Chapter 1
Chapter
One
Donovan’s voice drifted over to me in the darkness, low and smooth. “Reach out with your mind’s eye, Chosen,” he murmured. “It is not something that you can see with your physical eyes or scent with your nose.”
I swallowed as tingles rushed up and down my spine. “What am I trying to sense?”
“A connection. A cord that leads to something other than yourself. You have seen what they look like in the realm of the non-physical, but in the physical realm, they have no substance. Remember the curse-tie?”
I remembered what it looked like—a wiggling bright silver cord that rose from an endless black sea and disappeared into eternity. “Do all spell-ties look like that?”
“Spell-ties and cords and binds will always look like what your heart perceives them to be. Forget your eyes. Do not focus on your physical senses. Instead, reach out with your heart.”
I forced myself to concentrate. It was hard, trying to sense the non-physical bonds that connected us. Donovan thought that cutting off my physical senses might help me focus.
That was why we were holed up in my bedroom, sitting in pitch-blackness. Violet had dutifully produced blackout curtains and had soundproofed the whole room so I couldn’t hear anything other than Donovan’s beautiful, low, rumbling voice.
But I made him sit on the far side of the room so I wouldn’t be tempted to throw myself at him. Again. “Where will I feel it?”
“That depends. I can only give examples of where you might sense the connection. Your curse-tie was bound at your crown chakra, because you were connected to the place of spirits. My bond with my brother is at my base and at my crown, because it is an earth binding, as we share a womb and identical biological makeup. These bonds help me sense things about him in the same way he can sense things about me. The bond with my sister is at my throat energy center, because I am always having to express myself to her in a firm way, and, of course, sometimes I have to punch her in the windpipe.”
I suppressed a smile.
“Most of these connections are tied through the heart. When you know where they are, you will be able to reach out with your non-physical senses and explore them further. And, with the right magic, you can strengthen ties. Or you can destroy them.”
That is what Connor had wanted to do not too long ago. “Your brother wanted to break our bond when I was in jail. I thought he’d given up trying. I was under the impression that the bond is permanent.”
“If I know anything about this existence, Chosen, I know that nothing is permanent.”
“So, he could break any bond?”
“With enough magic, yes.”
I pursed my lips. “Connor said it was too far gone, and the backlash might have killed him.”
“He would have only been prepared to break a weaker bond. But with enough power, anything is possible.”
Despite Donovan’s dark tone, I couldn’t bring myself to be worried about Connor right now. Not when I felt so… so loved. I shrugged carelessly. “I just figured he wouldn’t be able to anymore. We’ve started the courtship rites.”
And boy, had we.
I couldn’t even put into words how overwhelming the night had been. It was everything I imagined and more. Donovan’s fingers were a revelation. His hands were a benediction. His enormous cock was a miracle.
No, it was a miracle he could even get it in in the first place.
For the last few hours, we’d had no need for sleep.
My beautiful fae prince’s body restored me.
His tongue energized me. Even just thinking about it now, a tingle shot up my spine, a delicious zap from the base of my tailbone through to my crown.
I wriggled in the darkness, savoring the sensation.
“And from what I’m feeling right now, the bonding is going spectacularly,” I murmured.
Donovan gave a low grunt—a sensual, manly noise. “Chosen…”
I smiled. “Did you feel that?”
“Of course I did. Our bond has a very strong connection at what you would call the sacral chakra. Concentrate,” he ordered in a low, rumbling tone.
I shuddered with delight. “When you talk to me like that, Donovan, it doesn’t help me concentrate.”
He took a deep breath and deliberately lightened his tone. “Do you feel it?”
“Let me try.” I bit my lip and focused. All the chakra stuff wasn’t new to me; I’d been a yoga bunny in my twenties just like the rest of the women in my social circle.
I couldn’t remember all the chakras exactly; different esoteric schools taught various things.
But in the spiritual white-person yoga circles I’d run in, I remembered the main ones—base, sacral, heart, throat, third eye, and crown.
Donovan’s Faerie-centric explanation of the magical energy centers in the body mostly matched up to what I’d learned.
In my mind’s eye, I sent my senses down to the warm core of my belly and smiled when I felt the familiar simmering heat that swirled within me.
