Chapter 31
Rosomon
Enjoying the view from our new apartment, I balance my forehead against the glass window, stretching my arms wide and imagining that I’m flying over the lights of this dark city—wending through its tall buildings, racing above the noisy cars on the streets.
With each passing day, this city has become less scary and has so many exciting things to see, and yet I yearn to return to the Light.
I miss Saxon and Tynan, desperately, but I also miss the relative calmness, the quiet, the fresh air—and my family.
My throat tightens and I wipe unexpected tears from my eyes.
It’s been so long, since I last saw my father and brothers, and for them it’s even longer, given the time I’ve spent here and in Lymbo.
Zogar told me that the relationship between the passage of time in the Light versus here in the Darkness is less predictable than it is between Lymbo and the Light. Something about it being non-linear, and the magic dividing the worlds.
However, much time has passed for them, my family certainly don’t know where I am.
Do they even know I’m alive? Do they care?
Has Father even noticed I’m gone? More tears escape, and I push myself back off the window.
Olifer misses me. I’m sure of it. Alfryd likely does, too, even if he’d never admit it, and Father will have at least noted my absence, if only because I ruined his alliance with Khotor.
Imagine if I’d married that horrid king—Tynan’s grandfather, no less. I shudder.
Since the night I fled from home, dressed as a boy, my life has been perilous, but I would never trade the life I have now, for the one I escaped. Not for all the gold in Zogar’s hoard.
Our hoard. Smiling, I shake my head. I don’t care about riches, but I love how he told me that everything he has is now mine—ours.
His declaration made me feel valued, more equal in our marriage, and it also reinforced how I’m bound to him forever.
I married Zogar to help right grave wrongs and never imagined I’d grow to care for my demanding, gruff husband.
But these two weeks we’ve spent together here have bound me to him in more ways than I ever expected, and we’ve not only made love many, many times, we’ve shared more of ourselves. And since he hasn’t been out of my sight until today, I’ve grown to know him so much more deeply.
Big things like being able to recognize and calm his rising anger, and small things like the way he prefers his drinks without the small cubes of ice available here, not to mention the soft growling sounds he makes when he dreams.
My hand rises to touch the jewels at my neck.
Wearing the first necklace he gave me makes me feel closer to my husband in his absence.
I press the lowest ruby, nestled into the hollow between my breasts, and imagine that Zogar is kissing me there.
To match the necklace, I put on one of the skimpy dresses he bought me, and I can’t wait to see his eyes widen with lust when he returns.
A bell rings, and I turn quickly toward the elevator door, my heart racing with excitement. Did he slay Gabreal already? Does that mean we can go back to the Light?
I walk over to the video screen to confirm that it’s him. I still can’t believe that Zogar found us a home with a private elevator. Our elevator has but three destinations—the lobby, our apartment and the roof.
My husband’s concern for my safety makes me feel precious—as valuable as the jewels secured around my throat.
Zogar’s face appears on the screen, and I quickly press the button to let him enter.
As the elevator rises, anticipation stirs my belly, and I take a few steps away from the doors, touching the jewels and trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.
I want to learn what occurred, but mostly I want to be held in his arms. Since we arrived in the Darkness, Zogar’s been a constant presence, and it’s been even longer since I’ve been without at least one of the three men I care for at my side.
I spent much of my childhood in solitude—only my younger brothers for friends—and while I loved wandering the woods alone and galloping on horseback across open fields, I’ve discovered I very much enjoy the company of others.
Especially certain others. I enjoy it so much, I can no longer imagine my life without the opportunity to see all three of my men, every single day.
The elevator takes far too long to rise. The illuminated number above the door tells me that it passed our apartment, going first to the roof. It pauses there, before coming back down to this level. He must have pressed the wrong button.
The elevator doors open, and Zogar has a sly grin on his face—one that makes my insides flutter. It’s a new expression for Zogar, more like a smile I’d expect from Tynan, and I very much approve of how well it suits my husband.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.” I fly into his arms. “I was so worried.”
Pressing against him, I long to hear the comforting thump of his heart, but his massive hands shift me back slightly, and he looks into my eyes.
“Of course I’m safe,” he grins. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Did you find Gabreal?” I ask.
“In a manner of speaking.” He strides across the room and looks out the window. Like me, Zogar is awed by our view.
“What happened?” I slide my hand onto his back.
Leaning one arm against the window, he turns toward me. Cupping my chin, he tightly squeezes my face. It’s not exactly the contact I’ve been longing for, but I’ll take what I can get.
He looks deeply into my eyes, and I see something different there today. Perhaps it’s the weight of what happened with Gabreal. I can’t wait to uncover more mysteries about my dragon shifter. To discover more ways to love him. And I’m starting to think I might actually love him.
His hand drops from my chin to slide down over the necklace.
The metal heats under his touch, or seems to, but more likely it’s me who’s heating.
The look in his eyes now is no longer a mystery.
His expression is filled with unmistakable lust that makes me squirm as if I’m a field mouse caught in the gaze of an eagle.
Zogar has regarded me with desire before—many times—but something about this feels different. He seems ravenous. Greedy. Dangerous.
My excitement rises, and my cleft dampens as my breaths come more quickly. Sex with my husband is always overwhelming, even when he keeps himself well under control.
“Talk can wait,” he says. “First, I have a surprise.”
“Another surprise?” My hand grazes the necklace.
He pushes away from the window and crosses the room toward the elevator.
“Are we going back to the Light already?” I ask as I follow. That would be a most welcome surprise.
“Not just yet.” He pushes the elevator’s call button.
My flash of disappointment that we’re not going home is quickly replaced by excitement. If Zogar has a surprise for me, I’m sure that I’ll like it. I’m always up for new adventures, new experiences, and Zogar seems to instinctively know what I love.
