“Easy,” he murmured against her skin.
He deftly worked her leggings down, his tongue following the path of the fabric until it was removed from one leg and then the other. She shivered, wondering what he would do next, but he didn’t leave her in suspense. His mouth zeroed in on her pussy with such enthusiasm, sucking deeply at the lips and clit, that she threw back her head and cried out at the overwhelming pleasure. She ground against his nose, demanding more, and nearly cried when he let go, but the stroke of his long tongue sent her spiraling up again.
He worked her with his mouth, tasting and teasing with sucking tugs and long licks, driving his tongue into her depths until her sex clenched down hard with the orgasm that unfurled in her belly and slammed through her. She cried out and attempted to shift her hips away from his mouth as the pleasure became too intense, but he held her in place with a low growl and sent her spiraling into another orgasm on the heels of the first.
Wrung out, she lay beneath him panting as he sat up. His beard was wet with her release and a satisfied smile curling his lips. But it was his inhuman eyes, the pools of blue fire that flashed now with sparks of gold, that made her tremble with renewing desire. That look alone looked enough to combust into an inferno of pleasure.
“That… that was fucking awesome,” she panted and his smiled widened.
He nudged his nose against her cheek, his breath tickling her as he whispered. “I am not done with you yet, my love.”
His love…
Her lips parted in wonder, but he didn’t give her an opportunity to digest it. He twisted out of her grasp, and with a few quick movements, he flung away his tunic and kicked off his leggings and boots, leaving his pearly, hard body bare to her. From between his thighs, his cock reared up. It looked nearly human, except the tip had an almost corkscrew shape to it, the end a deep blue. Her breath slammed out of her.
What the fuck kind of dick toy is that?
It twitched under her inspection and impossibly seemed to thicken. Gods, that was going to feel incredible. She pressed her legs together tightly and swallowed, but that didn’t stop her from startling as a needy sound filled the air. It took her all of a minute to identify it as coming from her.
Aquilo grinned down at her. “Are you ready for me?” he rasped.
“Fuck yes,” she moaned as he settled over her.
The head of his cock kissed her opening as he rubbed against her, coating it in her slick thoroughly as she shook against him from the overstimulation. It made three passes before the head notched at her opening and slid deep in one long, powerful thrust.
Agatha kicked up against him, gasping at the pleasure-sting of his invasion. It wasn’t enough; it couldn’t be enough. When he kept himself in place, she assumed to give her time to adjust to his girth, she looped one leg around his hip and rocked against him, grinding hard until he murmured his approval and slid half-out before ramming deep. Her breath exploded out of her with a shout. She was barely aware of wrapping her other leg around him, but it gave her the necessary leverage as she rocked against him with his every thrust.
Large hands seized her hips, pulling her bottom up off the bed as he fucked her down into the mattress. Normally, she would have been self-conscious about the way her tits were bouncing all over the place as he rutted her, but she couldn’t even put two thoughts together to be concerned about it. Agatha shouted, encouraging him to give it to her harder—faster. She felt the air around her stir and the rippling sound of his wings as they beat the air.
That movement of his wings seemed to give an extra something to his thrust that had them both crying out, her nails digging into his broad shoulders as their climaxes exploded through them. Her pussy seized around him, gripping tight and dragging him deep within her, milking him with every pulse of her internal walls around his girth. She shivered against him as his cock jerked and filled with stream after stream of cum.
Slowly, his wings lowered around her, soft feathers dappled cream, gray, and white falling around her like a beautiful curtain. She ran a hand against one wing and smiled as one wing quivered and his body trembled against hers. He turned his head and nipped her on the shoulder.
“Behave, woman,” he growled.
She grinned up at him, but the moment was shattered by plaintive screech on the other side of the door. Aquilo groaned and rolled off her, carrying her with him as he settled on the bed with her body pillowed against his.
“Ignore him and he will go away,” he grumbled.
