Chapter 11
Mina
I regained consciousness in fits and starts. I’d fallen asleep—I must have. It was careless. Had I slept too long? Had our pursuers caught up to us?
No, that wasn’t quite right.
I was too warm. My clothes were gone. I wasn’t sure how that was possible. And…I wasn’t on the ground, but in a soft bed, with a furnace of a body wrapped around me. Flesh to flesh.
A familiar body, one I would know anywhere.
I blinked awake and everything came rushing back. Rixon’s punishment. Our incredible sex. The blinding orgasm I’d had.
Had I…? Why didn’t I remember anything afterward? Had he put me to bed?
I turned to find Rixon gazing at me. There was a wariness lurking in his eyes. It was probably my fault. We hadn’t exactly talked.
“You fell unconscious,” he said before I could speak. “Must have been a good orgasm.”
His proud expression did things to me. I pulled my lower lip between my teeth, fighting a smile. It had been good. The best yet, and that was saying something, because sex with Rixon—
Well, I didn’t think it was like the kind of sex most other people had. I mean, come on, I’d seen flashes of light dancing behind my eyelids. None of the witchlings back at the Citadel had talked about flashes when they whispered about their sexual escapades.
“Mine was pretty fucking good too,” Rixon added. “Almost passed out myself.”
“That would have been fun to explain to Kam,” I couldn’t help teasing. “The both of us unconscious with our pants around our knees. Or in my case, me dangling from my restraints.” I rubbed at my wrists, almost feeling the phantom pain of his binds.
“I think he already knew what we were up to,” said Rixon, a pleased gleam in his eyes.
“Oh, gods.” I winced. “I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again.”
“I don’t think you need to worry. He’s a grown male—understands urges and all that.”
“Right.” Silence stretched between us. “I guess this is the part where we talk?”
“Only if you’re ready and willing.”
I blinked, taken aback. He was giving me an option to retreat, which almost made me feel worse. I regretted that we’d avoided this conversation—that I’d avoided this conversation. If something had happened to me in the Citadel. If the witches had caught us—
I sat bolt upright, a shock of fear making my heart race. “The witches! I—”
“Don’t fret.” Rixon placed a hand on my arm, steady and warm. “No one is getting in or out of this city without my permission.”
“You blocked the gates?!” My lips parted. I leaned back and propped an elbow behind me, looking down at him.
He watched me lazily, reaching out to trace a pattern on my skin. “I had a word with the guards after putting you to bed, the ones you barked orders at when you raced inside?” He arched a knowing eyebrow.
“Oh, right. Those guards. I might have torn in through the city gates barking all sorts of death threats if they didn’t close up the city.”
“That’s my girl.” He huffed. “I stationed six units along the walls. But you’re going to have to give me an explanation.”
I blinked. “Right. Do you want my explanation first? Or my apology?”
His eyes darted over mine. His words were soft as he said, “You don’t owe me an apology, Mina.”
“Yes.” I blew out a breath. “Yes, I do.”
“I’m the one who made a big decision without consulting you.”
“I had no right to freeze you out like I did, then run away instead of face you.”
“You were processing.”
“Did you freeze me out and then run away when I decided to use a demon’s life source to save your life? When I made a monumental split decision that affected both of us without consulting you?”
“That was a life or death situation.”
“So was yours. The position your father put you in—you were just trying to find me and save me. You know better than I what your father was capable of. For all you knew, he was going to kill me. He certainly wanted to. You agreed to save me. I don’t think it’s any different than what I did.
The only difference is how I behaved afterward.
I should have been supporting you through your transition.
Gods, I know how little you wanted the throne.
You ran away and joined with the Citadel.
You don’t like witches, and you did that rather than stay here and claim your birthright.
So yes, I owe you an apology. For shutting you out.
For failing to be supportive during your coronation. All of it. I’m sorry.”
“You were locked in a cell.”
“Still, I could have been supportive.”
