Chapter 29
Max
Resting outside the tent, I sit as far from the fire as I can with Reid across from me and Fee standing beside the flap. Taylay has been in since we arrived, using his magic to mend the heir and the moon is high now as we wait.
Most of the Dark Fae patrol nearby. Everyone waits to see what will happen.
Wringing my hands, Fee kicks the mud, aggravated.
“How much longer?”
“Tay will work until it’s done.” Or his magic reaches its limit. “Did you really want to kill your brother?”
“Watch your tone, Human,” she snaps, glaring at me. “You will never know how important Kaden is to me. But I made him a promise.”
Licking my lips, I lean back as Reid watches me. “Do you regret breaking that promise if it means your brother lives?”
The princess looks at me, assessing before answering. “No. I’d rather have my brother intact than my word.”
I can agree.
In a short amount of time, the Fae means something to me. When he’s not irritating me, or pushing my boundaries, I like his companionship. I like that he understands me.
After seeing his curse, I feel a closeness to him I’ve never experienced.
I had seen that same darkness inside my soul when villagers would avoid me, when they would hide their children from me, when kids would throw pebbles at me. That same beast that sings to me, the same magic that rises in me whenever I let go of my control.
The heir and I aren’t that different.
The distrust, my unease morphs into quiet tenderness, as Tay finally exits, face drawn, hands covered in blood.
“Well?” Fee asks. “How is he?”
“Healed,” Tay responds, taking a rag from Reid. “The bleeding has stopped and the skin is closed. But I’ve never healed anyone cursed, so I’m not sure how to rouse him. He’s lethargic.”
“It’s the curse,” Reid says, sipping form his wine. “He’s battling the beast. He’ll only awake once the beast is put back into its cage or if he’s given blood.”
“I’ll go find some.” Fee shifts, whipping a small knife out from her boot. “I’ll force it down his throat if he won’t take it. It’ll help him recover.”
At my curious expression, Reid shrugs. “Kaden doesn’t drink blood as often as other Dark Fae.”
Fee snorts. “More like won’t. You know why.”
The princess stalks off into the woods, ignoring Reid’s call to wait.
Tay tosses the rag onto a log, looking at me. “My magic is depleted.” He yawns. “I’ll need to rest.”
Standing, I walk him back to his camp, closer to the volunteers. For some reason, it’s colder here than by the Dark Fae camp.
Before he goes into his tent, he jerks his head toward the heir’s.
“Don’t ever ask me to do that again.”
Shocked, my mouth parts. “I’m sorry?” What in Seti’s Hell?
“He’s a monster, Max,” he explains, eyes weary. “You asked me to heal a monster.”
“I asked you to heal someone who was injured trying to keep this raid alive. Or did you forget I went up there for the Blackwoods Coven?”
“It’s not your Coven to worry about,” he argues, teeth gritted. “It’s my Coven. I worry about it. And you had me heal a Fae that could have killed us all.”
“I had you heal an ally,” I correct. “How would it look to let the prince of a territory die when you could have prevented it?”
Whipping his head away, Tay takes two steps before facing me, hand to his mouth. “Be that as it may, they now know who you are—what you can do.”
Silently, I stare. I have nothing to say to that.
Kaden has known what I am since the White Palace. It’s never mattered to him.
“Aren’t you worried what they’ll do with that information?”
Shrugging, I wrap my arms around my middle. “There’s not much they can do to me that hasn’t been done, Tay.”
“Don’t give me that.” He scoffs. “The Coven didn’t trust your magic but they gave you a home, warm meals.”
“They gave me cruelty and loneliness,” I argue. “You just didn’t want to see it.”
He opens his mouth and I shake my head, moving back to the Dark Fae grounds. “Get some rest, before you say something we both regret.”
Entering their deserted campsite, I stand, dumbly. I don’t want to go to sleep yet, worry for the heir too great, but I certainly don’t want to be alone with Tay.
It’s never been apparent how little he thinks of the Dark Fae or how he never saw how horrible the Coven was to me. I’m in no mood to soothe his ego.
Ducking my head into the tent, I see the prince in the middle of a large cot, piled high with blankets and pillows, a lush carpet underfoot. Trunks are stacked in the corner with more weapons.
Fit for royalty.
Moving closer, I see the heir, brow damp with sweat, hair tousled from sleep, chest bare. Blood smears the pillows and his eyes move as if dreaming.
I don’t think as I brush back his hair, my fingers tracing his pointed ear before a hand clamps on to my wrist, and yanks, pulling me over his hip.
Slamming into the cot, the heir pins me down, breath fanning my cheek, black eyes staring down into my wide ones. Fear, pungent and thick, clogs my throat as I freeze.
His head dips as his fangs press to my pulse point and I yelp. A prick of sharpness scraps my neck and I still, heart hammering so harshly, I can’t breathe.
He’s going to bite me.
“Don’t move,” he says, voice tight. “Your fear is making this so much worse.”
Gods above, it’s him. Exhausted, and hurt, but he’s battling the beast back before it tries to kill me.
But I have to calm down if I want to help.
Inhaling, I stifle the urge to scream and run away as his heat burns into my body. He’s slick with sweat and my core grows damp even as fear tightens my chest.
I should not be this aroused with him on top of me, ready to devour me whole.
Inhaling, I exhale harshly.
“Good, kitten. Much better.” His forehead falls to my neck and he relaxes, tension melting away.
Shaking, I’m still terrified, but now, it’s being overcome by the incessant need to know what he feels like between my thighs.
I went from not wanting him anywhere near me to needing him, physically. Is it this normal?
I can’t tell. My romantic relationships are limited and none of them felt like this. Like I’ll drown if he doesn’t touch me.
