by Meg Xuemei X
He pounded harder between my thighs as if punishing me for delaying his pleasure for too long.
I lifted my hips to meet his rapid thrusts. “You never asked the right question, Prince,” I said between moans. “You were determined to exclude me from the beginning, even though, instinctively, you wanted me since I was your rightful mate.”
“So you punished me all the way?”
“You think this is punishment?” I purred. “Should we stop then?”
“There’s no chance in hell I’ll stop. Neither will you,” he said, plunging into me with his hybrid’s will and power. His movements became a blur; his muscles rubbed me roughly and powerfully.
“Oh, Ares!” I cried for mercy. The wave was coming, pushing me to the edge.
His cock became as rigid and hard as the granite. His coming approached in a tidal wave. His mouth dropped to the mating mark he’d claimed on the base of my neck and his tongue licked it.
“Mine!” he roared. “Mine forever!”
His body tensed like a coiled whip before he released it. The prince hit the very depth of me and pumped his seed into my well. I let go as I fell off the cliff and landed on the high waves that came to meet me.
As our orgasms throbbed and echoed each other’s, our mating bond radiated like the sun.
“My mate, my love, my future queen,” he said, emptying himself completely into me.
~
Afterwards, I pressed my face on his chest, my hand circling his bellybutton lazily.
The Fey Empress would send for me soon, but now I wanted to spend all of the idle time with Ares.
“We’ll talk to the Fey about the cure,” he said. “As soon as we have it, we’ll leave for Atlantis. I need to go see my father.”
“You can leave me here.”
He growled. “I’ll never leave you behind. A Dragonian doesn’t separate from his mate.”
Would his temper ever ease?
“You’re only a half Dragonian.”
“It doesn’t matter. Wherever I go, you go.”
I hoped he wouldn’t say more about being his shadow or him leading and me following. We’d just had a hot sex. I wasn’t in a biting mood.
“You’ll sleep in my arms every night and wake up every morning with my cock buried deep inside you. I’ll fuck you whenever I get a chance, and you’ll scream my name when you come.”
It sounded enticing. But he got the most out of it.
“But—” I started.
“You’ll like Atlantis,” he coaxed. “We’ll live in the western dome of the golden tower. You’ll have everything you ever want. And your wolves can live in our garden.”
“My pack likes to hunt. I don’t think they like pretty gardens.”
“Everyone needs to learn to make a compromise in order to live in peace and harmony, which includes your wolves.”
Good luck talking to my pack about that, especially the she-wolf Lenka.
His tone softened as he glanced down at my sour expression.
“If you worry about the wolves hunting the servants,” he said, “I’ll have the guardians to keep them in check. You don’t need to worry about a thing from now on, love.”
Maybe other females wanted that—not to worry about anything, but that wasn’t what I had in mind for my life. I hadn’t had time to process all of the changes and hadn’t had a chance to come up with a plan for my future.
“So both my wolves and I just got ourselves a huge, gilded cage?” I said.
“It’s not a cage. If you insist on it being a cage, I’m living in it with you, aren’t I?
“I don’t like my life to be any different than before, Ares. I like to roam freely.”
“Yes, in my—our palace and our garden. Even in Atlantis, when the elite guards escort you.”
Again, a cage.
“You aren’t just the wolf girl now, Freyja,” he said. “Now everyone knows that you’re the First Witch. You’ve demonstrated your great power and made a declaration to the world.”
“I didn’t exactly announce my debut,” I said. “I was merely trying to survive.”
“You did well, love,” he said. “But now that we’ve mated, things will be different. I’ll give time to adjust.” He raised his torso to plant a quick kiss on my lips to assure me and flashed me a grin. “I’m a patient man.”
He’d never once demonstrated his patience ever since I’d met him.
But if this was the beginning of a negotiation, I needed to get a better deal.
“It’s for me to decide where I go, sit, or sleep,” I said. “Even though we’ve mated, it doesn’t give you the right to decide everything for me. And you don’t get to determine my future path either.”
“Your future is with me,” he said, then at my dark look, he asked, “How about we make decisions together?”
He was offering to co-rule if I became his future queen. I darted my eyes slowly as I considered it.
“I love you, Freyja. I’ll make things work for you, for us. Tell me, what do you want to do next? Where would you like to go?”
“I’m thinking of returning to my forest home.”
“Then I’ll go live with you and your pack.”
“But you have a kingdom to run.”
“What is a kingdom to me without you? Since you won’t live me with in Atlantis, then I’ll have to go to the place you choose.”
I gazed at him. He meant it. He was going to give up his kingdom for me. And it wasn’t the first time. When he’d chosen me over the witch, he’d given up the new, phantom kingdom the Oracle had said the First Witch was going to bring to him.
I still had no idea how I was going to do that. I was still Freyja. I had no money, no army, and definitely no kingdom in my palms. Though I wasn’t hunted at the moment, my grandfather would never give up coveting my power. He would return to harvest me at the next possible opportunity. Danger and threat would always be around me.
Ares knew, yet he still chose me.
I wouldn’t live without him either. I’d realized that when I’d watched the Angel pierce Ares’ chest with an angelblade.
