Cruel as a Queen

by Kendra Moreno

  “Hello, Flam,” I say, tipping my chin up. I’m still upset with him for leaving me at the party, so I keep my voice neutral.

  His great mane moves as he shakes his head. Doe. The word appears in my mind, his voice penetrating the walls of my consciousness to speak.

  Flam throws his head back, and I hear the distinct sound of bones popping as his body shifts before my eyes. It’s a similar process when I shift, the pain great but comfortable. I can’t imagine what such a large form feels like as he transforms back to his human body, a very naked human body. My eyes trail down his body, taking in the tattoos that cover every inch of his skin. His muscles are tense as he stands in the clearing outside my cottage, waiting for my reaction. When I meet his eyes, his jaw is clenched hard, his gaze intense.

  “What are you doing at my home, Flamingo?” I hide how enthralled I am with him, how much I want to rush forward and throw my arms around him. He has some explaining to do first.

  He raises a brow at me, his eyes finding the stack of paintings against my wall, and I curse myself that I didn’t turn them backwards when I set them there. “I couldn’t stay away.” His voice is rough, as if he hasn’t talked for a while.

  “It’s been five days.”

  “I know.”

  “Five days,” I repeat, my voice harsh. “You left me without explanation, and then didn’t come back for five days.”

  “I know,” he growls. “And I would have stayed away longer if I could help it.”

  I sniff and cross my arms. “Then you can just turn right back around and disappear, pretty bird. I don’t have time for someone who doesn’t know what they want.”

  “That’s the problem.” Flam takes a step closer, but I don’t react. “I know exactly what I want, but that doesn’t mean I should have it.”

  “And why is that?” I glare at him. “Because of who your father was? Because everyone thinks you’re some sort of brutal beast? Because you hurt yourself with those thoughts far more than anyone else can? That’s shit, Flam.” I sigh and drop my arms, rubbing my temple instead. “No one can decide your fate except for you, and right now, the only one standing between us is you, not your father.”

  Flam’s jaw clenches hard before a husky chuckle slips from his lips. “Leave it to the Dodo bird to tell me who I am. You don’t know me, little bird. I’m not some pet.”

  “And who told you I wanted a pet?” I step forward. “Who told you that I am a cage? Or that you would clip my wings?” When he doesn’t answer, I storm forward until we’re toe to toe, until I can glare up into his face. All my anger comes tumbling out, sharp as a whip, as I stab him in the chest with my finger. “You’re making up false versions of what us being together could mean, Flam, and I won’t have it.”

  “I’m only trying to protect you,” he snarls, wrapping strong fingers around my wrist when I try to stab him with my nail again. “You could die!”

  “Then that is my decision, my risk to take. I don’t need your protection. I want your heart, you ignorant asshole, not some false sense of safety.”

  Those words hang in the air between us, and his face softens marginally. “Are you sure I have a heart, little bird?” he whispers, his fingers soft around my wrist. “Are you sure I’m worth the risk?”

  I scoff, ignoring the tingles shooting down my arm and into my core as his thumb gently rubs against my skin. “Are those really the questions you need to ask?” I shake my head. “I wouldn’t be here if either of my answers were no.”

  Flam’s other hand gently cups my hip, and the one round my wrist releases it and slides down to grab my waist. “If I let myself claim you,” he whispers, “it won’t be possible for me to stay away when I become too much, when I scare you. It’s not in my nature. You’ll have to put me down.”

  I shake my head at him. “There’s no reason to worry, Flam. I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Even though being with me means a lifetime of being spoken about behind your back, of being shunned, or dealing with my beast?”

  “First, let people speak. I don’t care what they think. Second, if I’m invited to less parties, then that’s a win in my book. And finally, there’s nothing to deal with. Just let go, Flam. There’s nothing holding you back but your own mind.”

  “You’ll put me down if I lose control?” he asks, his voice rough.

  “I won’t—”

  “You have to promise,” he growls, and then realizes what he said. “Please?”

