Dark Crown: A Fae Shifter Romance (Guardians of the Fae Realms Book 8)

by JL Madore

  So much for the honor of the dragon clans.

  The lair is made up of a massive open courtyard and then nine offshoot crevices that lead to a maze of caverns and pocketed stone caves. Clan Silverwing’s cavern is down the left crevice and past the grotto pools. It was a glorious spot to grow up, rich with the heritage and honor of our clan.

  It was the first thing Shadowcaster took from us after killing my father. Well, technically the second.

  The first thing he took was our mother.

  He stripped her Silverwing leathers from her body and forced her to submit to his advances while the entire brood watched on.

  Our father’s body wasn’t even cold yet.

  That was the foreshadowing of what our lives would be like from then on. Clan Silverwing went from being one of the most honored and revered ancient families of the dragon clans to the kin of the traitor who attacked the brood alpha.

  Deep voices up ahead have me pressing tight to the jagged stone and dropping my gaze. When I come into view of the two males putting the moves on one of the ale girls from the pub, I pretend I’m checking something on my data tablet and keep walking.

  The males are too busy focusing on the female to take note of me and the female wouldn’t dare take her eyes off them for fear of losing any control she has.

  In the years after our father’s death, Vikarus and I grew highly skilled at navigating the lair unseen while in plain sight.

  The key is to project an air of belonging—even when you don’t.

  The courtyard is fairly empty when I reach it. Two young boys on the far side of the open space are playing battle with wooden swords and cracking on one another.

  There are also three women huddling close and whispering at the mouth of the fifth crevice.

  “By all that’s dark and destructive, what the slecking hell are you doing here?” The whispered hiss comes from my left as I’m yanked into what was once Silverwing domain. “What kind of shit for brains have you got guiding you these days?”

  The smack to my ear rings in my head and I wince. “Mom. Take it easy. I came to check on you and explain what’s been going on.”

  My mother is a weathered but beautiful blonde with a dagger-sharp tongue and a fist as hard as an anvil. She’s tall and broad-shouldered and when she grabs a fistful of hair at my nape and drags me deeper into the passageways of my youth, there is nothing to be done but stumble along and follow.

  When we’re well away from the courtyard and beyond the distance that heightened hearing can pick up, mom turns and glares. “Did you stop using your thinking head when your cock head took over your life?”

  I roll my eyes. “It’s not like that. Creed got under my skin but I never meant to mate him. My dragon saw him with his soul-seared lover and I lost control.”

  “Lost your mind, you mean. Slecking hell, Rhylan. You’re the smart one.” She crosses her arms and leans in close. “Your brother has his strengths but he’s not strategic like you. He doesn’t see things the way you and I do. When he came back here and said you betrayed your duty and chose to lay with the prince, I didn’t believe him. No way could my Rhylan be so slecking idiotic.”

  I sigh and throw up my hands. “Do I get a chance to tell you what happened? For sleck’s sake, I am the strategic one, remember. Do you think I’d screw over this family on a whim?”

  Mom lets out a suffering sigh. “I honestly don’t know what to think. Go on then. Tell me your side.”

  So I do.

  I tell my mom about what Laryssa was like and how vile she was as a leader. I tell her about Creed and how I sympathized with him having his life and his heritage ripped from him for no other reason than a bitch’s greed.

  “But the universe bound Creed to Keyla and with Keyla came the Phoenix and her Guardians. The moment they were there to help Creed, him reclaiming his crown was set in motion.”

  She nods. “The soul-searing certainly suggests that you boys were on the wrong side of destiny.”

  “Exactly,” I say, thankful that she gets it. “But even still, I would’ve served Laryssa to honor my oath.”

  “But then you mated the King? How? He was already mated.”

  “My dragon ascended and in a fit of fury, it just happened. And even after, I denounced it and kept up with my duties. I told Creed it was a mistake and he needed to move on with his mates and forget what happened.”

  “So, how did you get found out?”

