1 LONNIE
THE CUTTHROAT DISTRICT, INBETWIXT, ONE WEEK SINCE THE RISE OF THE REBELLION
“Focus, little monster.”
Bael’s breath grazed my neck sending tingles over my entire body. “Try to imagine nothingness. Like, darkness that stretches on forever.”
I gritted my teeth. “Should I imagine nothing or darkness?”
He paused, and there was humor in his voice when he replied: “Whichever.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight, but all I could think about was the warmth at my back and the shivers dancing over my skin. Clearly, Bael was oblivious to the fact that his presence alone was enough to shatter my focus.
Although, I supposed it was better to be distracted than terrified. At least I’d grown beyond that point in the last week…mostly.
Bael and I stood in a dark, musty store room, lit by a single lantern and dirty window overlooking the city street. It had been a week since our escape from the fallen obsidian castle, and five days since we found refuge with the Thieves’ Guild in Inbetwixt. Downstairs, the guild was bustling with conversations and footsteps—something I never would have noticed had I not spent the last hour trying to think of nothing.
Shadow walking—or the ability to magically propel oneself between one place and another—was not something that came naturally to me. Truly, magic in general didn’t come naturally to me. Nevertheless, I’d spent the better part of the last week trying to learn to control whatever untrained abilities lay dormant inside me.
The results had been…mixed.
I’d been taught all my life not to use magic or something horrible would happen. In the last weeks, I’d leaned that my fears were not baseless. Whenever I’d tried to call fire to my hand, I seemed to call other things as well, and deadly monsters would flock to my side like moths to…well, a flame.
Perhaps that was why I struggled to practice.
I’d managed to stop trembling with terror every time I thought about my power, but thus-far hadn’t had any luck conjuring anything more than red-faced frustration. I certainly hadn’t mastered the ability to disappear and reappear at will, and I was starting to wonder if I ever would again.
“Go stand over there.”
I pointed aimlessly across the room, even as I took a large step forward, putting some much-needed distance between us. “It’s a bit difficult to think of nothing with you breathing in my ear.”
The prince chuckled. “A likely excuse.”
“Excuse or not, I can’t do this with you hovering over me.”
With an over-dramatic sigh, Bael stepped out from behind me and sauntered across the room to lean against the wall by the window. To my dismay, my eyes followed him without my permission and my heart fluttered.
It was no wonder I was struggling to focus.
There had always been something slightly unnerving and dangerous about Bael, but his joking demeanor and too-pretty face camouflaged his darker nature. In the palace, the prince invariably appeared as if he had just stumbled out of a wild party or overslept by several hours. His red-gold curls were always too long, and he hardly ever wore shirts underneath his brightly colored waistcoats revealing both his well-defined muscles and intricate swirling tattoos.
Now, his hair was cropped short, having been burned in the fire, and the dimly lit room glinted with the reflection of his black, obsidian-plated armor. He carried no sword or knives in his belt, practically screaming that he could kill just as easily without them. It was as if, without the layers of silk and smiles, it was evident that there was nothing golden about this prince—and there never had been.
As if he could read my thoughts, the corners of Bael’s lips twitched upward, revealing a mischievous gleam in his yellow irises. “You’re still thinking.”
“How can you tell?”
“Just your expression. If you let yourself get too distracted you’ll end up traveling somewhere you didn’t intend. We can only hope it’s just downstairs and not halfway across the city.”
I made a frustrated noise in the back of my throat and opened one eye. “I doubt there’s much danger of that. I’d have to actually move first.”
He grinned, but only waved a hand for me to hurry up. “Get on with it. I have other things I want to do with you before the meeting.”
If he’d intended to motivate me, his mention of the meeting had the opposite effect. I glanced out the window, where the sun seemed far brighter than it had been when we began practicing. “How long have we been doing this? Should we not be downstairs already?”
We were due down in the thieves’ den an hour before noon, to meet with the rest of the displaced royal family and Cross’s crew. There had been many meetings since we’d been here, most regarding the ongoing rebel conflict, but none that I wanted to attend so much as this one.
I’d decided days ago that I would not be going to Nevermore for the next event of the Wilde Hunts, or even to Overcast with the rest of the Everlasts. No, I wanted desperately to travel across the country to the far northern province of Aftermath where I’d been born and had once lived with my mother and sister before relocating to the capital. Now, for the first time, we’d be meeting about when I might be able to leave on my journey and, equally important, who would be accompanying me.