  “I won’t promise that.” I narrow my eyes. “There’s no need for such a promise.”

  “You’re so fucking stubborn,” he snarls, his hands clenching hard at my sides, but I don’t back down. “I’m a fucking monster, and I’m trying to protect you!” I roll my eyes which only seems to set him off more. He yanks me hard against him, and I feel his hardness against my stomach. My eyes widen, and I look down, but we’re pressed too closely to see anything. “You seriously rolled your eyes at me?”

  “Stop being an idiot, and I wouldn’t have to do so.” I keep my voice calm, but I can’t help the quiver that threads through my words. It isn’t from fear, no, far from it. Arousal courses through my body as I curl my hands around Flam’s strong shoulders.

  “You’re infuriating!”

  “Everyone says that, yes.”

  Words don’t even penetrate his next snarl. He just dips his head and latches his teeth around the sensitive muscle of my shoulder, the bite painful for a split second before it transforms to pleasure. My legs turn to jelly on a gasp, and my core grows damp. He clamps down a little harder, and I cry out, ready to melt into a puddle.

  When he releases my shoulder, I know there will be a mark there, one he purposely leaves behind. He kisses the spot gently, his tongue dancing against my skin. “Aren’t you going to invite me into your home?” he asks, his voice thick with arousal.

  “Why would I do that?” I groan, my eyes sliding closed as his lips continue to trail along my shoulder.

  “Because you want to.”

  The urge to tease overtakes me, and I lean back a little from him.

  “You mean, I should invite the big bad pretty bird into my house?” I grin at him. “Everyone will say how brutal the Flamingo is, how much of a harlot I am.” I mock gasp. “What would my mother say?”

  “Keep teasing, Doe,” he growls, “and I’ll make sure you won’t be able to after I’m done with you.” I laugh, amused, but Flam doesn’t seem to be in a joking mood. A wicked smile curls his lips as he threads his fingers through my hair and wrenches my head back, exposing my neck to him. Fire dances in his eyes as his other hand keeps my body tightly pressed against his. “Do you think I’m brutal, little bird?”

  I wiggle against him, so turned on I can’t quite figure out what to do with myself, so I wrap my own claws around his neck, curling them against the corded muscle there. “Yes,” I breathe.

  Mischief curls his lips, so wicked I can hardly bear it. “Good,” he growls, and then he claims my lips with his.

  Chapter 6

  Flam

  My thoughts are scattered and yet arrowed as I roughly take Doe’s lips, as I imagine taking her soul within mine. Here’s this woman offering herself up on a silver platter, and fuck it all, I want her! No matter my insecurities, or my fears, both of my warring sides want to possess her in ways I’ve never wanted to before. My mind dances on the paintings she has stacked against her home, of the dozens of images of me in different settings, different poses. I almost purr at the thought that I’ve been in her mind as much as she’s been in mine. Some logical side of myself says that’s not a good thing, that I should walk away now and leave her alone, but I’m already in too deep. There’s no going back, and even though she wouldn’t make the promise to put me down if I become too much, I’ll make sure there’s something in place should it come to that. I may be a beast, but I don’t want to be a killer.

  I back Doe against the nearest tree, her easel and paints she had set up there scattering as I
push them away. Doe breaks the kiss.

  “Those were good supplies, you—”

  I don’t let her finish her sentence. I claim her mouth again quickly before breaking it to kiss her neck. “I’ll get you new ones,” I growl, pressing her back hard against the bark of the tree. She’s wearing a dress today in pale blue, a color that brings out the blue in her feathers, and I hum in pleasure when I find a break in the skirts. It’s not as high as the one she’d been wearing at the Queen’s Tea Party but it’s enough. I drop to my knees before her, hiking her leg over my shoulder, before she knows what’s happening.

  “What are you doing?” she asks in surprise, grabbing hold of my other shoulder to steady herself. I don’t answer her. I take her completely off of her feet, draping her other leg around my shoulder so that it’s only me and the tree holding her aloft. She lets out a startled squeak that turns into a long moan when I place my mouth against her core and suck. She bucks against my face, and I dart my tongue out to stroke. I might be half flamingo, but I still have the tongue of a Jabberwocky. “Oh!” she cries, her claws digging into my scalp, painful but perfect. I have the urge to make her as brutal as I am.

