Freed: A Supernatural Prison Romance (Imprisoned by the Fae Book 3)

by Jessica Lynch

  Welp. Here goes nothing.

  No.

  Here goes everything.

  I hold the bag out to Rys. “This is all I have.”

  When he doesn’t take it, I give it a shake. The coins jingle, making Rys narrow his golden gaze on the tiny bag.

  “Go on. Take it.”

  “What are you doing, Leannán?”

  “I know what that means,” I blurt out. “Riley told me. It’s not as simple as being a sweetheart or a lover. The Leannán sídhe”—and I totally butchered that—“are human lovers. I remember, back when we were in Siúcra. I asked you what it meant when you first called me that name. You said it was a reminder. You knew all along that I was your mate, and you admit as much every time you call me that. That you… that you love me.”

  He doesn’t deny it. He just stares pointedly at me, almost as if waiting for me to get back to the topic at hand.

  Right.

  I snag his wrist, pressing the imps’ coins against his palm. “Fifty gold coins. It’s all I have. I traded one of my apples for it… but you used Saxon to give them to me, so they were really yours, too.”

  “They were a gift.” He tries to give the coins back to me. “So this is rightfully yours.”

  “Even if it is, you still bought me. At the auction—”

  “Leannán.”

  “Please. Let me finish. You gave the redcap seven hundred coins to buy me. When that little dick took your money, the contract was sealed. I belong to you. That’s the thing about Faerie, right? One of the first things I had to learn. Balance. There has to be balance.”

  A spark lightens his otherworldly eyes. I… I think he’s catching on.

  “I don’t have much. You paid seven hundred coins. If those are mine, I’ve only got the fifty.” I bite my lip, trying to look as coy as possible so that he picks up what I’m throwing down just a little easier. “Maybe… maybe there’s another way I can make it even…”

  “Hm. You assume I’d let you buy your freedom back. Since, as you rightly admit, you do belong to me now.”

  My heart just about stops. “Well? Would you?”

  “The auction is binding.”

  “Unless you break it. Unless you set me free.”

  “Ah, my darling… why would I ever do that?”

  His musical voice drops just enough to be husky. I don’t even try to cover up the way it sends shivers coursing up and down my spine.

  “Do you really mean that?” I whisper.

  “You doubt me? Then let me make it perfectly clear. I have no ffrindau, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have you. I’ve already told you as much. And, yes, I didn’t want to rush you… but you’re mine, Leannán.” His hands settle on my shoulders. “You’ve always been mine.”

  Even through the thin material, I feel the power in his touch. God, I love it.

  I love him.

  “Took you long enough to realize that.”

  Rys shifts his right hand, caressing my shoulder, the light touch of his fingers trailing down my arm before he moves, cupping my left boob in his palm. He uses his thumb to rub the sensitive peak of my nipple, hardening it instantly.

  As I swallow my moan, Rys gives me that overly pleased grin that tugs on my heart the same way his possessive touch goes straight to my pussy.

  “Maybe I was distracted,” he murmurs, lowering his head so that we’re sharing the same breath. “I didn’t show you how much I want you. That was my mistake.” I can feel the heat of his skin on mine the second before he moves in, capturing my lips as he gives my tit a squeeze. “I won’t make that again.”

  I gasp, and he takes the chance to slip his tongue into my mouth, stroking mine expertly. He’s warm and slick—kind of like what’s going inside of my panties right now, not gonna lie—and I melt right into his arms.

  He catches me, because of course he does. I trust Rys with my life, just like I trust him with my body. Even though I’m not supposed to trust anyone in Faerie, Rys doesn’t count. He’s never counted. I think I’ve trusted him from the moment I first let him touch me, when I made the decision to give up that part of my soul to a Seelie I barely knew.

  Now?

  Now I want to give him everything.

  I don’t stop kissing him, angling my chin so that I can kiss him deeper as I cling to his chest. Rys wraps his arms around me, moving me into a better position, and suddenly I’m off the ground.