Agatha sucked in her lips in an attempt to quell her smile. If the griffin was anything like the cat she once had…
Another hideous screech filled the air, and she burst out laughing. The male beside her turned an incredulous glare on her.
“Think this is funny, do you? He has never done this before. This is your fault.”
She chuckled despite herself. “In that case, I can tell you right now that there’s no winning this. Veli will just sit out there and cry until you let him in.”
“We will just ignore it. I will not be manipulated by my own griffin,” he grumbled. He turned in bed until a particularly hair-raising shriek filled the room that had him bolting up in bed. Aquilo ran a hand down his face.
“Fine. Just tonight,” he hissed as he stalked to the door and let the griffin in.
He did not so much as look at the beast as it padded inside. He merely closed the door behind him and slipped back into bed with her and cuddled her close, one wing falling over her protectively. Agatha snuggled down into the bedding and sighed as the griffin hopped on the bed. Veli settled at the foot of the bed and began to purr. She blinked sleepily, the strange crooning lulling her into slumber. The last thing she heard was a hiss as the world fell away from around her.
Jerking awake on the street, she dropped the burned-out match with the others. A small, distressed cry fell from her lips as she fumbled for the box with her reddened, stinging fingers. She had to blink rapidly against the snow to focus on the matches. The storm was getting worse.
Lifting her gaze, she scanned the street. There was hardly anyone out right now. No one would blame her for going back. There were no coins to earn, and she was eager to be back in bed with Aquilo. She still ached pleasantly from their lovemaking.
She had to go back.
Shuffling back to a sheltered overhang where the snow wasn’t quite as brutal, she opened the matchbox. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered that it was better to do this in her small apartment. It would still be cold, but at least warmer than standing out in the snow. She shook her head. If she left her corner and word got back to Mr. Hastings, she would never be given another opportunity, from him or those who he knew, to earn her coppers. She wouldn’t walk away from her post, but she was getting the fuck out of there back to Aquilo’s bed.
Shivering, she pulled out a match and happened to glance up to see a pale woman walking in the distance. White hair flowed around her, and dark eyes seemed to peer through the snow at her. A dark, feathered cloak stirred in the air around her. The way the woman was looking around on the street, head swinging from one direction to another, was almost creepy. Agatha pressed herself closer into the shadows of the building and looked away. She wasn’t interested in selling matches to the crazy woman out in the storm, or anyone.
With a flick, the match sparked to life and carried her away again in a burst of light.
Chapter 14
Aquilo clenched his jaw but adopted a passive expression as he watched Agatha mingle among the females in the kitchen. Although the lupi and Eltha could sense his frustration, he was controlling his temper for Agatha’s benefit. She was having such a good time that he did not want her to know he was practically gnashing his teeth.
The frost sprites still had not located her, and he felt they were running out of time. Although Agatha’s smile was bright as ever, there was something different. She moved a bit slower and tired sooner. It alarmed him to watch her physical condition deteriorating a
s his fortress slowly brightened and came alive. Everywhere, there was a careful touch of her hand. Garlands draped from every surface of his study and the throne room, and he had heard that several had gone back to the west wing and had served to increase the spirit of merrymaking among the lupi.
She was a wonder, and he felt like he was slowly losing her.
He couldn’t. Not just when he had finally found his bride.
“What is this again?” Eltha asked, holding a bipedal figure up skeptically. Her lips curved in a smile, however, when she gave it a sniff and murmured with appreciation. “You’re saying these are men it is okay to eat?” she teased.
The lupas in the kitchen snickered as Agatha laughed.
“That’s about right. You can eat as many as you like… on the solstice,” she amended with a wink. “But I think it will be okay if we all enjoy one right now. Do we still have coffee?”
Eltha nodded and moved away to set a coffee pot on the stove. “It’ll be ready in just a few minutes,” she announced. “Might as well go ahead and enjoy eating your men. I know I will,” she added with a lascivious wink in her mate’s direction.
