Chapter 25
Aurora
Aurora knew one thing for certain—she’d been very wrong about far too many things. She wasn’t going mad. The elder gods were no myth. The ancient rites were no mere superstitions. And between this time and her own, something had gone horribly wrong.
Fate had sent her to this time for a reason.
She’d believed Drakon was it. Finding her fated had seemed—at times—both an added blessing and a curse.
But now that she’d seen just how many here had awakened wild magic in a single night, she couldn’t dismiss the things Theron had said as merely the limited perspective of one without the benefit of a more advanced scholarly understanding of the world.
What she’d ascribed to natural phenomenon had in fact been anything but natural—unless one considered the death spiral of a literal deity to be a natural occurrence.
Once more, she cursed herself for not learning more about wild magic.
What she wouldn’t give to speak to Fae right now.
Did she know that Trisia had once been paradisical in comparison?
That those without magic were as few in this time as those with wild magic were in theirs?
Had Fae ever heard the call of the great fairy of Viridis?
Aurora rolled over in bed, pouting at the empty space beside her.
Theron had left before she’d woken, and she was simply too exhausted to leave the comfort of her bed.
It had been nearly midnight before she’d been able to fall asleep, tormented by the sheer, staggering weight of her own ignorance and all the questions racing through her mind.
Like how in the Loom it was possible to walk into an underground cavern and be presented with a scene of the world above, complete with sun-soaked fields as far as the eye could see.
She’d never seen the like, never heard of any similar phenomenon, never dreamed such a thing were even possible.
Aurora supposed it wasn’t called a sacred mystery for nothing.
It had inspired almost as much awe as touching the golden, heart-shaped monolith.
Another thing she knew? That single touch had altered something inside her.
Just as the news of being Drakon’s prey had effectively severed her life into before and after, touching the monolith had altered her very understanding of both herself and the world.
There was no going back to who she’d been before.
The dragon’s heart had claimed her as kin and invited her into its home.
She was made whole by it. Just as her magic felt more like a part of her with each passing day, that single touch had promised an even greater completeness.
Was this how the clerics of the temples felt when they received divine magic? Perhaps she should corner a priestess and ask.
But it seemed the time for lying in bed had come to an end. She heard their footsteps outside her rooms before she saw them. A veritable army of attendants came marching through the door with broad smiles and sparkling eyes.
“His Majesty has requested that we prepare you for this auspicious day, Your Highness.”
Aurora did her best to bite her lip to keep from smiling like some degenerate.
He’d said the rite would involve making one of her fantasies come true. And that he had plans for her before the rite commenced. How was she supposed to keep a straight face?
Not trusting her voice, Aurora merely nodded and allowed the attendants to ready her for the day ahead.
Fed delicacies between scented baths, massages, and delicate pampering, by the time they were done with her, all her worries and anxieties had melted away with the knots in her shoulders.
The only unpleasant part was swallowing the contraceptive tea before she was served something far more palatable.
In the end, all she was left with was a delicious sort of anticipation.
The attendants dressed her in a sheer slip, left her hair cascading down her back, and bowed deeply before leaving, and somehow it was more embarrassing knowing that they knew she was about to get fucked within an inch of her life than having been nude in front of twenty women for the better part of two hours.
Cheeks heated, she walked towards her balcony, hoping the breeze would cool her embarrassment.
No wonder Fae always slipped out of the palace for all her dalliances. In the palace, privacy was an illusion.
At least some things were all too real in the palace.
She felt Theron before she saw him. Aurora smiled, letting him prowl up behind her, enjoying the thrill of feeling his heated gaze on her back.
He knelt, gently pulled the hair away from her ear, exposing her neck, and placed a possessive kiss on her collarbone.
She tilted her head, inviting more. He kissed his way up her neck and whispered in her ear, sending a cascade of shivers down her spine.
“I hope you rested well. You’ll need it.”
“I should say the same to you,” she teased.
“Look at you, playing the tease…” His hand slid under her shift. “When you’re already this wet.” Theron’s fingers ghosted over her wet curls, proving that between the two of them, he was the greater tease by far. “You lost our bet, my little fairy. Today you will submit, won’t you?”