Holding the door open with his arm, he lets me enter the elevator first and then presses the button for the roof.
“We’re going to the roof?” My excitement builds.
I wanted to go up there the very first time we visited the apartment—even before we bought it—but the previous owner stopped midway, during a project to design a rooftop garden.
I wanted to take a look, regardless, but Zogar deemed it too dangerous and asked me never to go up there. I’m glad he’s changed his mind.
Or maybe… “Is the construction project completed?”
Back home, it can take decades for stone cutters, carpenters and other craftsmen to complete a new structure, but I have no idea how quickly such things can be done in the Darkness.
“I think you’ll like what you see.” His lips part slightly and heat licks inside me as he looks down at me.
I’m now certain his surprise involves sex, and he was right about one thing. As much as I want to learn what happened with Gabreal, talking can wait.
“Close your eyes.”
His commanding tone increases the dampness in my cleft, but I tip my head, questioning him with my eyes. He pulls a long strip of black satin fabric from behind his back and secures the fabric over my eyes. I can’t see a thing.
“What are you doing?” My teeth scrape my lower lip.
His hands land on my shoulders, and he guides me out of the elevator. One of his hands drifts to my lower back and then grazes over my bottom.
“Can I see my surprise now?”
“Not just yet.” He steps away from me. “I must ensure every detail is ready.”
I take a few tentative steps over what feels and sounds like small pebbles. The air is fresher up here than down at street level, and there’s a light breeze. The warmth on my face feels like sunlight, even though I’ve seen no sun in the Darkness.
“You may remove your blindfold.”
I pull it down and awe consumes me. The rooftop contains a beautiful garden with trees surrounding its perimeter. I can’t tell the source of the lighting, but it definitely gives the impression and warmth of yellow-tinged sunlight, and it kisses the many flowers growing in carefully arranged beds.
This isn’t real. It can’t be. Zogar is using his magic. “This illusion is beautiful. Thank you.”
“Only the best for my love.”
I blink. Did he call me his love? My heart swells along with my desire to tell him that I love him, too. The declaration bubbles inside me but remains caught near the top of my throat.
Zogar didn’t actually say that he loves me.
Plus, my gut says this is not the right time.
I don’t want to risk saying something that could temper the lust in his eyes.
My declaration of love can wait until after the sex, perhaps even while we’re having sex, if I can manage to form words while he’s inside me this time.
He beckons for me to step toward him, and the bulge in his pants expands and shifts under the fabric.
My cunny pulses in anticipation, and my breath shudders, making my entire body tremble.
I’m glad I’m wearing this skimpy dress with nothing underneath.
I don’t want anything to slow down his access.
My gaze is once again captured by his, and his hunger’s grown even greater, even darker. Good thing, because I’m now desperate. As I near him, Zogar’s body heat warms mine, or maybe it’s my own blood boiling me from inside.
A smirk flashes into the hunger on his face. “I smell your desire.”
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you.”
In a flash, Zogar has one hand around the back of my neck and the fingers of his other hand pressed inside me.
I gasp in shock. My pelvis snaps forward and back, as I absorb the unexpected invasion. He’s inserted his fingers without warning before, but this time the intrusion came with more force.
His fingers curl and twist inside me, and my legs turn to jelly, refusing to support me. Looking down at me, Zogar licks his lips. There’s something different about him tonight, and something animalistic, almost cruel, about what he’s doing.
I’m one part scared, but ninety-nine parts aroused and primed for whatever he’s planned. Will this man ever stop surprising me?
My legs have mostly given up, leaving my weight supported by his hand on my neck, and his fingers inside me.
He draws them out, and I fight to regain my balance. His fingers glisten in the light, and, still holding my neck with one hand, he shows his damp fingers to me and then smells them.
“So sweet.” He slides his fingers over his lips. “So primed for me.” He grips my neck tightly and presses his fingers into my mouth. “Taste how much you want me.” His expression darkens. “Suck on me.”
My eyes widen with shock as his fingers nearly choke me, but I quickly recover and suck on his fingers. This is new, too, but my cunny approves, pulsing hard in response. My taste is both salty and sweet, but I’m unsure how much of that taste is coming from me and how much is from his skin.
Zogar is different today. Wilder. Scarier. I’m confused, but part of me likes it.
His fingers slip out of my mouth. “Do you want my cock ramming inside you?”
I nod.
“Then ask for it.”
“Will you… ram your cock inside me?” I repeat his phrasing, and my voice comes out on a ragged breath.
“How badly do you want it?” His voice is a near growl.
“Very much.”
“What will you offer me in exchange?” His fingers slip between my legs again, this time stroking and teasing, dancing through my folds and skittering over my most sensitive places.
“What do you wa-ant from me?” I fight to hold myself together under his teasing touch that has me burning with need.
His other hand firms around my neck. His long, thick fingers wrap around and hold me so tightly I’m struggling to breathe. His face moves close to mine, so close I can barely focus on his eyes as they fall into shadow.
“Everything.” His fingers drive back inside me.
My body hits an unexpected climax, and I shake as his fingers plunge harder and harder against my contractions. So hard it starts to hurt.
His thumb brushes my button, prolonging a bliss that turns to near agony.
“Do you promise me everything?” he asks.
“Yessss…” My body is thrashing now.
With one palm behind my neck, his fingers are pressing against the front of my throat and I’m barely able to breathe, but the lack of air is nothing compared to the convulsing inside me.
“Your vow is accepted.” He withdraws his fingers and sets me back on my feet.
I wobble, trying to relearn how to stand.
“I will grant you the gift of my cock,” he says. “But first you must prove you deserve it.”