and feared,”I repeat. ”Sounds familiar.”
He chuckles, holding me hostage with the sound and his wandering hands. ”I have a love for things that are terrifying and beautiful. I get the feeling you do, too.”
I swallow, keeping my hands on the table to prevent myself from reaching for him and letting his barrage of emotions cloud my own.
”Let me touch you, Elva,”he breathes, the warmth cascading against my neck. ”Let me make you scream for me, fill you with pleasure so intense it finally eases the ache inside you.
”Kai,”his name is a whimper. ”Ican”t.”
”And why not?”There”sno malice to his question, which makes it more dangerous because right now,all I want isto tell him so he can doall the thingshis words and hands promise.
”I just... I can”t touch.”
”You have no problem letting Maren or Colm or fucking Tirriel feel your skin,”he murmurs, his gloved hand wandering lower until the tips of his fingers dip inside my pants. ”Why is it different for me?”
”I—”I clear my throat, trying and failing to fix my voice. ”Please, Ican”t.”
”Then tell me to stop,”he suggests, giving me an out.
But I”m frozen, his wandering fingers traversing lower and lower until he cups me through my underthings. It”s a gentle touch, yet so utterly, wholly possessive that I”m rendered thoughtless.
His free hand moves from my hip up to the nape of my neck, all of his fingers combing into the hair there before gripping it roughly, making me moan, and tugging my head back until we”re eye to eye.
”Tell me to stop,”he tries again. ”But I make no guarantees that I”ll listen.”
”Gloves stay on,”is all I can manage, but he takes my permission like it”s a godsend, groaning and grinding himself against me as he grips my pussy just a bit more firmly.
”Yes, my Elva,”he says, releasing his punishing grip on my hair.
So agonizingly slow, his fingers drift up out of my pants. Gently, he grips the hem of my shirt, lifting it up over my head before doing the same with the frilly underthings that keep my breasts from his wandering eyes and hands.
When they”re released,he moans at the sight, using both hands to cup them.”Fuck, they”re so pretty. Look at how perfectly you fit in my hands.”With a gentle touch, he thumbs my nipples, making me gasp. One hand traverses down my stomach, untying my waistband and easing my pants down until they fall to my ankles. The other continues its torture on my breast, bringing me to the edge of insanity.
Finally having access to them, he tugs on one side of my panties, releasing it and letting it snap against my skin. The slight sting makes me gasp, and he relishes the sound, rolling his hardness against me. Ceasing his incredible tormenting of my breast, his hand locks around my throat, forcing me to look up at him again, only to find him gazing at me with hunger so desperate it borders on anger.
He grips my underthings firmer, eyes locked on my parted and panting lips. The sound of ripping reaches my ears the second after I feel a slight pinch against my hip, and suddenly, the cool air of the room hits between my legs. I suck in a harsh breath, the small act of delicious violence making me dizzy.
From the corner of my eye, I notice him toss the ruined thing on the tablerightnext to the dragon book. The filthy depravity of it makes me so wet, so wholly and utterly ruined because of this man who hasn”t even begun touching me yet.
His fingers taunt and tease all the way down to their destination. When he finally reaches between my legs, the leather grazing my clit, I barely hold back a cry. Gods, how I”ve tried to give myself this pleasure again and again since I arrived in Oksangui. But that one touch has done more to me than all the disappointing orgasms I”ve given myself.
”Oh, my Elva, you”re soaked. Is all this for me?”he taunts. My jaw drops further open, and I”m unsure how to respondto this.No one has ever spoken to me like thisin such an intimate way.Teasing and making me feel degraded and beautiful all at once.
I feebly nod, his firm grip on my neck not letting me do much more. ”Of course it is.”He nods with me. ”And this,”he grinds his cock against me again, pulling a moan from us both, ”is all for you. Do you feel what you”ve done to me?”
I nod again, feeling powerful to have brought such a formidable man to this level of madness.