He drew maddeningly light circles around her clit as his voice rumbled in her ear. An eager little groan escaped her.
“Maybe.”
She would. Eventually. When he made her.
“I remember your smug little look yesterday in the garden. You thought me a simple fool, our sacred rites mere superstition. You didn’t believe it would rain,” he taunted her, bringing her closer to the brink.
“I didn’t,” she moaned, reaching up behind her to pull his head closer, urging him to kiss her neck, to bite her softly.
“Don’t you think that deserves a proper punishment?” He pulled his calloused fingers away.
“Ah!” she cried, desperate for him to return.
He cupped her pussy with his palm, nearly lifting her off her feet.
“Today, you’ll get no relief until you can take my whole cock inside you with ease.”
So he intended a slow, sensual torture? Then she would make him work twice as hard to tame her.
“And when I do, how long will you be able to last?”
Theron spun her around and took her to the floor.
Cold, hard stone met her back while the solid, vast warmth of him pressed down atop her.
His golden eyes sparkled, no matter the severity of his expression.
His deep crimson hair was unbound, a wavy, silky curtain blocking out the rest of the world.
She reached up in the space between them and ran her thumb across his bottom lip, flicking her gaze back up to him as his eyes darkened. Theron nibbled on her thumb.
“You have a sharp tongue.”
“Did you just realize that now?” she asked in a simpering voice, goading him.
Aurora got a glimpse of a sharp smile before he pressed his lips to hers. Only the initial contact was soft and gentle. The moment she opened her mouth for his tongue, he turned the kiss brutal, punishing. In this war of tongues, there was no question who the victor would be.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and her leg around his hip, encouraging him.
He took it for all it was worth, kissing her until she forgot what game they were playing, groaning as he sucked on her tongue and nibbled on her lips.
Skimming a hand up her thigh, he kneaded her rear.
He broke off just as she was becoming dizzy, his lips finding her ear.
She bared her neck, allowing him better access as he kissed and nipped his way along their length, driving her wild.
“Do you submit, my little fairy?” he purred in her ear.
“Never,” she gasped as his next nip bordered between pleasure and pain.
“Then it seems I have a brat in need of taming,” he growled, snatching her up and tossing her over his shoulder.
He marched away from the balcony, and Aurora braced herself on the broad expanse of his back, temporarily awestruck by the sight of all those well-oiled muscles.
She’d never had the chance to appreciate him in the nude from behind—and what a glorious behind he had!
She would need to scheme ways to find herself in this position more often.
Expecting to be tossed on the bed, she was surprised to find him bend to retrieve something only to turn back towards the balcony.
“Theron?”
“Do you know the best way to teach a brat manners?” He pushed the doors to the balcony wide and drew aside the gauzy curtains. “Shame.”
He jostled her as he did something with his hands. A dark thrill worked its way through her.
“Theron…” she warned, swallowing.
“You already know the coronation rite isn’t meant for public spectacle. But I made no promises for what was to come before.”
Oh Triad, he couldn’t mean for them to do…that…on the balcony where someone could see them? It was a large balcony that could easily seat them both along with a large table—and it faced the city proper, unlike Theron’s, which only faced the gardens in the rear of the palace.
“You remember what to say if you want this to stop?”
“Yes,” she said, caught between terror and arousal.
He took several steps away from the balcony and her fear lessened.
“Then it’s time for the citizens of Aureum to be introduced to their new queen,” he said, sliding her down his chest. It let her know exactly how aroused he was as his erection slid against her belly.
Slowly, her nipples abraded by his chest hair, he let her slide until her feet touched the floor, his eyes devouring her the whole while.
He divested her of her flimsy shift, then placed his hands on her shoulders.
Captured by that gaze, he took her wrists and bound them together with a silk tie.
“Do you submit?” he asked.
She shook her head, tempted to see how this would play out. Perhaps she should have submitted, because the moment she refused, he looped the end of her silk shackles to a rope he used as a pulley to hoist her up on her tiptoes.
“Theron!”