by Elena Lawson
My Grace pushed against me—the fire building into an almost painful pressure against my skin. Kade’s Grace heated in response. Our lips parted for an instant and I saw the wild glowing of his eyes—how his breaths came in ragged pants through his parted lips.
This is dangerous, I thought.
He nodded.
Had he heard my thoughts?
Two fire-Graced Fae fucking…
He spoke the thought down through the tether connecting us, and I jolted at the sound of his deep timber resounding in my mind. Licked my lips.
He was right—we’d burn down the palace.
“We should leave,” he said aloud, lifting me onto him in one swift movement.
“Hurry,” I whispered against his lips before yanking them back to mine. He wrapped an arm around my middle and ran for the terrace. Cold wind whistled by my ears and my stomach dropped. When I opened my eyes again, we were flying through the ink-stained night.
“There!” I shouted moments later, unable to wait any longer. The wetness between my legs and the aching need in my gut needed to be satisfied. Now.
Kade nodded, lowering us onto the outcropping of rock below the cliff—only twenty yards above the crashing of the waves below. No trees or homes or palaces to burn. Just stone, water, and moonlight.
Our feet connected with the black rock, and I pushed him back—using all my strength to force him against the cliff wall. He smashed into it, shock registering in his features before I jumped back onto him, wrapping my legs securely around his waist. His cock pressed against my sex—only his trousers and my delicate silk panties standing in our way.
His hand wound up my back, grabbing a fistful of my hair, crushing my body to him.
I fumbled with the buttons on his trousers. He spun, pressing my back against the stone. The wind knocked from my lungs for a second before I could fill them again. Stars danced before my eyes.
He reached down between my breasts, his hands brushing against the swell of them—forcing my nipples to stand erect—aching. Down my stomach. Between my thighs. The fire simmered on the surface of my skin. I breathed hard and fast to calm it.
I need him.
I lifted my skirts for him, pulling them up high—bunching them in a fist.
I want him inside me.
He growled. Tore my panties from me.
I gave up with the buttons and ripped them from the fabric. His cock sprang free. Huge and dripping with his own burning desire.
His glowing eyes met mine and time seemed to slow. Our breaths puffed like steam in the chill autumn air… and then it sped up again. He lifted me, pressed me against the stone and thrust into me. I gasped at the fullness. At the slight pain that morphed into the most glorious pleasure. So—so full.
I clawed at his vest and tunic—tearing them from his body. Running my hands over the ridges and valleys of his scorching muscle. With each of his thrusts my back rammed against the stone. He wrapped his arms around my back, trying to absorb some of the impact. But it didn’t hurt. Far from it.
His kiss became fevered, almost delirious. He caught my bottom lip between his teeth and I almost came undone.
Kade slowed his pace, and the heat at my core built. Our shared bond and our shared Grace were too much. He shuddered against me, his fingers digging into my back and mine scratching into his.
I moaned against his lips, “Kade,” I whimpered, my body shaking as the quickening began deep within. Growing and growing with each quick thrust.
He sucked in a breath, and I let go. He cried out, finding his release with me, and we burst into magnificent, blazing flame…
Chapter Fourteen
Liana
“Are you sure you’re alright to ride?” Alaric asked for the third time as he finished buckling the saddle onto my horse.
Its name was Scylla, and the stable-boy assured me she was the most docile horse he’d ever tended to.
I pet her long mane as she stooped to pick up another mouthful of hay. Chewed it with her enormous chomping teeth.
“I told you already. I’m fine.”
Dawn had already broken over Meloran, dying the sky a soft, hazy, orange. We should have left already. It would be a long journey. We wouldn’t reach the border until late in the evening, and then it would take us half a day still to make our way to the Day Queen’s palace.
That was the stretch Alaric and the others most worried about. The bit between their border and the palace. We’d steer clear of villages and other Fae as much as we could. But it was also why we wore neutral colors. Nothing to give away our status or represent our court’s colors of midnight blue and silver.