“I’ll live in your golden palace with you,” I said. “I’ll go to Atlantis.”
He blinked. “Wasn’t that what I proposed in the first place?” Then he shook his head. “All right then, I’ll always ask you before making decisions for us.”
“Ask nicely and we’ll make decisions together,” I said.
He slid his hand to cup my sex. “Should I ask first and nicely now?”
Heat rose in me, but I didn’t need to raise a finger to seduce him. The prince wasn’t any more disciplined than I, although he’d constantly demanded I learn it when we’d been on the road. His cock expanded to full length, harder than a rock.
Before I rode him again, I needed to make sure one last thing.
“You do realize that even though I’m the First Witch,” I said, “I’m nothing like what the Oracle said. I have nothing to offer you.”
“You have everything to offer me,” he said. “Just look at your hot body.”
His hand started rubbing my sex, and his eyes darkened with desire. We were insatiable toward each other.
“Is my body the only thing you value?” I hissed.
He sighed, laying on his side and pulling me against his chest.
“You’re the First Witch on Earth, Freyja,” he said. “Do you know what it means for the future of our kingdom?”
“I don’t see my being the First Witch having anything to do with the future of a kingdom.”
“You don’t see it now, my silly mate. We’re the first powerful hybrids and the beginning of a whole new race. Our children will be superior in every aspect. They’ll have my strength and your magic. You’ll produce many little witches and warlocks with my enhanced genetic makeup, little wife. They’ll dominate the Earth. The pure-blood advanced humans won’t lead, nor will the Dragonians. The Fey can hide inside their walls. The world will evolve and they will be
left behind and forgotten. But our offspring will lead Earth to a new era. We’re the start of that great future—you and me. That’s what the Oracle meant. That’s why she sent me to find you.”
So his ambition was back. So quickly?
I narrowed my eyes. “Aren’t you giddy that you got yourself a breeder?”
“No!” He placed his large hand at the back of my skull and maneuvered my head so he could peek into my eyes. “You know what’s in my heart, Freyja. I would give up anyone and anything for you. You’re above my kingdom and myself. How do you want me to prove that to you?”
He’d proved that when he’d thrown himself at my cursed fire and the blades between me and the Angels.
I pressed a hand on the new scar on his chest. “You don’t need to prove anything.”
“Don’t you want my young, our young?” he asked.
“I’m too young for that,” I said. “I haven’t really lived yet.” Thanks to my evil grandfather and his Angel hunters.
“You can start living the life you want and I’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll share everything. As for children, we don’t need to make a plan for that right now. We have time. One day, you’ll beg me to have our super babies.”
I blushed. I wondered why I still felt shy sometimes. I’d finally known a man intimately and tried so many different sexual positions.
He smiled, obviously liking my pinkish face, and kissed both my cheeks.
“I don’t see how I’ll beg to nurse your—our—babies and change their diapers!” I said.
A laugh danced in his eyes. “When the time comes, you’ll fight me for that.”
He’d have to wait a long time for that. The heat between my legs spread and I needed to fuck him again. I was utterly addicted to the feel of his cock inside me.
He read my desire. “Take what you want, my female,” he said roughly.
He stroked my breasts; his every touch was flame in my blood, and my mind shorted. The meaningful conversation was over.
“I need a bath,” I said.
“That I can arrange,” he said, sweeping me up and carrying me toward the bathing chamber.
The tub was already filled with warm water, but Ares was in no rush to help wash me since he was more interested in caressing, exploring, and teasing the flesh between my thighs.
Primal, pure male desire distorted his handsome face.
While the wildfire coursed through my veins, he lifted my leg. My folds opened for him enthusiastically. Ares aimed the thick head of his cock at my entrance and glided in from the side, stretching and filling me.
I pushed my ass back to glide along his length, and he let me enjoy for a minute or so before taking control again and driving his enormous, hard cock into me with brutal strength.
Wolves howled outside the door, led by my beta Blaez, echoed by the red she-wolf Lenka.
My pack was here? How had that happened?
“They tracked you and found you when the Dark Lord’s legion came for you,” Ares said, not slowing his thrusting. “They climbed the cliff to try to get to you and tore into your enemies’ wings on the way down, though they were no match for the Angels.”
“I told them to go north and preserve themselves,” I said, arching my back to take him in deeper.
“They wouldn’t leave you,” he said. “By the way, I haven’t had a chance to tell you that they’ve accepted me as your mate.” He shook his head. “Ventus said that they call me your consort.”
My wolves weren’t exactly easygoing when it came to the outsiders.
I narrowed my eyes on my arrogant, powerful mate. “How? What did you do to them?”
He grinned. “Well, it took a little extra work of course, a bit of bribe, plus some degree of necessary intimidation. They’re cunning, just like you. They’re also practical.”
My pack called again outside.
Wait, I’m coming, I ordered them. And don’t scratch the door.
They flashed pictures in their heads.
They’d been playing with the blue dragon and flying alligators in the Twilight Realm’s most enchanting red forest. They weren’t too impressed with the winged beasts, but they tried to get along with them.