Base chakra, sacrum… mmm, he was right, I could feel something there.
Along with the cord that ran along my spine, running through each of my chakras, there was something else.
A connection to an energy that wasn’t mine.
I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was tenuous but solid as a rock at the same time. Was this the bond? The connection to him?
I took a deep breath in through my nose, inhaling his scent, and suddenly, I was overwhelmed with desire—a flurry of need and want. On a whim, I sank the resulting surge of lust into the spot where I felt my energy blend into his.
One minute, I was cross-legged on my bed. A low growl and a flurry of air later, I was on my back with my legs in the air, Donovan on top of me, his hard, thick-muscled arms like a cage around me.
I gasped. The warmth of his body was exquisite, a revelation. The air between us was profane; I wanted it gone. His lips skimmed my collarbone, leaving a trail of heat so gorgeous I writhed beneath him and moaned.
“Woman.” Oh, dear gods, his voice, that deep tone, rumbled right through every atom in my body, setting my soul aflame. “How can I concentrate on this lesson when you provoke me like this?” He lay a trail of kisses from my collarbone downwards, and I wriggled in ecstasy.
“I’m getting it,” I panted, arching my back. “I definitely sensed a connection. But maybe we should take a break.”
His tongue traced the shape of my breasts. “We will explore other connections.”
My eyes rolled back in my head. “Yes. Oh, yes, Donovan…”
Crunch. Crunch, crunch.
Nothing could dull the flames of lust that rolled through me.
Nothing, except a weird noise in a pitch-black room.
I hesitated. “What was that?”
Donovan’s lips were buried in between my breasts. “I do not care. The world may end and lay in tatters before us, and I will continue this path.” He dragged his tongue down my belly. “Towards this endless bliss...”
Crunch.
I couldn’t ignore it. I sat up. Violet had respectfully withdrawn her consciousness from the room, so, patting my way over to my side table, I found my lamp and hit the switch.
Light bloomed. I gave a shriek of fright.
There was a miniature pony standing right next to me.
Cecil, in his normal, tiny golden duocorn form, stood beside my bed, his bright-white mane—freshly blow dried—swooping over his brow.
He held a carton of popcorn in his hands. “Oh, don’t mind me, Chosen. Just pretend I’m not here.” He gathered up another hoof-full of popcorn and crammed it in his mouth. “Carry on.”
“Cecil!” I clambered backwards awkwardly, trying to yank enough of the covers over me to hide my nakedness.
“What the hell?” The sheet was stuck underneath Donovan’s massive, totally naked body.
I tugged at it fruitlessly for another second, then gave up, rolling to the other side of the bed where I knew my robe sat in a puddle on the floor.
I landed on the floorboards awkwardly, thumping into a ball.
“There’s no need for that, Chosen. I’ve seen you naked before. I know what your giant hairy bush looks like.” Cecil looked at me, nonplussed, and tossed another piece of popcorn into his mouth.
Donovan let out a groan and rolled off the bed with far more grace than I had. “Violet, bring me my sword!”
“Before you take my head, Your Highness”—Cecil held up a hoof—“you should know that your royal emissary dropped by a few minutes ago. He asked me to tell you that he tried all night, but the gateways are still too narrow to pass through to the Upper World right now. He sent your message through to one of your father’s men immediately, but the planets won’t align properly for another hour, so he can’t get through to get an audience at Court just yet. ”
Donovan groaned again, louder this time, and put his head in his hands. “The Queen will let my brother leave the castle, and he will disappear again. He will slip through our fingers.”
My heart sank.
When Donovan and I returned from the Under last night, emerging from the circle of blue flames on the drawing room floor, the company had been ecstatic.
Nate and Eryk both cried fat, happy tears.
Cress and Bronwyn couldn’t stop kissing me and each other.
Cecil tried to play it cool, but he was more relieved than anyone.
The initial burst of passionate relief gave way to more pressing emotions—urgency. We knew Connor was on his way to get an audience with the Queen so he could try to claim the heirdom—a plan we had obviously ruined, since Donovan wasn’t dead.
But it meant that Connor was home in the Kingdom of the Crystal Castle. Now was our chance to make sure that he stayed there.