“He must’ve taken it easy on you,” Finn teased, “Probably afraid you’d break.”
I pouted, blushing in earnest. Tried to tie my bursting saddlebags to Scylla. Kade had left an hour earlier—to check the state of things with Silas and the Horde. He would return to the palace later this eve to keep an eye on things here, too. At the first sign of trouble, he’d send me a message through the bond and Finn would fly me home as quickly as he was able.
He’d already sent me a few messages—explaining what he’d do to me when I returned. I’d had to squash the birthing of fire at my core several times already that morning. But I was glad he’d finally come back to himself. I hoped his guilt and torment over what’d happened was finally over.
And I was sore. But I wasn’t about to tell them that. My back, I’d healed—the roadmap of purple and black would’ve made for an uncomfortable ride. But I didn’t heal the slight aching down below. That, I would leave to heal on its own.
“Here,” Tiernan said, stepping in, “Let me help.”
Groaning, I relinquished the bag to him, and he deftly secured it to one side of Scylla and lifted the other, securing it to her other side in a matter of seconds. “What’s in these?” he asked, quirking a brow.
I lifted my chin and narrowed my eyes at him, “I’ll need clothes, won’t I?”
He had the audacity to roll his eyes at me—but only playfully. I was about to shove him when Arrow came screeching out of the clouds to land on his master’s shoulder. The falcon followed Edris when he’d left the night before. He must be exhausted.
“Did he make it to the border?” Tiernan asked Arrow as though the bird could answer him and stroked the feathers on his breast. “Such a good falcon,” he crooned. Arrow didn’t seem miffed or distraught, so it was safe to assume Edris had made it safely to the border and Arrow didn’t see the need to follow him anymore.
Edris would announce our coming to the Day Court and wait there for our arrival. Though he maintained a very serious front, my father seemed more than a little excited to be allowed to join us.
Enya had her reservations about the Day Court and never would have sought to repair the tear between our court and theirs.
But Edris was different. More like me. Eager to carve new paths and curious to discover new things. I had been wrong about him… and my males were right, he was the only wind-Graced noble at court. It would be idiotic of me not to take the chance to develop that Grace—even if it meant telling him the truth about my Graces and trusting him not to tell others.
Eventually, a time would come where my court would have to know—or they would find out. But that time hadn’t come quite yet.
Arrow flew off Tiernan’s shoulder and went to land on a tall post outside the stables, pruning himself in the warmth of the rising sun. “How long have you had him?”
Tiernan smirked, “A very long time. Sometimes I think the rodent might somehow be immortal, too. He’s been with me nearly twenty years and was full-grown when I found him with a broken wing on my uncle’s estate.”
“He seems to fly well now. Did you mend it for him?”
“After he almost bit my fingers off, yes. I didn’t know it at the time, but it wasn’t only me helping Arrow to heal,” he said, staring fondly at his companion, “He helped me, too. I was in a dark place then.”
“What do you mea—”
“We should go,” Finn called to us, leading his horse from the stable behind Alaric. “Dawn is breaking, and we have a long way to go.”
“He’s right,” Tiernan said, looking away—his golden hair falling to shroud his face from me. “Here, let me help you up.”
I let him lift me onto Scylla, and bless the beast, she didn’t so much as budge. I sighed in relief.
“I’ll lead you out. Just remember to grip the saddle with your thighs,” he said with a wink, “Alaric means to set a cruel pace to make up for the time we lost this morning.”
I groaned.
“Chin up, Liana,” said Tiernan, “At least you aren’t returning to a court you relinquished all ties to. Going to see a queen you used to guard while now guarding another.”
A pang in my chest.
I hadn’t thought of it—how Tiernan would be returning to his home court as a guest. The last communication he’d had with the Day Court was to inform them he wouldn’t be returning. Queen Suriel never wrote him back. And as far as I knew he hadn’t heard from his uncle either. They let him go without so much as a word to even try to make him stay.