  Don’t care. I’m desperate for this. And I know the fae can’t lie. I know that a direct statement like “You’re mine” is almost as ironclad as being bought at the auction.

  But I’ve gone weeks without being this close to Rys and until he claims me again, I know I’ll just worry that he’ll try to pull away if only because he thinks that’s what I want.

  I want Rys. And it doesn’t matter to me if I’m his ffrindau or not. It’s just a title. Kind of like how I was content being with Jim without being a wife. Our relationship is what we make it, and if there’s one thing I know about Faerie, it’s that the fae respect the power of the bargain almost as much as balance. So what if he owns me? I’m a human living in Faerie. It was always bound to be my fate if I stayed.

  But I’m not a pet. I’m his partner. His mate. And, as he leads me to his bed, I beg Rys to prove it.

  “Claim me. Touch me. Make me yours.”

  He pulls back just enough so that I can see his face. His scar crinkles a bit as he gives me the biggest shit-eating grin I’ve ever seen him wear.

  “You’ve always been. But tonight, and forever, Rysdan of the Seelie Court is yours.”

  His name.

  His true name.

  Like Rys, it’s mine now.

  I return his grin with one of my own. “Get naked, Rysdan.”

  He leans in, nuzzling my neck, pressing hot, wet kisses to my skin. “You’re my mate, my darling. You own my true name now, but you can’t compel me with it.”

  “Does that mean you don’t want to get naked?”

  The heat of his breath as he chuckles heats me up all the way to my core. “It means that I have all night to play with you. No guards. No mates, former or otherwise. Just you. Just me. And the rest of our very long lives together.”

  My fingers fly up to his head, running through the silky strands of his tawny hair. He wants to play? I like that idea.

  No. I love that almost as much as I love him.

  He groans, his body shaking as I stroke his ears. The pointed tips are almost as sensitive as his cock and, despite what he says about mates not being able to command each other, I call bullshit. Because right now? Whether he’s Rysdan of the Seelie or my scarred Rys, I’ve got all the power.

  Me. A human.

  He might own me, but I’m not his pet. I’m not his property.

  I’m his Leannán and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Epilogue

  I move all of my clothes into his room the next day. It’s our room now. Our bed, too.

  Finally.

  I do leave my painting supplies in my room. Rys suggests the idea, telling me that he wants me to be comfortable in our house. If I want to have a place to go to when he gets to be too much, if I need some space, I can go right next door. That way I’m not too far, and he’ll always know where I am so that I don’t get lost.

  Tricky, tricky fae. I can’t even fault him for that. I… might’ve gotten lost on the first floor again one morning when Rys had to leave the manor for a few hours.

  Hey. This house is way bigger than it looks from the outside. Nothing like my cramped apartment back in the city. And, I find out, there’s a whole other set of stairs near the back that lead to a third floor I never even knew about!

  Of course, after Lolly rescues me and guides me to the dining room, the kindly brownie has to tell the master all about it. She’s not being malicious, just loyal to Rys, and she makes me a fresh-baked apple pie from one of the enchanted apples out front to make up for Rys’s teasing.

  We’ve fallen into an
easy routine. Sure, Rys has to leave more than I like, and after he hears about a human female sacrificed by a sect of bloodthirsty fae, he refuses to let me leave the manor at all until they’re caught. Not that he wanted me to know anything about that. If it wasn’t for me accidentally walking in on him and Helix discussing it, he would’ve gladly kept it from me.

  My scarred Seelie is pretty heavy-handed when it comes to keeping me safe. I appreciate it, but I’m trying my best to prove to Rys that I can take care of myself. I mean, I’m not about to go out and risk getting killed, but I’ll be fine if he works with Helix and some of Oberon’s other guards to eliminate this latest threat.

  Though I can tell he doesn’t want to, he can’t exactly refuse Oberon, so he leaves with Helix.

  The Summer King’s justice is swift and brutal. He might be busy working out some kind of treaty with Morgan, but one word that some of the fae are rising up against him—and, to Oberon, butchering a human female in his Court counts—and he doesn’t just have his guards execute the traitors when they track them down.