  “Laryssa had Creed’s and the Phoenix Quint’s apartments bugged. She must’ve heard talk because during a trip to StoneHaven she asked for my weapon and her and her guards shot me three times at point-blank range.”

  Her eyes flare wide. “She meant to kill you? Without even speaking to you.”

  I nod. “I was in bad shape but my new mates and the Phoenix Quint stepped in and rescued me. Dillan, our fourth, is a doctor and he patched me up using Calli’s phoenix tears. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have survived.”

  Mom frowns. “Duty is one thing, but I see the spot you were in. You were bound to the wrong side of a losing battle and you quite literally had to save your skin.”

  “Vikarus won’t even hear me. It’s like he doesn’t know me. After all this time, he’s treating me like I’m actually a traitor.”

  She waves that away. “Don’t worry about your brother. I’ll speak to him. He’s always been too quick to act and too headstrong to see reason. He’s your father’s son to the bone and blood.”

  “And I’m yours.”

  She nods. “Gods help you, yes. All right. You’ve told me your tale of whoa. Now tell me why you’re really here.”

  Doc

  It’s late when Keyla and I leave the quint in their suite and wave goodnight to Jaxx’s parents in the hall. I unlock the door and let Keyla into the room she and I shared secretly for weeks the last time we were here.

  “Hello, old friend,” I say, patting the bed. “We’ve missed you, haven’t we, babe?”

  Keyla chuckles, locking the door behind us and padding into the bathroom to get ready for bed. “Yes. We’ve also progressed quite a lot from the last time we were here. If I remember correctly, the last night we spent in that bed, I begged you to mate me and you refused.”

  “That was when I was young and stupid.”

  She laughs. “That was two-and-a-half weeks ago.”

  “Okay, maybe just stupid.”

  The toilet flushes and the water runs for a bit. When she pads back into the room, she’s as gloriously naked as ever. “So, tonight, when I beg you to pin me down and press inside me, what is the answer?”

  “Yes, dear.”

  She smiles, struts around the end of the bed, and toys with her hardened nipples. “And when I say I need you to give me more, harder, rougher, what is the answer then?”

  I pull my shirt off over my head and toe off my shoes. “Oh, yes, dear.”

  She giggles and climbs onto the mattress, prowling forward on her hands and knees. Her tits sway freely, the grace and beauty of her predator side stealing my sanity. “And if I tell you I want to orgasm and make love and fuck until we both pass out from exhaustion, what is the answer?”

  My bear lets off a long growl as I yank my jeans open and shove them down my muscled thighs. “Yes, dear. Anything you say, dear. Absolutely anything.”

  “Good boy.” She smiles up at me as she drops to the mattress and rolls onto her back. “Now, come here and get inside me.”

  I bite my bottom lip as I take in the beauty of her. Her chestnut hair is a scattered mess on the bed and invites me to rake my fingers through the silky lengths. Her cheeks are flushed, her lips glossy, and her eyes hold a brightness that speaks of how playful her wolf is tonight.

  “Do you mind if I start with a hello to my girls?”

  She giggles. “Who am I to tell you how to handle your business.”

  Yeah right. Keyla makes no secret when she wants something in bed. And now that I listen, things have gotten better and better.


  Still, I want to start with a little worshipping of her body. Firm, round, and delicious. I draw my tongue over the budded tips of her breasts and my bear lets off a rumble of appreciation.

  “Hello, ladies.” Climbing over her to get into a better position, I take one of the mounds into my mouth and I play with the nipple of the other.

  Damn.

  Her skin tastes like the most succulent honey.

  I swirl my tongue around her nipple and then blow on it. Keyla arcs off the mattress and presses further into my mouth.

  “Like that, do you?”

  “You know I do. You know what else I like?”

  I chuckle, my bear letting off a deep sound of contentment. “Oh, I’m getting to that. I’m familiarizing myself first. So many things I want to touch and taste. Where’s a male to begin?”

  “Is that a rhetorical question or can I offer you a suggestion?”