His fingers tease the sensitive flesh, drifting everywhere but where I need them. My body moves of its own volition, trying to chase his touch. With a small smirk, he finally rubs one small circle on my clit, the brief contact pulling a moan from my throat. When he repeats the motion, I moan again, unable to keep silent.
His eyebrows pinch together, his mouth slightly parted as he watches my face, a desperate longing and need in his expression. Again and again, he rubs my clit with the tips of his fingers, the pressure so perfect that I can”t help the embarrassing sounds escaping me.
”My Elva,”he groans, pushing just a bit harder until the pleasure is so intense it”s almost painful. ”Gods, you”re so gorgeous like this. Needy and whiny and so fucking wet. I want you naked and soaked just like this every single day.”
”Kai.”My eyelids flutter from the overwhelming need wracking my body from his growling voice and deft fingers working me rapidly towards release. ”Please.”
”Please, what?”he asks, speaking only a whisperawayfrom my lips. ”Tell me what you want.”
”I—”I can”t think, much less speak. But gods, I feel so... so empty. I need to feel him inside me in any way I can. I barely manage to whimper out, ”Inside me, please.”
He licks his lips with a moan; the act is entirely depraved and so fucking hot. All I can think about is how wicked that tongue is. ”You want me to fuck you with my fingers, my Elva? Fill your little body with them until you scream?”
”Yes,” I nearly shout.
He groans, the sound closer to a growl than anything else, before suddenly spinning me around and making me yelp. He places me roughly on the table, my ass almost hanging off the edge. Gripping my shoes and the pants gathered around my ankles, he tears themall off ofme in one swipe.
One hand pushes between my breasts until I”m flat on my back.Hisother roughly spreads my legs sohecan step between them,hisgaze so intent on my center that I blush at the indecency.
He moans my name, the sound giving me goosebumps as his fingers trace a line from my kneeall the wayto my core. His eyes finally meet mine, the need I feel mirrored in them as he rubs small circles on my clit with his thumb. ”Every inch of you is perfection. I could spend forever traversing your body and never tire of it.”
I let my head fall back, fully submitting to whatever pleasure he offers, unable to do anything else when he speaks to me like that, like I”m the altar he worships at and the sin he surrenders to.
Finally, his fingers trace my opening, and I tense, anticipation flooding my veins. He eases one finger inside me, the roughness of the leather unlike anything I”ve ever felt before. Languidly, he strokes me, and my body follows his movement, rolling to try to take more of him inside me.
So slowly, he continues this torture, the strange texture of the gloves adding to the exquisite sensation of him playing with my body. Adding another finger, he keeps his pace steady, just giving me enough to drive me to madness without bringing me any closer to release.
”Eyes on me, my Elva,”he breathes. ”I need to watch how you fall apart for me.”Unable to deny him, I force my lids to open, letting my gaze meet his. His eyes bounce between my face and the place where he”s expertly toying with my body,desperation so plain it almost looks painful.
A whimper escapes me, the combination of his need and his deft fingers working me slowly and deliberately and the utterly filthy sounds coming from his hand filling my body over and over again.
With a low, wicked laugh, he picks up the pace, rubbing his fingers against my front wall and forcing a surprised shout from my throat.He groans at the sound before leaning over me, his palm landing next to my head on the table, leaving only inches between his lips and mine.
So easily I could lean up, take that step, endure the truth of everything he”s feeling, just to taste his soft lips, let his immaculate beard scratch against me, finally give in to what I”m not ready to admit I”m hiding from.
Instead, I stare at his eyes, the pupils dilating and almost entirely devouring the gray of his irises from the way he looks like he wishes to devour me. His gaze reaches my mouth as a loud moan leaves it, the way he”s rubbing against that spot inside me making me entirely wanton, uncaring of how I sound.
He bites his lip, his movements becoming rougher, faster, pulling screams from my throat. When he speaks, his voice is pure sin, gravelly and ferocious. ”You”re so perfect like this, my Elva.”His praise and wicked fingers make my head spin. ”Split wide open on my fingers and making a fucking mess of the table beneath you.”I rapidly blink, trying to keep my mind clear. The mix of affection and degradation leaves me helpless, a mindless body just searching for what he”s giving me.