  Instead of ending them quickly, he has each traitor chained to four Seelie horses, dismembering them. It doesn’t kill them, but it’s a display of torture as the immortal fae are pulled apart. Only then, after Oberon denounces them, does he have Helix take their heads.

  I can’t even begin to guess why Helix thought I’d want to hear the gruesome details when he next came to meet with Rys. My new mate pointedly told me that it was taken care of and that was all I needed to know. But Helix tells me all of it, the same uninterested inflection to his tone that leaves me wondering if he’s broken or something.

  Good soldier.

  Real cold guy.

  But, hey. It was a kindness in a way. I know there are still fae rebels lurking in Faerie, hiding among those loyal to Oberon. Hopefully, now that they’ve seen what Oberon will do to those who betray him, it’ll be a bit safer to exist as a human. He was trying to assure me.

  Rys… didn’t quite see it that way. After that, he refuses to let Helix meet him at the manor. If the captain wants to speak with Rys, it’s sure as hell not at our place.

  Not gonna lie. Helix freaks me out. I know that I don’t have to worry about going back to jail—I’m freed, baby!—but the way he watches me with Rys makes me uncomfortable.

  Ah, well. It’s better than Dusk. Or Veron. Or even that horrible little redcap, who only saw dollar signs every time he looked at me.

  Yeah. I’m much better off sticking inside right now.

  About a week after he made his final claim on me, I wake up to see Rys watching me sleep.

  Will I ever get used to that? He does it a lot and I’m always a little startled at first before I invite him to cuddle with me some more. For as long as I’ve known him, he’s always been the early to bed, early to rise type. He gets up with the sun, though he usually lays in bed with me unless he has someone to meet with or another task to perform for Oberon.

  We haven’t been called back to his palace yet, though Rys assures me it’s only a matter of time. Especially since, I discover, one of the reasons Rys has been so busy lately is because he’s in talks with Helix to permanently rejoin the Summer King’s guards instead of just being another fae soldier.

  But that’s not all he’s been doing. And after Rys drops the bomb on me about what else has been driving him these last few days, I’m stunned.

  “I understand if you don’t want to come with me. It’s still not that safe, and even though I’ve arranged the portal to open inside of his home, I won’t push you to do something if you don’t want to.”

  “I… let me think about this for a second.”

  “Take your time, Leannán.”

  My head feels like it’s full of cotton. It’s fuzzy. I can’t focus.

  What the hell?

  Two words echo in my mind.

  Lord Veron.

  “Why would you go see him?” And why would he want me to go, too?

  I know he’s not trying to get rid of me. All of my insecurities were put to rest when Rys claimed me. He’s my mate but, more importantly, I’m his. Maybe not his ffrindau, but the only difference is that he can’t acknowledge that I’m the other half of his soul. We both know it’s true, though, and that’s good enough for me.

  “He’s a loose thread that I’d very much like to see snipped. That’s all. I just want to make sure that the noble doesn’t get it in his head again that he can ever touch you.”

  My flinch is completely involuntary. “Ew. Not on your life.”

  “Or his.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing, Leannán. So. Would you like to come with me?”

  I think of the way Rys said ‘or his’ like that. “Hang on… are you going to get all sword happy with Veron?”

  He gives me a grin that I know better than to believe. “I’ll behave. Promise.”

  Rys can’t lie, but we totally have a different definition of what it means to behave. I was reminded of that last night when he went down on me until I was begging him to touch me anywhere else but my poor, over-sensitized clit. Those three orgasms were amazing, but sometimes a chick needs her Seelie mate to be a little less civilized.

  But this isn’t about sex right now. This is about facing my fear and proving that I’m right to trust Rys.

  So I think about it. Really think about what he’s asking me.

  Veron’s been the big, bad bogeyman chasing after me for almost as long as I’ve been in Faerie. Rys wants to take care of this loose end? There’s no way I can stop him if he’s got his mind set on this meet and, well, maybe this is the closure I need.

  Besides, as much as I hate Veron, he’s different from Dusk. I don’t think he deserves to lose his head.