  I chuckle. “No need. I’ve been paying attention.”

  She smiles up at me. “And as much as I love foreplay—and I do—after the day we’ve had, I need you inside me—like, really soon. Or I might die.”

  “Well, what kind of a mate would I be if I let you die of wanton lust? That would be a complete waste of a great woman.”

  “Right? I think thoroughly sexing me up and many orgasms are the way to remedy that.”

  I am on board with that.

  Climbing higher up her body, I claim her mouth, and the instant her hands stroke up and over my bare ribs, I’m lost in the moment, kissing her hard and sweeping my tongue into her mouth.

  My fingers spear into her hair, and as I pull her deeper into my kiss, I send a prayer of thanks out to the fae universe that she is mine.

  How did I hold back all those nights?

  I have no clue.

  With a long, hungry growl, I run my fingers across the entrance of her core and ensure she’s ready for me.

  Which is crazy, because Keyla is always ready.

  Warm, slick moisture coats my fingers and I brush over her clit and tickle through her folds.

  Her body is so responsive.

  She whimpers at the stroking, her back arching, her legs falling wide to welcome me home. I lower my hips and replace my fingers with my cock and poise myself right where I need to be.

  Slipping my damp fingers into my mouth, I swallow her essence. The taste of her nearly does me in.

  “I could lose it, simply from the taste and scent of your honey, you know that?”

  “I’ve heard how much bears love honey.”

  “It’s true, we do.”

  “You know what I love?”

  I chuckle. “Yes, dear.”

  I push back at the burning pressure tingling in my balls and focus on her. The steady thrum of her heart picks up speed as I brush her lips gently with mine.

  I could kiss her for an eternity and never get enough.

  Swaying my hips, I slick my crown in her heat. She groans, wrapping her legs around my hips, trying to force my entry. I chuckle at the impossibility of that.

  She is a female wolf.

  I am a male bear.

  There’s no forcing me into anything but I relent and give her what she wants. Thrusting forward, I sink into the depths of her and press her into the mattress. She stretches languidly beneath me and I start a steady thrust and retreat.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  I chuckle. Pleasuring Keyla comes as naturally as breathing. I know what she likes, I share her hunger, and I can read her body like she was made for me.

  Because she was, my bear growls.

  Yeah. She definitely was.

  Circling my hips, I pick up the pace and build her toward her first orgasm of the night. Keyla likes to take the edge off hard and fast and then sink into a night of play. Who am I to argue with a girl with preferences?

  Thrust and retreat. Thrust and retreat.

  I close my eyes and let the sensation of gliding through her clenching muscles feed my soul. This. This is my happy place. This is where I want to be and what I want to be doing for the rest of time.

  Joining with her is perfection. The building of her sexual tension. The scent of her pleasure filling the air. The feminine sounds she makes each time I sink fully inside her and trigger the clench of her greedy muscles.

  Thrust and retreat. Harder. Faster.

  Her nails dig into my shoulders and her hips begin to buck. I push her until she pants and writhes beneath me, penetrating her until our bodies slap together and I can’t get any further inside her.

  “Oh, yes…” she breathes. The first waves of orgasm hit and her muscles flex, gripping me with each heated stroke. “More.”

  “Yes, dear.” Gone is my reserve to pamper my princess. I unhinge my hips and fill her with power-driven strokes. My abs and quads burn, my lungs fight for oxygen, my cells ignite with the amazing, sweaty friction of bodies fitting together as perfectly as we do.

  Keyla cries out, her voice thready as her body shatters. She’s a fit and powerful female and watching her swept away by her release is a beautiful thing. I smile, slowing things down while she rides out the first orgasm of the night.

  When she catches her breath a little, I bend forward and claim her mouth. “I believe you mentioned wanting to fuck until we both pass out from exhaustion. Is that still your desire?”

  She exhales and grins. “Without a doubt.”