Opis smirked from where he lingered at the far side of the kitchen, waiting on hand for any task that the females might assign him. Technically, Aquilo was pretending to do likewise, but he doubted he fooled anyone. Everyone knew that he was there because he could not bear to leave Agatha’s side when he was so on edge. He felt that if he blinked or left her alone for just a moment, she would disappear. Waking up in the night with his bed empty had let him know that even making her his in every way failed to keep her by his side.
Agatha did not seem as concerned with her weakening state, and that frustrated him almost as much as his inability to locate her human body. Whenever he tried to bring it up during the day, she had merely pressed in close beneath his wing and assured him that she was fine. But she was not. He could see that even as she snorted at Eltha’s joke and passed around the tray of excess gingerbread men.
Hands snatched up the extra cookies, all except for two that Agatha rescued. She promptly handed him one, and he turned it around in his hands. He brought it up and sniffed at it. It was unlike anything he had ever eaten. It was hard and had a strangely sweet, spicy smell to it that was foreign enough that he was uncertain if it was edible or just meant to fragrance an area. The others did not seem to have any such qualms as the gingerbread men were consumed eagerly with pleased murmurs. He arched an eyebrow at it. He still was not convinced.
“Quit glaring at it and eat,” she huffed at him, lips quirking with amusement despite the irritated glare she was leveling at him. She leaned down to toss half of her cookie to Veli, who sulked just outside the doorway.
The hardheaded creature was behaving worse and worse. Instead of galivanting around the mountain with his kin, he was inseparable from Agatha and became difficult to deal with when separated from her. Griffins were the terror of the northern mountains, and Veli had been reduced to a giant domesticated cat.
“I will take his portion if he does not want it,” Opis offered, his hulking frame moving forward through the kitchen, threatening to snatch the morsel away.
The one given to him by his bride.
Aquilo’s wings snapped open and shook as he hissed threateningly. He bared his fangs in warning seconds before he shoved the gingerbread into his mouth. Growling around his mouthful of cookie, he was suddenly aware of just how ridiculous he looked as Agatha cupped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. The females looked away discreetly, but Opis’s laughter boomed through the small confines, eliciting a disgruntled growl from Veli. The griffin fluffed up his wings and slinked closer to Agatha’s legs, invading the corner of the kitchen despite being kicked out earlier.
Tucking his wings back in a more dignified position, Aquilo bit down, snapping the head and one arm from the small man. The rich, sweet flavor of something she called maple and the familiar flavor of ginger coated his tongue. It was so strong that for a moment it left him undecided on whether or not he liked it, but as the flavor faded, he took another bite, enjoying the renewed hit of spices sending another warm burst through him. There was something quite enjoyable about the cookie. Moments later, a cup of coffee was shoved into his hand, and he sipped gratefully at it as he watched the large batches of ginger cookies gathered up and stored.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted a shadow crouched near the floor. The kallikantzaros slinked forward, tail whipping and head tilted back as it looked for a purchase to scramble up onto the counter. He did not have to say anything, however, because Veli snapped the little pest up with his beak, his wings fluffing up with pride as he spun away with the small being clutched firmly in his beak.
Agatha gasped at his side, and he glanced down at her to find her staring after the griffin with a look of horror on her face.
“He’s not going to eat the little guy, is he?”
Aquilo wrinkled his nose in the direction Veli departed.
“No. He enjoys catching them. He will merely toy with the kallikantzaros for a time before he carries it off and drops it far from the fortress. Kallikantzaroi are a difficult to kill breed of fae, if possible at all.”
“Oh, good. He was kind of adorable. I had planned to give him a bit of cookie if he came any closer. Veli snapping him up probably terrified him!”
He stared at her. “Do not feed the kallikantzaroi! They will infest this fortress for the entire duration of the solstice if you do!”
“Who is feeding kallikantzaroi?” Opis barked from across the room, his face scrunching up into a fierce grimace as his ears snapped forward in alert.