His thumb grazes my clit, and I shriek, overwhelmed and needing more all at the same time. With a deep groan, he does it again, pressing against it with perfect pressure and pulling another cry from my throat.
He continues to draw small, deft circles on my clit, my cries becoming frantic, barely more than a breath of air and a high-pitched shriek, fighting against every instinct to grab him, feel those powerful muscles holding him above me and forcing me towards release.
”Do you need to come, my Elva?”he taunts, his teeth clenched together, giving away how affected he is by this without receiving any pleasure of his own.
Helpless, I nod. My body is swiftly careening towards the edge, the point of no return for us and whatever distance I had hoped to keep between us.
He nods with me, his brows pinched. ”Yeah, you do. Come on, gorgeous, give it to me. I need it. Need you to come on my fingers.”
With his plea, my body finally falls over the edge, a series of loud, unbidden screams of his name leaving my mouth, eyes tightly closed, and head thrown back.
”Oh, fuck yeah,”Kai groans, continuing to work me through the peak, gentler but no less deliberate. ”That”s it, baby, come on. Keep coming for me. Gods, you”re stunning like this. So fucking good, don”t stop riding my hand.”Even through thewaves ofoverwhelming pleasure, I have no choice but to obey his commands. As long as my orgasm takes me, he continues to praise and plead in my ear, prolonging it far more than should be possible.
When the pleasure turns to discomfort, overstimulation making every touch sharp, I whine, and he slows to a stop, gently easing his fingers from my body. A small smile twists his perfect mouth as he watches and waits for me to recover. His eyes search every inch of my face, soaking in my flushed cheeks and disheveled hair.
His wet fingers trace a line up my stomach, swirling around one nipple and making my eyes flutter before he continues traversing up, reaching my lips. I open without protest, whimpering at the taste of myself and the leather. He groans, and I feel the sound all the way down my spine, goosebumps breaking out across my flesh again. Even though he”s just finished with me, I need more. I fear I”ll never get enough of this depraved, wild thing he brings out of me.
His fingers work inside my mouth, his eyes hooded and locked on the motion as I try to suck myself off his gloved hand. For just a moment, he moves his fingers similarly to the way he did between my legs, in and out, relishing the warmth wrapped around them.
With a pained sigh, he removes his hand, placing his hand on the other side of my head, effectively caging me in his gaze, naked and splayed beneath him.For a moment,we just stare at each other, lost in this madness.While it is madness, at least we aren”t going through it alone. We are a mirror image of each other”s internal losing battle.
”Someone is going to come in here soon,”he comments, but the words go right over my head, unable to face the real world yet. With a small chuckle, he stands, stuffing my destroyed panties into his pocket before holding his hands out for me to take. ”Let”s get you dressed, my Elva.”
With painstaking slowness, he helps me with the parts of dressing that he can, easing my shirt over my head, gently retying my pants, and placing my shoes on my feet. The contrast between his rough treatment and this new sweet and soft touch puts a weight on my chest, an ache I”ve not felt before.
Before leaving the library, he puts the terrifying helm and cape back on, the facade of his feared moniker back in place. Even with the terrible thing on, as scary as he looks, I want to feel him. On top of me, beneath me, any way I could get him. I want to have The Horned King.
And that is a terrifying thought.
As we walk back to our rooms, I twirl the ring on my finger, consideringthe promises I madeto my people and whether I could still fulfill them and somehow have what fulfills me, too. I know the answer is no. My only choice is to return home, keep the vows made, and leave this part of me behindherewith Kai.
No matter how badly I want to carry itwith me, it doesn”t belong in Rhyma. It belongs with him, even though the rest of me cannot. The weight of that sits heavy on my chest for the rest of the day and into the night, realizing that when I leavehere, half of me will stay here forever, and I”ll have to learn to live without it.