  I grin and start cranking things up again. “Then ready yourself because I don’t tire easily.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Keyla

  I wake with Doc’s heavy arm wrapped protectively across my chest and I smile. I’m so thankful to have him in my life and my mating. When the soul-searing hit, everything happened so fast. There was me and Doc and then me and Creed and then Creed and Rhylan. It feels like we’ve been scrambling to sort out what that means from that first moment in the portal gate clearing.

  I said it would be good for Creed to have a couple of days to sort through his emotions, but in all honesty, I need that too.

  I don’t regret anything about the four of us bonding, but maybe my age and inexperience have played a part in the learning curve. I saw what Kotah built with the quint and after a life with little or no love to nurture us, I wanted that too.

  Was that greedy? Immature? Naïve? Maybe from an outside perspective, but I honestly think it was hope.

  Mother was right—it sort of is Kotah’s fault.

  I might not have mated with both Creed and Dillan and then Rhylan if I hadn’t seen how Kotah’s life flourished with the love and support of multiple mates.

  Creed saw my love for Dillan and wanted me to be happy. I saw the same love in him for Rhylan and wanted him to be happy. Now, there are four of us and it’s more complicated than I thought.

  Then again, it’s only been a couple of weeks.

  I lay there, searching my heart and soul for any hard truths I need to face about it being a mistake.

  There are none.

  I love Doc. He is my first boyfriend and is attentive and loving and protective and we have fun together. When he makes love to me, I feel delicate and cherished and it’s so easy to love him and his bear.

  Everything with him is easy.

  He accepts me unconditionally and loves me for who I am. He was the first person other than Kotah to give me that and holds a special place in my heart.

  I love Creed, too. He and I share a similar background and understand one another the way only another royal could. Our soul-searing is a lock. We are both driven to lead the citizens of Dornte toward a future in which they feel safe. I’m excited for our relationship to grow both privately and professionally. Things with him are more complex than with Dillan but that’s not bad.

  Creed challenges me to be more than I am.

  And then there’s Rhylan. Creed loves him, so I’m looking forward to getting to know him better. Was I rash to invite him into our mating? Maybe. I still think it was the right thing to do. Rhylan has struggled
with judgment and was forced to do the wrong things for the right reasons all his adult life. Even still he sacrificed it all for his love for Creed.

  I love and respect him for that.

  And though the man is guarded, the dragon seeks the life and love I’ve promised. My wolf has bonded to his dragon and she has great instincts. I trust things will work out there.

  With Rhylan, we need time, but love is budding.

  “Hey, babe. Are you all right?” Doc’s hazel eyes are half-open and he’s reading my expression.

  “Perfectly. Go back to sleep. I’m going to have a shower and check in across the hall. I want to spend some time with Kotah before we go back.”

  “Do you want me to get up?”

  I press a hand against the morning scruff of his cheek and smile. “Nope. You’re free to lounge. I have a few things to do around the palace before we head back.”

  “Sounds good. I could use another hour. You wore me out last night.”

  I brush a kiss across his lips and my heartbeat stumbles in my chest. “All my girly parts thank you. I loved last night. And yeah, you earned extra rest.”

  He winks and closes his eyes, his triumphant smile adorable.

  I spend a few extra moments under the hot water, working out some sore muscles, and then dry off, get dressed, and head across the hall. Movement in the kitchen near the door tells me there’s at least someone stirring, so I knock lightly and wait.

  Calli opens the door. “Good morning, girlfriend.”

  “Hey, is Kotah up? I wanted to make a couple of stops in the palace this morning and thought he might like to join.”

  “He hasn’t surfaced yet. Come in. I’m heating some of Maggie’s cinnamon buns. Do you want one?”

  “Hells yes. Maggie’s cooking is one of the things I’ll miss most of all living in the Fae Realm.”

  “Then we’ll simply have to visit often and bring you care packages,” Hawk says. The avian is dressed to impress and looking fine in his suit clothes.

  Mmm… he smells like a healthy, horny male. “Oh, am I interrupting? I can go and come back.”