Bael didn’t bother to look out the window as he answered. “I’m not worried about time, little monster. Stop stalling, or I’ll find another way to motivate you to try again.”
An anticipatory tingle traveled down my spine, but I ignored it. Instead, I shook my hands out, and rolled my neck, before standing straight. “Fine. One more time.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried desperately to think of nothing. Darkness. Anything but the thousands of other thoughts that threatened to overtake me.
Frustrated, I tried to recreate the sensation of plunging sideways into an endless void, but even without looking at the too-gorgeous male in front of me, it was nearly impossible to clear my mind. How could I, with everything going on in the country? With all the mysteries still left to solve, and battles still looming?
I groaned. “I give up. Perhaps I simply can’t shadow walk again.”
“You’ll manage it, eventually,”
Bael said, pushing off the wall to stand in front of me.
I hung my head, defeated. “Your confidence in me is likely displaced. I’m starting to think I used up what little abilities I had back in the capital. There’s simply nothing left.”
The prince moved forward another step. He was so tall I had to crane my neck back as he placed his hands on my waist, turning me toward him, before bending to drag his tongue over the column of my neck. “No,”
he said against my skin. “You still taste of magic, little monster. It’s still inside you, you simply haven’t found the right motivation to use it.”
I let out a slightly incredulous laugh, even as my pulse throbbed to life beneath his lips. “What are you doing? I thought you were trying not to distract me?”
He skated his lips over my collarbone. “And I thought you said you were giving up, so I can be as distracting as I want.”
My pulse pounded between my legs, and the laughter fled from me as I tilted my head back, giving him better access. My voice was breathy, my protest half-hearted. “But did you hear me? I’m sure we’ve been practicing too long already. We’re likely late to the meeting as it is.”
“I do not think they can start without us,”
he countered as he dragged his tongue over the scarred shell of my ear. “Do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to look at you for hours and know I can’t be distracting? I’ve been planning how I would fuck you against that wall since the moment we walked into the room.”
My breath caught, and I felt my cheeks heat, and the blush seemed to cover my entire body. Shit.
Even a month ago, I never would have believed that I’d willingly stand in the arms of, not just a fairy, but a Fae prince. But, of all the absurd changes in my life lately, somehow Bael’s presence felt the most natural. I supposed that was due to our mating bond.
It had only been just under a week since I’d first acknowledged our bond, but every day it became harder to ignore the instinct to complete the mating. That seemed crazy, as it hadn’t been long ago that I would have denied it was possible for a human to be the mate of a fairy. Fuck, only weeks ago I wouldn’t have known exactly what a mate was, but now Bael seemed to fit in a place in my life I hadn’t realized I was missing anything. We didn’t know all of each other’s secrets yet, and in many ways were still getting to know one another, but somehow it felt right.
I reached up and threaded my fingers into his short curls. Pulling his face to mine, I captured his mouth with a kiss. His hands on my waist guided me backwards until I felt the heel of my boot hit something solid. I leaned into the resistance and realized it was a sturdy wooden barrel, likely full of some stolen thousand-year-old wine.
I pulled back, my lips hovering just a hair away from Bael’s. I could feel his heart beating against my chest, matching the rhythm of my own. “Should we go back to our room?”
The prince’s eyes flashed, hungry with anticipation. “Fuck no.”
His fingertips traced the curves of my body, his touch sending shivers down my spine. He raised me effortlessly onto the wooden barrel and my breath caught, my knees falling open of their own accord. Bael moved to stand between my parted legs, his hand trailing down to grasp my hip over my skirt.
He kissed his way down my neck, nipping and licking at my skin until he reached the top of my blouse.
“Do not rip it,”
I gasped. “I don’t have time to keep mending them.”
He smiled, showing every one of his too-sharp teeth. “You are talking far too much.”
He wrapped both hands around my calves before sinking to his knees on the floor before me. His hot breath sent shivers up my spine, and a moan escaped my lips as he pushed my skirt up, and pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh.
I tipped my head back. “Fuck.”
“Only say that when you mean it, little monster.”