I’d never have let him go so easily. I’d have chased him across oceans if I had to. What sort of people didn’t know valiance and loyalty when they saw it? Who would toss it away so easily?
“I’m sorry,” I said.
He shook his head, turning away to lead me out of the stables with a hand on Scylla’s tackle. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t belong there, and I think they all knew it.”
I nodded. I knew what it was like to feel as though you didn’t belong. It was how I felt most days in the palace. I belonged with my males—that I knew for certain. But I never got that sense of belonging I thought I’d find at court. I didn’t settle into my role as queen as snuggly as I’d hoped. And I never would.
“I don’t think you belong to a place,” I mused, “You belong to the people in it.”
He turned, stopping Scylla in her slow walk and smiled a close-lipped smile. A dimple in his cheek. The sunlight playing in his hair. “I belong to you,” he said, laying a hand over his chest.
I felt the bond tugging at my core. “And I, you.”
He turned back to continue leading me to where Alaric and Finn waited on the southern road. I got the feeling Tiernan has been waiting a long time to find someone worthy to belong to. Thank the goods that someone was me. I beamed feeling like the luckiest female ever to have been born.
“Hurry up!” Alaric called back to us.
I stuck my tongue out at the captain and his eyes widened at the childish gesture, “Last I checked, I was still the queen. Have a little patience!”
Tiernan snorted a laugh, leading me on a little more quickly than before.
My rear was numb by the time the sun set behind the trees. My thighs screaming and lower back aching. Ugh. After this trip, I’d never travel by horseback again.
At least the border was close, and we’d be making camp for the night soon. Soon I’d have a warm fire and a belly full of food. I salivated at the thought. I should have taken Edris’ suggestion and traveled by carriage. It would have cost us another day, but I imagine I’d be much less sore and not have to expend my energy using my Grace to heal myself, so I could sleep without aching.
Finn brought up the rear and at my loudly exaggerated sigh, he spurred his steed faster to come up alongside me. “Are you alright?” he asked, giving me a pained smile.
I sighed again, “Please tell me we’ll make camp soon.”
He laughed, and I turned to meet his bright honey eyes. “We will. Just a bit further.”
I’d been trying to distract myself. Occupying my thoughts with anything but the clomping of hooves and the tang of damp earth and dung. I wondered if Finn knew the answers to the questions rattling around in my brain.
I wondered if I’d need to re-consummate the bond between myself and Alaric. And if the consummation should happen before or after the actual ceremony to have the best effect… because that would mean I’d need to bed Tiernan again. I swallowed, soothing the ache of desire in my belly.
Really, I just wanted them again.
I knew it. Might as well admit it. Even though I still bore the soreness from Kade the night before.
And then there was Finn, too. He was the only one I hadn’t had yet, and I wondered what it’d be like with him to share my bed. With the others, I knew what to expect, but I was at a loss with Finn. My quiet, thoughtful guardian. What would it be like when he…
“Gods, Liana. Your scent is driving me wild,” he said, shaking his head.
Oops. “I forgot about the whole smelling desire thing. Sorry,” I said, clucking my tongue, not sorry at all if I was being honest, “But we do need to consummate our bond. You’re the only one that—”
“Not yet,” he interrupted, giving his head a small shake—his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“But I thought you said we should all—”
“I know, but—well—I don’t want us to force it. I think it should happen… naturally. And I’ll wait as long as that takes.”
My brows knitted together, and I was sure I had the most confused expression on my face, “Forced?” I asked him. “Finn, do you think I don’t want you?”
He watched where Alaric and Tiernan turned a bend in the narrow road up ahead, “It’s not about that,” he whispered, finally looking at me. “I want you, too.” A sudden hunger set his iris’ aglow and the gold chain he still wore around his neck glinted in the sun. “With you, it’s different. I want it to be more than a means to an end. More than just fucking. I want you to want me in the moment because—well, because you simply do. Not because you feel compelled to follow through with your vow.”
