by Katie May
Fuck! Fuck!”
“Nope.” Lupe pulled his head away from my pussy, lips glimmering with
my juices. “You said I couldn’t fuck you.”
“I’ll fuck your asshole with a sword if you don’t let me orgasm,” I
threatened breathlessly, grabbing his hair and pulling him back towards my
aching mound. He chuckled darkly.
“As you wish,” he whispered. Two of his fingers entered me at the same
time his teeth clamped down on my clit. I came with a scream that echoed in
the bathroom, riding his face through my pleasure.
“Fucking hell!” I screamed. I was falling blindly off a cliff, but I knew for
certain that Lupe would be at the bottom to catch me. He always caught me.
I stared down into my mate’s light blue eyes. The scruff on his jawline.
The tousled brown hair. He was gorgeous, both inside and out. I remembered
when I had first met him—back when I’d been mistaken as a contestant of
The Matching. I had been terrified of the burly Shifter with cold eyes. Who
would’ve thought we’d end up here?
Lupe dropped me on my feet, keeping his hands on my waist to steady
me, and I smiled up at him.
“I’m not going to fuck you,” I said, grabbing his cock and stroking it
gently. “However…” I dropped to my knees, batting my eyelashes in what I
hoped was a seductive manner. I probably looked more like I was seizing
than anything else.
My tongue darted out to taste the pre-cum on his tip. The salty flavor
assaulted my tastebuds. Not delicious, but not horrible either. I could
definitely swallow if I needed to.
“You ready, Poet?” I questioned, lifting a brow. When he opened his
mouth to protest, I stopped him with a slap to his ass cheek. Fuck, he was
ripped. He could probably cut diamonds on them. “Nope. If we’re playing
again, we’re doing it my way this time. You’re no longer sir.”
He eyed me carefully, deciding, before he relented with a pained groan.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” Two could play at this game.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Smirking with satisfaction, I traced the vein on his cock with my tongue.
It jerked beneath my touch.
I curled one of my hands around his ass, holding him steady, while I
cupped his balls with the other.
With a wicked grin, I opened my mouth—being mindful to relax my jaw
—and took him as deep as I could. He wasn’t only thick; he was long as well.
I couldn’t even swallow half of him.
But, fuck if I wasn’t going to try.
I removed my hand from his ass to wrap around the length I couldn’t
reach with my mouth.
“Your mouth feels so good,” Lupe hissed. “So good.”
Smiling around his length, I released his balls and slapped his muscular
ass. When he groaned, I decided to take it a step further.
I swore Lupe jumped five feet in the air when I stuck a finger into his
anus. Wimp.
“What the…?” he growled, but the sound came out more husky than he
intended. The kinky bastard liked it.
Adding a second finger to the first, I breached his tight hole as he moaned
in delight. My mouth and hand continued to pleasure his cock in tandem.
“I’m gonna…” He grabbed my hair, holding me still so he could fuck my
mouth relentlessly. “I’m gonna come.”
I allowed him to use my mouth for his pleasure. Everything I had was his
at that moment. When he came, it was like an explosion. He roared his
release to the heavens, back arching, as stream after stream of cum shot down
my throat. Like a champ, I swallowed it all.
I really deserved a reward for that.
“That was amazing,” Lupe breathed, helping me back to my feet and
kissing me feverishly. The water continued to pelt us, wiping away the
evidence of our activities, but I could’ve sworn I tasted myself on his lips.
“You definitely impressed my pussy,” I teased, stroking his neck. “She
wants your cock.” At his knowing grin, I amended, “Almost. Not yet. She’s
still a little frightened. I’m pretty sure when she first saw it, she boarded up
all the windows and placed a CLOSED sign out front.”
Lupe threw his head back and roared with laughter. The sound made me
giddy. Sure, it was just a laugh, but it almost felt like...more.
“Let me wash you,” Lupe insisted, grabbing my soap and washcloth. He
gestured for me to give him my back.
“I already washed myself.” But despite my protests, I obeyed
immediately.
One of his fingers touched the lips of my pussy.
“Let me wash you, Babygirl,” he purred in my ear. “You won’t regret it.”
THREE
ATTA
I smiled demurely at the maids passing me. They bobbed their
heads respectfully, their expressions a mixture of adoration and
worship. One sniff confirmed they were both human.
When I turned a corner, leaving them behind me, my smile dissipated. I
knew my brother was still with Z. Hopefully, I would get in and out before he
noticed I was gone.
Three guards lined the doors to the Capital, but they didn’t bother to try
and stop me. What could they do? I was the crowned princess, and they were
lower-class Shifters. Normally, the hierarchy of life gave me a splitting
headache, but even I had to admit that my position came in handy. People
feared me—and that fear often translated into respect.