  “Is this what you want?” I groan against her core. “To see me on my knees before you?”

  She clamps her thighs around my head in answer. “Don’t start,” she snarls, and shoves my face in harder against her. She’s strong, but not as strong as I am. I resist, keeping my lips away from her core. I laugh.

  “You said I was brutal, little bird. You teased me,” I slip my finger into her core, and she moans, but I don’t replace my lips, “and yet, you don’t want to be teased.”

  “You’re right,” she moans. “I’m sorry I teased you.”

  “You’re not.” I press my lips against her inner thigh, lingering there. “You’re just trying to get me to eat you again.”

  “Wonder, if you don’t stop talking, I can promise I will eat you whole,” she growls, shoving me back away from her. I let her push me, careful to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself as we both tumble backwards into the high grass. I land with her on top of me, my cock standing straight up in anticipation. “You want to tease, pretty bird?” she purrs, licking a path up my chest that makes my brain short-circuit. “I’ve read that Jabberwockies like to chase their mates,” she whispers.

  I don’t have a chance to comment, or deny, or tell her anything. She’s gone from my chest before I can blink, and I barely catch the skirt of her dress disappearing into the trees. Everything inside of me awakens, and a roar bellows from my throat. I’m on my feet before I realize it, chasing after the Dodo bird.

  In all my years, I’ve never had the pleasure of a chase, most women far too apprehensive to do more than a quick fuck out of curiosity before they leave. My chest rumbles as I dart into the woods, following the sound of Doe’s steps.

  “That wasn’t wise, little bird,” I call as I run, knowing she can hear me. “When I catch you, you’ll pay for that.”

  Laughter reaches my ears, and I change directions, following the sound. “You mean if you catch me,” she answers in a breathy pant. “I’m the fastest in Wonderland, pretty bird.”

  I growl. Such a naughty little bird.

  Dodo

  I sprint through the forest on strong legs, the thrill of the chase lighting me up in ways I’d never planned for. I had read the small line in a book long ago, that Jabberwockies like to chase, but I had been taking a chance running from Flam. He’s only half Jabberwocky; he could have easily lost that trait to his flamingo side, but the sound of him growling behind me lets me know exactly what he thinks about it.

  The Flamingo is excited.

  I’m much faster in my dodo form, but that isn’t the game we’re playing. I want to be caught eventually, not actually run from him.

  I circle around my cottage, keeping us close but not risking being caught too soon.

  “Little bird,” he teases. “You can’t evade me for long.”

  I chuckle, darting around a tree. I debate scaling one of the things and letting him pass me, but I’m not certain if he would fall for that trick.

  “Pretty bird,” I coo. “You can’t catch me.”

  He snarls in answer, and I hear him pick up speed. Oops, probably shouldn’t have challenged .

  “When I catch you,” he pants, “all of Wonderland will hear you scream out my name.” I stumble over a root but catch myself, sprinting as fast as possible. My dress catches on thorns, shredding the skirt, but I don’t care. “You’ll beg me to take you, to claim you, to possess your body, and when you think you can go no more, I’ll take you again, until I’m a brand on your soul.”

  “That’s a pretty big promise.” I swerve around another tree, hearing him get closer. He’s apparently faster than me in human form, something I didn’t account for. Maybe I should find somewhere to hide, after all. I head in the direction of my cottage. I hear the exact moment Flam changes, too, heading for me.

  I dart out of the tree line right into my clearing with barely enough time to duck behind the giant tree I’d been painting under, the trunk wide enough to conceal me. I hear Flam come out a second later and pause. I take slow, silent breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

  “Little bird,” he calls, taking slow steps into the clearing. “Where are you hiding?”