I was tempted to tell him I meant it now and bypass any preamble, but forgot the words when he forced my knees wider apart and moved his lips to the other thigh, hands sliding upwards, to discover his path was unimpeded. “Do you mean to tell me, that you’ve been wearing nothing beneath this skirt the entire time we’ve been in here.”
My cheeks flushed, and I glanced away, realizing now what that probably looked like. “Well, you keep tearing my clothing, and?—”
I broke off, gasping, as he leaned forward to press a kiss right over my clit. It sent tingles racing through my body, making every inch of me stand at attention for him as he slowly licked and stroked, causing me to arch into him greedily.
He reached up and palmed my breast, pinching my nipple through my blouse, and the spark of pain embedded itself in the base of my spine. Pleasure built, hot and consuming, and I whimpered. My hips rose of their own accord, and Bael pushed my thighs wider, as if to feast on me—to taste me completely.
I gripped his hair, whimpering as he sucked my throbbing clit into his mouth, his sharp teeth scraping just slightly. Then, without warning, he pushed his long fingers all the way inside me and I braced my palms on the edge of the barrel as my back bowed and I screamed, all my muscles clenching and shaking all at once.
“Fuck me.”
I breathed. “I need to feel you.”
There was no hint of hesitation.
Too fast for human eyes, Bael rose to his feet. He undid his belt and let it fall to the floor with a metallic thump, which I forgot the moment his hands landed back on my thighs.
He looked down at me, eyes flashing. His fingers curled, digging into my thighs, hard enough to bruise, and lined himself up with my entrance before slamming into me. I gasped, my body reacting instinctively to the fullness and clenching around him.
His thrusts were slow at first, but they grew faster and harder as we both lost ourselves in the rhythm of our bodies moving together. I let out a moan, feeling him stretch me wider, filling me more completely. Our hips locked together, and I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood, quickly wiping it away before he could notice. Sex and blood—that was how a full mating bond formed, and we couldn’t do that. At least, not yet.
Bael’s hips snapped forward, driving himself deeper into me, making my walls clench tighter around him in response. His hands gripped my hips firmly as he took control, pulling me back toward him before slamming into me again. Each time he entered me was like a jolt of electricity coursing through my core; shooting sparks straight to my clit with each powerful thrust.
A knock sounded on the door, and I whipped my head toward the sound.
“Ignore it,”
Bael growled.
His thumb found my clit, and he rubbed up and down, then rhythmic circles, as he thrust into me, our ragged breathing falling in sync. I whimpered, pleasure building in me again, as I rolled my hips against him.
The knock sounded again, harder this time.
“It’s probably Iola,”
I gasped. “The meeting…”
Bael growled. “She’ll wait.”
“But…”
I couldn’t finish my thought, much less my sentence, when he kept stroking his fingers over and over me in time with each thrust.
I gasped, unsure what I intended to say. The sensation was too much, my body was too tired, and I couldn’t go any higher without crashing.
Bael placed another kiss on my throat, sucking lightly on the skin. An unexpectedly strong tremor shot through me, curling my toes, and settling deep in my core. “Oh gods.”
He made a satisfied male noise in the back of his throat. “One day, I’ll mark you here, too, and then we’ll see whose bite makes you moan louder.”
“Hmm?”
I jerked, realizing what Bael was talking about—where he was kissing me. A spark of self-loathing crept through my happy haze of lust, and I reached up to push his head away from the all too obvious bite scar on my throat that seemed unwilling to heal.
“Wait,”
I breathed.
His eyes flashed with wicked intensity, and before I could protest, he grazed his teeth deliberately over the scar.
Every muscle in my body clenched, and I let out a sharp breath as the sensation pitched me over the cliff I’d been climbing since the first brush of his lips. My knees shook, my entire body clenching, and I bit down hard on my own lip to stifle my scream as I shattered around him. Seemingly spurred on by my reaction, Bael’s movements stuttered then stilled as he followed me over the edge.
I stared up at the ceiling, panting, as I came down from the adrenaline high that was better than any fairy wine. The mark on my neck throbbed, and I closed my eyes, an odd combination of satisfaction and guilt washing over me.
It shouldn’t matter—not really, when Bael and I fit so well together and I was nearly as happy as I could ever remember being.
Except, he was not the one who’d left that mark on my neck, and no matter what I did, my conflicting feelings seemed likely to be as permanent as the scar.