He blew out a breath and turned his head, looking up at the ceiling.
“Is it bad that I’m so fucking in love with you that I don’t even want, need, or care about your apology?
I appreciate it, but…” He turned his head towards me again, our eyes locking.
“All I want is for you to be mine and for everything to be okay between us. Nothing else matters to me.”
“So…I just wasted my breath?”
He growled, reaching for me, dragging me against him, tangling our limbs together until I was trapped. “I can think of several better uses for your mouth, but thank you—for apologizing.”
“You’re welcome. What uses do you have in mind?”
His low chuckle had my belly clenching. “Those will have to wait. You still owe me an explanation.”
My arousal fled.
“The Citadel has fallen.”
His muscles tensed beneath me. “And the head witch?”
“Dead.”
“Fuck,” he hissed, paling.
“I know. Herrin made a promise to her to get me out. Otherwise he would have stayed and fought. Stayed and died.”
“I wondered what he was doing here.”
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Went with the witches back to the King’s Mantle. I didn’t have a chance to speak with him before that. I was a little preoccupied.”
“Right. Well, then.”
I took the opportunity to tell him everything that had happened, from the moment I arrived at the Citadel, summoned to the council chambers, to my conversations with Fiona, Gianna seeing the darkness in me, and the hunt that followed.
His breathing was elevated by the end of it.
Throughout my retelling, he continued to trace soothing patterns along my back. Still, my voice was shaking by the end.
“Is it bad that part of me wants to say fuck it all and hand Skye the crown?” he admitted.
“I know you don’t want to be king.”
“I’d be less adverse to ruling if you ruled beside me, Mina. As my queen.”
“Rixon…”
“Think about it. I’m stuck here, whether we like it or not. You didn’t find enough in that journal to solve our portal problem. I want you with me in this. Completely. Are you?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Rixon. Yes, I’m with you—as your witch,” I clarified, pressing my face into his chest, relishing in the sound of his heartbeat. He might have accepted the way things were, but I hadn’t. I had no intention of giving up my search for a solution.
“Everything in my life is spinning out of control right now,” he admitted. “You are the only constant. The one thing I can count on.”
I pressed my lips to his skin, peppering him with gentle kisses. “Is that why you were in such a controlling mood last night?”
“Yes,” he growled. “Did you like it?”
“Oh, very much.”
“I… I didn’t hurt you, did I? It wasn’t too much?”
“I could have freed myself with magic, Rixon. I’m a witch, after all.”
“Right.” His chest deflated with an exhale. “What if…?”
“What if…what?” I lifted my head to look at him.
“What if I put you into a situation where you couldn’t? Where you were completely at my mercy—completely under my control? Would you trust me enough to allow it? To do whatever I wanted, knowing there was no possible way to stop me?”
His question sent a ripple of unease skittering across my skin. “I…I don’t know. The idea scares me. A lot, actually.”
“You fear what I might do to you?”
I frowned, trying to dig deeper into my misgivings.
“Magic is my safety net. Without it, I feel helpless. I never stood a chance against those thieves who tried to take my virtue. Who tried to hurt my sister. It was only magic that freed me—even if it killed her. You saw how I reacted the first time you tried to cover my mouth.”
He hummed in agreement.
“I’ve grown used to feeling safe, knowing I can protect myself if needed.
It’s why I trained so hard with Herrin. There are only a few times that’ve come close to what I experienced that fateful day.
When you nearly died, and when your father captured me.
Both times, it was a horrible feeling. Horrible knowing I was completely helpless. ”
“I don’t want you to feel horrible, Mina. But I want you at my mercy, completely helpless against me.” I swallowed, trying to come to terms with his words. “There’s a difference between what I want, and what happened to you. Still, it’s fucked up, I know—”
“It’s not fucked up.”
“No?”
I sighed. “This is what you need to feel more in control. Like you said, I’m the only constant in your life, the one person you can rely on.