My throat went dry and my heart squeezed.
I could say nothing. Not after that. I gave him a nod and tugged at the tether binding us together to tell him I understood. And I would wait with bated breath for that moment, too. I calmed the roused emotions of lust and desire coursing through me with deep, steady breaths.
He sucked in a deep breath of his own, “Besides, you’ll be needing a rest after my brother was through with you—am I right?”
“Ugh, Finn!”
He winked at me and sped off to catch up with the others, leaving me lashing at the reins, trying to spur Scylla to follow. But the damned beast wouldn’t speed to anything more than a lazy canter.
I shook my head, giving up. Docile, indeed.
Chapter Fifteen
Alaric
We found a spot to camp in the woods a few hundred yards from the southern road. The border between the Night Court and the day was only a mile away. We’d cross it in the early morning, before the dew dried. If all went according to plan, we’d arrive at the Suriel’s palace by late afternoon.
Liana had the fire roaring before Tiernan could place the last log. Turned out the Day Courter was skilled with a bow just as well as he was skilled with a blade. He’d speared two rabbits along the way. One through the eye, and as I cleaned the other, I saw where the arrowhead had punctured its heart. I shook my head, my lips parting.
“When we get back,” I said to him, finishing with the skinning, “You need to teach me how to shoot like that.”
He smirked from where he sat against a log with Liana between his legs, her head resting against his chest while he stroked her hair. Her eyes were closed, and by the constant drooping and then jolting of her head, I’d say she was doing her best not to fall asleep right there. “If you like,” he said. “I thought I could teach Liana, too.”
My mood soured at his subtle mention of her training. I didn’t want her to fight in this war at all. Every time she trained—got stronger, I had to wonder if It would be enough. Or if I’d lose her in the end, anyway.
If Ricon and his army of Alchemists would slaughter us like they slaughtered my parents at Mt. Ignis. I saw his head cock at the tightening in my jaw, and I turned away,
“Yes. She should learn the bow,” I said plainly, skewering the rabbit onto sticks Finn sharpened with his dagger.
Finn poked at the fire, adding another log. “Here,” he said, holding a hand out for the meat, “I’ll do it—you go rest.”
I passed him the skewers and set to washing my hands in the creek close to our campsite. There was a lake nearby—if the old map Finn had was to be trusted. There, we could bathe in the morning to save us from arriving covered in dust from the long road and smelling of horse.
Liana would want to change.
Tiernan gestured to a sleeping Liana when I returned to the camp, the aroma of cooking rabbit’s meat luring me back.
Take her, he mouthed.
I peeled off my vest and brushed off my tunic, sitting down next to him. Rested my back against the rough bark of the fallen tree. He shifted her into my lap and she stirred, her icy blue eyes flying open for a moment before drifting closed again. I wrapped my arms around her and her weight settled against me. Warm and soft. Somehow, she still smelled good after a day’s travel—like soft cotton and tangy marmalade. I breathed in the scent of her, let it calm me.
Tiernan wandered into the woods, likely looking for Arrow—who had caught up to us earlier and then flew off again just after the sun set.
Liana stirred again, and a knife of fear lanced through my chest. Her fear—radiating through my Grace and our bond. She whimpered. I compelled myself to calm and shared the emotion with her. Giving her peace. Her pulse slowed against my chest and her breathing evened out.
I ran my fingers through her wind-tangled hair.
I will protect you. Even from your own dreams.
Her lips parted, and her expression softened into one of utter relaxation.
“That’s it,” I whispered, holding her closer. “Sleep, my queen.”
We stopped for a quick cleaning at the lake. The water was cool, but not cold. The sun was warmer there and would continue to grow warmer the closer we drew to the Day Court. I wondered what magic they used to keep winter’s chill from reaching their lands. We passed three sleepy villages, and though we were scrutinized by the Fae dwelling there, none seemed to know who we were—not even Tiernan.