Leaving the guards behind, I exited the Capital and walked briskly
towards the gardens. I always loved this particular area. The green shrubbery
was dotted with perennials and roses, and gnarled vines created a tapestry
over my head.
I glanced over my shoulder once, assuring I hadn’t been followed, before
moving farther into the maze-like structure. A stone bench sat directly below
a small gazebo highlighted with gold accents.
Smoothing out my dress, I perched at the very end and watched a bird
flap its wings overhead. The creature was majestic in appearance—ethereal.
What would it be like to fly high over the sky, not a worry directed at the tiny
creatures below?
My wistful musings were interrupted by a body plopping down on the
bench beside me.
“Mali,” I greeted, fisting my hands to keep from touching her. The mating
bond pulsated between us, a living entity, and I wanted nothing more than to
lunge for her, take her face between my hands, and kiss the shit out of her.
Instead, I remained silent. Stony.
“Atta,” she said just as softly.
Silence descended between us.
“How’s Z?” she asked immediately, swiveling to face me. I kept my gaze
straight ahead, unable to ignore the stab of pain that her question brought me.
I was her mate, her other half, yet she still always asked about the assassin
first and foremost. Mali missed Z immensely, and I had to wonder if she
missed the friendship or something else, something more.
“She has seven cocks to keep her company,” I said pointedly, ignoring
the way Mali blanched. “But she’s alive and well.”
Before I had even finished speaking, Mali was shaking her head. “Not
well. Alive, yes, but not well.” She nibbled anxiously on her lower lip as a
flash of pain distorted her beautiful features. “Before Zack died, he poisoned
her.”
Zack had been a competitor in The Damning, but he had also been Mali’s
fated mate. He wasn’t mine—so far, Mali was my only one—but I knew
losing him would be like losing a limb. She wore that pain on her sleeve for
the entire world to see.
“Zack poisoned Z,” I parroted. Fucking hell. “What’s the cure?”
“There isn’t one,” Mali said despondently, lowering her head. Her dark
hair spilled forward, shielding her face from view.
“Every poison has a fucking antidote,” I snapped, my patience
splintering. I didn’t know how I felt about Z—if I loved or hated her—but
she was my brother’s mate. The love of his life. He wouldn’t recover if he
lost her, which meant we couldn’t fucking lose her.
“It’s common in the Mage Kingdom,” Mali mused, tapping at her chin.
“It’s usually used for executions.”
“And I’m sure they have an antidote,” I pointed out, already mentally
planning my trip to the magical kingdom. Slowly, like ice melting on a hot
summer day, my hands unfisted and relaxed on the stone bench.
We were both silent for a long moment, the tension thrumming between
us like a live electrical wire. Mali broke it by releasing a heavy, disgruntled
sigh.
“I miss you,” she whispered brokenly. Her pinkie touched mine on the
stone bench. I knew I should pull away, I wanted to pull away, but my hand
remained stubbornly in place. My pulse skittered in reaction to her touch.
“You don’t act like it.” I couldn’t hide the snark in my voice. The
jealousy.
“You know I love you,” she continued, ignoring my outburst. Finally
— finally—I turned towards her completely. Her eyes glimmered with unshed
tears. She reached for me at the same time I reached for her.
Her lips were soft against my own. Soft and familiar, eliciting
goosebumps down my spine. Her hands tangled in my red hair, pulling to the
point of pain, while my own hands kneaded her heavy breasts. Holding her,
being with her… it reminded me of all the reasons I fell in love with her in
the first place.
But like with any fairytale, the clock had to strike twelve and the magic
had to end.
She pulled away with great reluctance and rested her forehead against
mine. Her breaths sawed in and out.
“You have to go,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
“She’s waiting for me,” Mali admitted, voice choked. She squeezed her
eyes closed, tears suspended from her lashes, before she pressed a tender kiss
to my nose. “I love you, Atta. Never forget that.”
Feeling as if I’d lost a crucial piece of myself, a piece I could never get
back, I watched Mali disappear in the opposite direction of the Capital. It
almost appeared as if the vines were eating her alive.
I would find a way to free my mate, or I would die trying.
FOUR
Z
I found Slippy in the freshwater lake adjacent to the Capital.
My tiny Kraken immediately crawled out of the water when I
arrived, adorable cooing noises reverberating through his body.
With one eye, slimy gray skin, and dozens of tentacles, Slippy was a sight
to behold. Originally, he had been sent to assassinate me, but Bash had
performed a spell that shrank him to the size of a large cat.
Some bitch named Aaliyah had sent him—as well as other extinct
supernatural creatures—after me. They had been told to bring me to her alive
for whatever reason. Personally, I would’ve ordered them to shank the bitch.
Having hostages was fun and all, but it involved a lot of gray area.
“How’s my favorite man doing?” I cooed, extending a hand for my pet to
nuzzle against. Some people loved dogs and cats; others preferred Krakens. I
fell firmly into the latter category.