Breathing, Kaden’s hand fists my strands as the other grips my hip. His cock, hard against my belly, digs deep and I have to bite my lip from moaning.
Gods, this is torture.
He chuckles, sensing my growing dampness and scraps his fangs along my neck, goose flesh erupting along my arms.
My thighs clench, offering some sort of friction to offset this need inside of me. This pull is dangerous. All logic flees, as I silently beg the Gods for him to move.
“What happened to never tasting you?” He taunts, lips ghosting my neck. I whimper and he smiles against me.
“Already blew that when you kissed me.”
Rising on his forearms, he presses where I want him and I exhale. He looks positively smug.
“You kissed me back.”
He moves again, rubbing against me and I moan as he laughs, the sounds smokey like the scent that surrounds him.
“If you keep making those noises, I won’t be able to pull away.”
Glaring, I dig my fingers into his long locks and pull him close.
“What if I don’t want you to stop?”
He smirks, tongue lapping at my chin, to my earlobe. “Then I’ve done my job, haven’t I?”
“Fucking prick.”
“I have one,” he agrees, lowering his mouth to my collarbone. “If you beg, you might even get to experience it.”
Snorting, I lean into his mouth as he kisses and sucks. I should be stopping this, trying to pull away. Only moments ago, he tried to kill me. But I can’t. I don’t want him to stop.
“And you smell divine, kitten. Too fucking good to resist.”
“Then don’t.” I lift my hips, feeling all of him. My mouth waters as his cock teases me, layers of soft fabric between us.
“So now you want me.” He hums, pulling my shirt down, the tunic loose. His tongue skirts the edge of my scar and I shiver. “After almost getting me killed?”
Laughing, I move my head to give him better access. “I didn’t get you killed. You could have stayed with the group.”
“And who would save you from your uncoordinated feet taking you over the mountain?” He snorts, grinding into me the barest amount.
Biting my lip, I hold back the moan as his lips move down to one breast. “I’m not that clumsy.”
He peers up at me, and I have to admit, he looks good, mouth to my body. “You’re the worst.” His tongue swirls over one breast through the shirt, wet and teasing me because I can’t feel his mouth. “One stumble and the Fury would have taken you.”
I arch, seeking more of his warmth. “Furies only take men. I’d be safe.”
Kaden chuckles, grinding against me, fangs scratching down the opening of my tunic. I don’t stop this moan.
“When desperate, a Fury will go after anything with a black heart,” he whispers. “As good as you say you are, Max, I have a very strong feeling your heart is the blackest one here.”
I hate how right he is. I’ve killed without guilt, fought for survival. I don’t want the Coven to see me as a monster, because I want to be accepted, but it doesn’t mean I’m not tarnished.
Glancing down to where he rests between my legs, he smirks. “In that darkness, I can see your wants, kitten. Being pinned like this, at my mercy, you’re growing wetter by the second.” He inhales. “Does knowing I could kill you turn you on?”
His words promise delightful wickedness and pleasure, and I’m shivering at the prospect. Because he’s right.
Fear has been so ingrained into my upbringing that I’m nothing without it. It’s now warped my need into something twisted.
“Is that so wrong?”
Kaden grinds into me, my core fluttering around air. “Not at all. In fact, it makes you even more delectable. A berry for me to taste, who can withstand by brand of darkness.”
His fangs scrap my chest, over my pulse point and I turn my head, silently begging for more.
But then he stops, frozen. Looking up, his eyes are narrowed, watching my heartbeat in my throat pound under his touch.
“What?”
“You need to leave.”
“You’re joking,” I say incredulously. “After all that, you want me to leave?”
He can’t mean it. Not after this entire journey.
“As amazing as it is to hear how badly you want my cock between your thighs,” he winces again, growling, “you need to get out of this bed and leave me. Now.”
“Fine.” Sitting up, I shove at his chest. “But don’t think I won’t turn down another man because you don’t want me.”
It shouldn’t hurt to say those words. That the one male I’ve ever felt seen by, now doesn’t want me.
Lunging forward, Kaden grabs my throat, holding me down.
“If you so much as breathe near another man, I’ll rip out their still beating heart and feast on it in front of you,” he threatens, fangs glinting in his rage.
“I’m doing you a favor by denying you right now, pet.
My beast wants your blood and if I give into your sweet cunt, I might end up actually killing you. ”
Exhaling harshly, I jerk my chin, captured in his strong grip. My body responds, growing damper and more aroused the longer he holds me.
“That would put a damper on everything.” Swallowing, I ask, “Is there anything I can do to help?
Shoving me down with more force than necessary, he pulls back so our chests are no longer touching and I mourn the loss.
“Unless you feel like sharing that delicious blood in your veins and pray I don’t drain you dry, no. Now, leave.”
Licking my dry lips, I hesitate, pulling the end of my tunic higher up my throat.
“What if I gave you blood?”
Kaden’s eyes widen, but he laughs.
“Do you want to die?”
Do I?
“You won’t kill me.”
He tilts his head, eyes bouncing from my neck and back. “You sound so sure.”
Strangely, I am. The heir is ruthless and arrogant, who would let innocents die if it meant gaining the advantage. But I know, somewhere in my heart, he won’t kill me.
“I am.” Lifting my hair, I turn my head, baring my neck to him. “I’m offering. If it’s what you need to satisfy the beast, to put it back into your cage, then take it.” Lowering, I whisper, “You can’t scare me.”
Grabbing my hair, he twists so I’m bent, pliable and his fangs skirt my flesh, twin sharpness willing to give me pleasure and pain.
“I should,” he says quietly. “You should be terrified of me.”
“But I’m not,” I insist. “Because you’re not afraid of me.”
Pensively, he hums as if to agree. “No. What I feel for you isn’t fear, Max. It’s something much worse.”
Then his fangs rip into my throat.