  As he moves further into the clearing, I slowly shift around the trunk, keeping myself hidden. Flam pauses. I wait for a minute without hearing him move before I wrinkle my brow in confusion. I close my eyes, searching wide with my senses, listening. Nothing, I hear nothing. Did he leave? I open my eyes, ready to step out of my hiding spot, and gasp.

  Flam stands in front of me, his chest heaving up and down, a wicked smile on his face. “Caught you.”

  “Not yet!” I laugh, darting to the side, but he’s too close, and I don’t really want to keep running, anyway.

  Flam loops an arm around my hips and scoops me up, his chest pressed into my back. “Ah, ah, ah,” he chides, his fingers closing around my breast and squeezing. “I have plans for you.” His fingers find the edge of my dress, and he shreds it from my body with claws that never nick my skin. The material pools at my feet until we’re both nude, standing flesh to flesh. “You want my beast?” he whispers in my ear, his fingers clenching my breast again while the other dives between my legs and strokes me. I gasp, grinding back against his hardness.

  “I want you however you are,” I moan. My legs fall out from underneath me as he takes me down to the grass, my breath leaving me on a laugh. I stop laughing, however, when he slides his cock between my folds, rubbing there. But he pauses, and I groan in frustration. “Stop hesitating,” I growl, twisting to look at him over my shoulder. The indecisiveness I saw on his face disappears, and his brutality takes over, the challenge met.

  Flam slams home inside my core, hard enough that I cry out. He doesn’t give me time to adjust before he repeats the motion, pulling out and slamming in again. “Fuck!” he snarls, before he loses all control, and I feel his powers dance out and kiss my skin as he fucks me harder. I scream in pleasure, gripping the grass beneath my fingers, the pace punishing and perfect. Something smells like it’s burning, but I can’t think clearly enough to focus on it as the Flamingo claims me completely.

  Phantom fingers circle my breasts, ramping my pleasure higher, as his powers spread and feed off of his arousal.

  “Yes!” I scream, “Flam!”

  “Louder!” he snarls, “scream it louder. Tell everyone who claims you.” He spears me so hard I nearly choke at the pleasure-pain, my body tightening hard in answer. “Scream for all of Wonderland to hear.”

  My orgasm hits me with his words, and I scream his name so loud that my voice cracks. An answering roar spills from his lips as his fingers clamp around my hips in a bruising grasp, his rhythm stuttering as he pumps his seed into my body.

  We both collapse into the grass, panting hard, my hair a wild tumble around me. Flam stays nestled inside
me as we lay there, trying to regain some of our senses.

  That’s until the smell of smoke and fire reaches my senses completely.

  I sit up with a start to see that we’re laying in a ring of pink flames, the grass it sits on black and charred. My favorite tree is safe at least, and the flames don’t touch us.

  “Umm, Flam?” I ask, staring in wonder at the sight. The flames die before my eyes when he clamps his hand around my waist and nuzzles into my side.

  “I’m sorry. I lost control.”

  “It’s okay,” I grin, leaning down to place a kiss against his skin. “I like when you lose control.”

  Flam pulls me down and climbs on top of me, his fuchsia eyes bright with the flames that had surrounded us. “It doesn’t scare you?” His eyes drop to my breasts, and he leans down to capture one between his lips.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” I groan, wrapping my legs around his hips.

  “Good.”

  Our next coupling is slow and languid, and when the Flamingo brings us to a rising crescendo before carrying me inside my cottage, I give him my heart on a silver platter.

  The beautiful thing is, he gives me his, too.

  Chapter 7

  Flam

  “Care to accompany me to the Heathen Festival, little bird?”

  Doe groans, covering her face with the book she’d been reading. We’re relaxing out in her clearing, she’s happy with a book, and I’m happy to watch her in comfort. We seem to work well together, and it has calmed my insecurities a little.

  “Another party?” Her voice is muffled by the book she holds over her lips, and I reach up and pull it away. Her dark eyes meet mine, and although she had sounded annoyed, there’s a smile on her lips.

  “This one, though, is celebrated for the creatures like me,” I remind her.