As I rubbed Slippy’s slimy head, my belly began to churn angrily, and
Slippy released a distressed sound. Before I could comfort my ugly pet, I was
leaning over the rocky shore and losing what little food remained in my
stomach. Tears filled my eyes at the intensity of the assault; it felt as if my
insides were twisting and tightening, every organ knotting.
Fuck.
My vomit was red with blood.
Slippy pressed his wet face against the backs of my knees, but I couldn’t
pull my gaze away from the disgusting liquid getting washed away by the
waves.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
At Slippy’s whine, I turned towards the Kraken and held him in my arms.
“I’ll be okay, little man,” I assured him, peppering kisses on his head.
Movement in my peripheral vision diverted my attention from the
Kraken. Frowning, I placed Slippy back into the water and crouched on the
balls of my feet.
The Mermaid King was exiting a small house neighboring the Capital
building. There was nothing particularly exciting about the building—one of
dozens of servant huts that lined the perimeter—but his appearance still
caused unease to skitter down my spine. Why was he visiting the servant
quarters in broad daylight?
His golden hair was brushed away from his face and held back with a
crown. Blue robes swirled around his body as he walked, his gait deceptively
casual.
Even from this distance, I could see the blood speckling his face.
What the hell?
Slippy, seemingly able to sense my unease, disappeared beneath the
water’s surface. I quickly pressed myself against the trunk of a tree, my
harried heart pounding in my ears.
The King glanced in both directions, expression carefully impassive,
before stalking up the path that led to the Capital. The guards allowed him
through with respectful bobs of their heads.
“What are you up to?” I whispered, debating whether or not I should
follow him. Instead, I turned towards the building he had left.
Indecision flared within me. If he discovered I was snooping where I
shouldn’t, he would not hesitate to kill me. Or, at the very least, send one of
his men to do the job. However, I couldn’t ignore the nagging voice in the
back of my mind propelling me forward.
Fuck it.
Remaining low, I stealthily moved through the weeds dotting the
shoreline until I reached the modest building. It appeared to be some rickety
shed, the wooden logs dilapidated and cracked from age and weather. There
were no windows, and the single door was padlocked shut.
What are you hiding, asshole?
I didn’t have the strength to break the padlock, but I did have twenty
years on the street as an assassin and thief.
Silently, I removed two bobby-pins from my hair and placed them into
the hole. I made quick work of the lock, and a moment later, the padlock
snapped off.
Casting a glance in both directions, I pushed the door open and stepped
inside.
The pungent smell permeating the air barraged me the second I entered. I
was a trained assassin; I knew what that smell was.
> Blood.
The room I stepped into was nothing more than a cement cell. With no
windows, I had to rely on the single hanging bulb swinging up above. It
illuminated everything in a soft, golden glow. The ground was mostly hard-
packed, compacted dirt; most of the floorboards had rotted away.
The stench got stronger the farther I walked. I was practically gagging on
it, my stomach swirling in disgust.
“Fucking hell,” I cursed, plugging my nose.
I moved on silent feet down an empty hall, one hand holding my knife
and the other pushing open doors as I went. The majority were empty of
anything besides a simple bed. It was only when I entered the final room that
I keeled over, vomiting once again.
My mate—my precious, perfect mate—was lying unconscious on a dirty
cot. His golden hair was matted to his face with sweat and blood. From the
knees down, his legs had been severed.
“Fuck!” I screamed, lunging forward. I placed a shaky hand on Dair’s
ashen cheek. It was cold to the touch. Fuck, he was so cold. So lifeless.
“Dair? Dair? Can you hear me? I’m here. I’m here.” I didn’t know if my
inarticulate ramblings were able to penetrate his unconscious mind, but I was
hopeful. “What the hell did that sick fuck do to you?”
When I had met Dair, he had been in a wheelchair. His father and
brothers, in a fit of jealousy, had cut off his legs. They were envious of his
good looks and benevolent nature, and, like with all Nightmares, they sought
to rectify the situation. When we traveled to the Mermaid Kingdom a few
weeks earlier, his father had given him a potion to regrow his legs.
Obviously, it wasn’t a lasting gift.
Horror cascaded through me, setting my veins ablaze, as I stared at my
mate, my love.
“I’m going to kill him,” I whispered resolutely, envisioning the Mermaid
King’s disgusting face. I had no doubt in my mind that he was behind this.
“I’m going to cut him open and feed on his innards.”
“I love it when you get protective of me,” a sleepy voice murmured. Dair
opened up one eye and offered me a droopy smile.
“Dair,” I sobbed, cupping his cheeks. His brilliant blue eyes, the color of
a roaring sea, met my own. His hand went to cover mine, holding me to him.
Holding all of my broken pieces together.