In freezing you out and then running away, I probably triggered your need for control and simply made things worse, especially when everything was already pressing in on you.
Politics, the council, that fucking crown you hate so much. ”
I detangled myself, coming to my knees before straddling his lap. We were both naked and I tried to ignore the feel of his cock pressing against my folds.
I braced my hands on his chest, leaning over him. “Is that what you want, Lord Wielder? Complete control of me? You want me weak for you? You want me helpless and at your mercy? Shackled in Nebrine so that you might do whatever depraved things you wish to my body?”
I tried to ignore the fear rising in my chest as I spoke, as I considered what it would truly mean to be completely and utterly helpless against him. But I couldn’t forget that this was Rixon. That he was the male I loved, the male I relied upon. My bonded.
Rixion’s pupils expanded, swallowing his irises. My words were transforming him. Driving him into a frenzy as his breaths came faster.
“You want to own my cunt, don’t you?” I dragged myself against his length. “You want a way to punish me, truly punish me, whenever you see fit? Draw out my pleasure until I’m sobbing for it like I was last night? Until I’d do anything to be stuffed with your cock?”
“Mina.” He gasped out my name.
Fuck, I felt wicked. So very wicked, talking to him like this. “Well?” I prompted.
I was on my back before I registered the motion. In one brutal thrust, he was inside me with a possessive growl. “That’s exactly what I want, little witch. The question is, are you brave enough to submit?”
“I…I don’t know.”
The truth was, I really didn’t.
He slid out, and then back in, making my inner walls clench with desire. A needy moan fell from my lips as I pictured the scenario. I’d been terrified when his father had captured me. Helpless against the Nebrine shackles stifling my magic.
What would happen if Rixon put them on me and shackled me to his bed—our bed? I shivered. The thought sent equal parts fear and excitement racing down my spine. Gods, I was more fucked up than he was.
Rixon was slow as he pulled out and slid back inside me. “You are mine,” he said. “Your body. Your mind. Your smart little mouth. Your magic. Your soul. Your fucking cunt.” He slid into me again, harder this time. “All mine. Understand?”
“Yours,” I breathed. “All yours.”
But if that was true, then why hadn’t I agreed wholeheartedly to his request?
Rixon rolled his hips, working me. There was nothing rough or extraordinary about how he brought me to orgasm. Just the raw movements of his body and his cock pressing me in all the right places. I didn’t need it rough all the time, and neither did he.
My body shattered right as a heavy fist pounded on the door. Rixon was mid orgasm, groaning, as the disruption continued. “Not now!” he roared, then followed it up with a groan as his body stiffened. He came, warm jets of his seed spilling into me.
“Forgive me, Sire, but—”
“Damn it, Andrei, I’m fucking my lady witch, come back later.”
“Rixon,” I hissed.
“What? They’ll get used to it,” he snapped, clearly pissed.
“A missive from the Citadel, Your Majesty. From the band of witches waiting outside the walls.”
I nearly sobbed with frustration as Rixon pulled out of me, taking that delicious full feeling with him. He was cursing under his breath as he dragged himself from the bed. I flopped back, trying to catch my breath. He hesitated and looked at me. “Aren’t you going to get up?”
“You’re the king—you deal with it.”
“Oh, I don’t think it works like that. Not anymore.”
I squealed as he wrapped his fingers around my ankle and tugged, dragging me to the edge of the bed. “Take your hands off me,” I commanded, using the bond against him.
He was forced to comply and his expression turned wicked. “You want to play games, Mina?”
Before I could answer, his tongue darted out and licked up the length of my calf, stopping at my knee. I groaned. “You didn’t say anything about my tongue. Now, get dressed. We’ve got work to do.”
“Fine,” I groused, blowing a lock of hair out of my face and flopping back for several moments. By the time I stood up, Rixon was already cracking the door open to snatch the sealed parchment from his steward.