Agatha raised her hands in surrender. “No one. I promise!”
Aquilo sighed and dropped his head to nuzzle her and press a kiss against her jaw. “You are far too soft-hearted. I see that I will have to keep a close eye on anything that makes its way into this dwelling with you about,” he chuckled.
She turned her head up, a playful grin tugging at her lips. “I promise, no infesting creatures. But what’s wrong with kallikantzaroi?”
He was aware that his pained grimace probably mirrored the one worn by his ogre friend, but answered her, nonetheless.
“They typically live deep beneath the earth, but every solstice they come above ground with ravenous appetites. One kallikantzaros will eat the entire storehouse of a single family. An infestation in the fortress would obliterate all food that we have until they depart following the end of the solstice,” he muttered.
Agatha paled slightly. “I had no idea. Well, as long as we aren’t hurting them, I have no objection to getting them out of here.” Her lips twitched. “I can’t help but feel a little sorry for the one snagged by Veli.” Clearing her throat, she glanced over at the lupas. “So, what’s the plan for today? I think we managed to get all of the decorations hung, although it would be nice to have a tree.”
A lupa, Rosemerta, stepped forward and smiled shyly. “We have one in the lupi village that we decorate every solstice eve. I know it is not the same as having one here, but since it is late to bring one this year, we would love you to join us in decorating it. I’m sure Aquilo is planning on bringing you down tonight anyway for solstice eve. He feasts with us every year when the families of the fortress go home to spend the day with our kin. You will love our celebration, I think. It is not like the fortress at all. The entire village celebrates. There’s much merriment!”
Aquilo stilled. He had not planned on attending this year. Especially not with Agatha looking frailer today. The last thing he wanted to do was take her from the mountain, much less surround her with all rowdy excitement of a lupi village. Yet he did not have the heart to say no, not when she clapped with excitement and beamed up at the taller lupa.
“A holiday party! Oh, it’s been forever since I’ve been to one. I hope they don’t mind a human among them.” She chuckled, but the laughter sounded strained, as if she was genuinely concerned.
He bru
shed her cheek with her knuckles. “They will adore you and be pleased to have your company there. Do not worry.”
The lupa who spoke gave a giddy nod. “I guarantee once word arrives that you are coming this eve, the village will see a celebration that we’ve never seen before.”
Agatha gave her a curious glance, but Aquilo knew and smiled kindly down at the lupa. All of his people had been waiting long for him to find a bride. Naturally, the village would wish to celebrate her first solstice among them.
Opis sighed. “I suppose I will bring my ax, then,” he groused good-naturedly. His surliness belied by the broad grin he gave his mate.
“And I will carry down a sack of gingerbread,” Eltha said brightly. “With your permission of course, Agatha,” she tacked on hopefully.
“Of course with the gingerbread!” Agatha laughed. “In fact, leave a small amount for the feast tomorrow. We will take the rest! There’s no reason to keep it here instead of sharing it among everyone!”
Eltha nodded in agreement and sent Opis to find a large sack while the lupas set to work preparing boxes of treats. Kadana, from her guard near the door, peeked in and grinned at the flurry of excitement as the females began to talk excitedly amongst each other. Aquilo used the opportunity to tuck Agatha close against his body, wings brushing her in concern. Tilting her head up with one hand, he ran his thumb against her jaw as he searched her eyes.
“Are you certain that you wish to make this trip down?” he murmured. “You seem tired, and the lupi pups can be a bit much during the festivities. There will be other years.” He would make sure of it.
She smiled up at him, her hand cupping around his hand against her cheek. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the solstice. I once lost sight of the fact that the solstice was about family. The lupi and Opis and Eltha… they’re all your family. I’m fine, and I want to go.”
He frowned down at her uncertainly but nodded and captured her lips with his in an all-too-short kiss.
Matchsticks: A Dark Spirits Fairytale Page 10