  “Okay. I’ll go.”

  I just hope I don’t regret it.

  We leave later that afternoon.

  Rys conjures his portal, then takes my hand. We go together, walking through the thick and steamy haze before ending up in an unfamiliar room.

  The entire time I was basically a prisoner inside of Veron’s palace, I was stuck in “my” room. He sent his brownies to take care of me, and slipped into my room nightly, hoping that he could hop into my bed.

  As if.

  So, no. I don’t recognize this vast room. But it just about screams Veron to me. It’s expensive. Rich. Gaudy. Everything is covered in gold—and I’m sure it’s all real—with dark wooden accents to make the elaborate set-up come off as imposing as possible.

  Stuffed chairs that look like they belong in, like, 16th century France are positioned around the space. A massive cabinet covers one wall, with a freaking huge mirror on one side and a row of drawers on the other. Unlike Rys, he doesn’t rely on fairy lights; there’s got to be at least thirty candles in this one room, making it flicker and shine as the fire reflects off of the golden decorations.

  And there he is. Sitting in one of the stuffed chairs, arms perched like he’s a goddamn king on a throne, there’s Veron.

  He’s as beautiful as I remember. Perfect features. Perfect hair. Perfect smile.

  And I hate him just as much.

  Ugh.

  He’s alone. Once I get over my shock that I’m face to face with him again for the first time in months, I notice that he’s completely alone. He doesn’t even have one of his countless servants waiting on him.

  How fucking arrogant. He knows that Rys is coming to meet with him and he doesn’t have any of his vassals or guards there to watch his back.

  That might be his mistake.

  “Rys. You told me you had a proposition for me.” His eyes are glued to me—and not my face. I purposely changed back into my human clothes because I needed to feel more in control of this situation. My leather jacket hides my tits, but these jeans are molded to my ass… and Veron notices. “I’m very pleased to see that you’re returning my human to me. Though,” he adds, narrowing his gaze on our joined hands, “I never expected you to touch her. That wasn’t pa
rt of the deal.”

  Deal?

  Rys wastes no time proving Veron that he’s way off base. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a bag that’s a whole lot larger than the one I tried to give him.

  Veron’s smarmy smirk wavers. “What’s this?”

  “In case there’s any question of who she truly belongs to.” Rys finally lets go of my hand before stepping forward and tossing the bag at Veron. “Take it.”

  The Seelie noble fumbles the catch, though he doesn’t drop the bag. He hefts it with one hand. “Gold coins?”

  “Five hundred exactly. Count them if you suspect I’ve tricked you. Not fool’s good, either. They’ll still be there tomorrow morning. Though you gave up your claim to Elle when she was still in Siúcra, I don’t like the idea of you holding any kind of bounty over her head. Take the money. She owes you nothing.”

  “This is why you’ve come? I believed you were after the bounty.”

  “If you believed that, you were wrong. There is no bounty. You have no claim to her. I bought her from the same redcap who sold her to you, and for a higher price. The contract stands. But, so that there’s no mistake, here’s your coins returned to you. Take it or don’t. Either way, she belongs to me now.”

  Veron doesn’t even look in the bag. With a sneer distorting his stunning features, he pops up from his chair and storms across the gilded room, angrily tugging on one of the drawers in the oversized cabinet. He throws it inside, slams it shut, then gives me an ugly look that, damn it, doesn’t really make the Seelie ugly.

  “So that’s how it is.”

  Yup.

  “It seems that every whore has her price,” Veron adds, digging his own grave. “My coins weren’t enough, but I suppose yours were. A noble turned hired hand for the crown. Pathetic.”

  You know? I’m not even a little surprised that Rys is as much a Seelie noble as Veron. His huge ass manor should’ve been a big clue, but even when Rys was a prisoner with me, he was so much more regal than the guards who treated him like shit.

  And I could care less that an ass like Veron calls me a whore. If the fact that Rys paid the redcap seven hundred gold coins to buy me means I’m a whore, then, hell yeah, because that unbreakable contract means that I get to be with him for the rest of my life.