Well done, I commented. But all things considered, do not call them winged beasts to their faces. Especially do not call the guardians flying alligators. They’re proud and sensitive, and they’re more, just as you are more.
The wolves agreed after a bargain, and then they flashed a message.
The Fey Empress had sent them to fetch Ares and me.
Ares quickened his thrust in urgency. “I’ll take time fucking you for the whole night when we get to Atlantis, love.”
We came together in a tremble and I sank my fingernails into his thighs.
So much for helping me bathe.
CHAPTER 18
Twilight Realm
Sunset lingered above the ancient forest that shielded the Fey’s ivory city.
Silver blossoms and red leaves floated in the wind and dropped like a dream.
The rich, fickle texture of the time flowed differently in this realm than in other places on Earth. With the potent magic in me, I could sense the pulse of Earth magic—alive, fresh, and scented like the finest wine.
Wind passed by, calling me. I shivered, and Ares thought I was cold and wrapped a protective arm around me.
My wolves howled with delight, leading us toward the Empress’ royal garden. Einarr, Lucas, Caen, Boomer, and Tyrone had all joined us. The guardians flew in the wicked wind above the magical forest with the dragon.
Just as I wondered where Merlin was, we reached the Fey’s exquisite garden.
The druid was conversing with a girl wearing a crown of blue diamonds. She looked about nineteen and would forever look that way.
The Empress of Mysth turned to me, her eyes the color of moonlight streaming in a glass of whiskey that held fire of passion.
Goddess Rhea’s favorite immortal daughter.
Two powerful Angel brothers had started the civil war over her. I stole a glance at Ares, but he didn’t seem to be that impressed. Pride rose in me—he was utterly, completely mine.
His men, however, weren’t immune to Earth’s beauty. They stared at her, dumbstruck, until a growl rose somewhere.
The Emperor.
He was perfection. His eyes were a piercing ice grey. His glorious, golden wings arched behind him and radiated in the dusk.
My father had torn out the wings of the High Prince, but the Fey Empress had healed her mate with her great Earth magic. It was once tragic but now poetic that he had lost his wings for her and she had given them back to him.
Ares checked on me to see if I was touched by the High Prince’s glacial, lethal beauty.
I sent him a lopsided grin. I also was utterly his.
Empress Rose sent her husband a mildly chiding look and Ares turned to give his men a sharp glare, and all of them opted to stare ahead at nothing. Chastening achieved.
“Prince Darken, we meet again,” the Fey Empress said with a smile, then turned to me. “Freyja, welcome—”
Two Angel toddlers shot straight toward me like arrows.
Ares moved to step in front of me, ready to meet their impact, but I pressed a hand on his arm to stop him. I’d recognized them as the Emperor and Empress’ twins.
The little Angels flew around Ares and me in speedy circles, their miniature wings beating rapidly in the air.
I opened my mouth to warn them, but Empress Rose said, “Your magic won’t harm them.” Then she called out, “Elijah! Daniel! Stop pestering your cousin.”
Cousin? So the Fey Empress knew who I was. She wasn’t going to kill me. She was fulfilling her vow to my mother.
But her warning to her children didn’t seem to have any effect, since every time they flew to my side they would tug my hair and giggle. I guessed they were fascinated by its flaming color.
Ares clenched his fists then released them. He would fight a
n adult Angel at any time, but facing two naughty fat toddlers, what could you do? He was also afraid of hurting the twins and blowing my chance of getting the cure from the Empress.
The Emperor came to my aid, faster than lightning, and plucked the twins out of their high speed stream. He held each of them under one of his arms.
The little Angel kicked and screamed, tiny fists waving. The High Prince wasn’t yielding. He ordered in a stern voice, “Do you want a hard spank on your little butts? I can deliver it nicely!”
Empress Rose winced. “Seth, be careful with their wings.”
That concern immediate gave the twins an idea. They cried, urgently calling for their mother.
“Mother, Father hurt my left wing,” one of the twins called. “I’ll look like a chicken if he breaks another pretty feather.”
“My tummy hurts, Mommy!” the other twin joined. “Father must have left bruises.”
Their father grated. “You’re Angels. You don’t bruise like the mortals!”
“Consort, will you take it easy?” the Empress raised her voice.
The Emperor sighed. “We talked about parenting.”
“Parenting is about loving and caring,” the Empress said in a clipped tone. She looked like she wanted to lunge at her husband to rescue her sons.
“Eroma, we can’t keep spoiling them,” the High Prince softened his tone. “They’ll grow up into two fiends and antagonize the whole universe.” It was strange to see such a formidable Angel being so careful and gentle with his mate, but then he also called her his thorn as an endearment. “Sometimes we must discipline them for the greater good.”
“We can think about the greater good when our twins are a bit older, husband,” the Empress said. “They’ve just learned how to fly.”
“It’ll be too late then,” the Emperor sighed. “They must learn discipline at early age.”
Ares nodded in agreement and squeezed my hand meaningfully. He was still eager to have offspring with me. But wasn’t it too soon to think about parenting? I shook my head. Dragonians loved to plan things way ahead.