BLOODPRINCE

by WEST

  Levi stepped up beside him and grabbed his hands, pulling them and gripping his shoulders. “Stop it, Cole. You’ll hurt yourself.”

  “I hate it! I won’t look like this!”

  Levi shook him none too gently. “Stop it. I’ve explained to you that a faery’s beauty is a lure—a trap in a way. Most faeries can be treacherous, rather wicked creatures to outsiders and both males and females are far from being helpless or feminine. They are some of the fiercest, bravest warriors in our realm.”

  Cole sagged a little, closing his eyes and allowed Levi to draw him back over to the bed. Why was he still trying to fight it? He may as well let the madness take him over completely.

  “We’re going to shower and then rest a while,” Levi said. “Going through a Blood Gate can be exhausting, especially as far as we’ve come. Then afterwards, we’ll go back down to speak to my father over supper.”

  Levi pulled him down beside him on the bed and his hands pulled busily at his tie. “You’ll feel better without this stiff uniform, darling.” He pushed the black shirt over his arms and threw it on the floor. “I’ll give you some new clothes—some that fit you better than these.” He continued to ease him out of his clothing, and as each piece fell away, it felt like a piece of his old life fell away from him too. He felt disoriented and confused. Everything was moving too fast and he needed it all to slow down, but his energy was fading.

  “I want you, Cole.” Levi pulled his head back and cast that clear-eyed gaze directly into his face.

  With a groan, Cole grabbed his hand and pulled it to his groin. His thick, eager cock throbbed for Levi’s touch. He knew he was a slut for this man, this demon, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Whenever Levi was close to him like this, all he could think of was his hands on him. Maybe it was some demon magic, or something more subtle, like that incredible sweet cream smell that radiated off him, but whatever it was, he couldn’t be bothered to care. Levi bent down to kiss the head of his cock. Cole sucked in a tight breath. This had to be a dream. He’d wake up in a minute and be back home, alone in his apartment and this would all have been a dream.

  “Tell me you want this, sweetheart. Tell me you like the idea of being my consort.”

  “I-I…oh God,” Cole moaned in reply, surprised at how out of breath he was becoming. He needed to get a grip on his emotions and fast. Levi was a half-demon. He couldn’t be in love so fast with such a creature. Or be in love at all after such a short time. It was impossible. Why then was he feeling like this? Like if Levi didn’t make love to him soon, he’d explode. Maybe it really was demon magic.

  A faraway blast sounded outside and Cole strained against Levi, trying to sit up. “What was that?”

  Levi pushed him back down and tangled his hands in Cole’s curls. “Nothing, I’m sure. Just my father’s goblins on some training maneuvers. They’re probably putting on a show of force to impress your brother. Now where was I? Oh yes…” He bent back to his task, licking his rough tongue up the shaft of Cole’s cock, making him squirm.

  Cole rested his hands on Levi’s soft hair and heard himself give out a guttural moan as soft lips fastened around his cock and took him in, deep-throating him. The demon was talented, he had to hand him that. His lips kept up a steady pressure as his velvet tongue slid up and down Cole’s shaft, sometimes stopping at the head to gently nibble or slip down into his slit. God, if this kept up, he was going to embarrass himself by coming in less than a minute.

  Levi looked up into Cole’s eyes, breathing through his nose. Then he tucked his head and did a little nod, and Cole felt the firm helmet on the head of his cock pop fully down Levi’s slippery throat. Cole heard himself emit a guttural moan. The muscles of his cock spasmed, and he squeezed his fists, praying not to lose himself to an orgasm before he could really focus on what the hell was happening. His balls tightened, and he felt a tingling at the base of his spine. Cole was breathing rapidly and trying to hang on as Levi pulled off a little and licked slowly up his shaft, swirling his tongue over the head again.

  The sounds of yelling outside the palace were getting louder, but Levi paid them no attention as he ran his hands down Cole’s thighs and between his legs, still licking greedily at his cock. His hands moved up to fondle his balls, and Cole shifted his legs to open them wider and give him access. Levi pulled off to look up at him and slowly and deliberately wet his fingers. A soft touch on his hole made Cole widen his eyes and clench around the burn from the finger that had slipped up inside him.

  “No,” he murmured, uneasily. “I can’t think straight when you’re inside me.”

  “Are you sure?” Levi said softly, and slid the finger up higher as Cole’s ass clenched around it.

  A loud crash came from downstairs and Levi sighed heavily. “Perhaps I should go down and check on all the noise.” He gave the tip of Cole’s cock a soft kiss and then groaned. “In a few minutes…” Levi swallowed Cole’s cock again, deep-throating him, and humming around his cock until Cole felt his legs tremble. Another finger slid deep inside to join the first and they reached up higher to rub across the spot inside him that caused him to buck his hips and cry out even through the burn.

  In one smooth move, Levi flipped him facedown, and used his knee to spread Cole’s legs out. His face was against the sheets. His cock was pressed against the satiny sheets too, and the feel of it was sensual on the sensitive skin of his cock, especially after Levi’s hot mouth, and it made him shiver. Levi’s fingers were still deep inside him.

  “Feel good, baby?” Levi asked, as Cole groaned loudly, embarrassed to be like this, embarrassed to be so needy, so out of control.

  “God yes…” he managed to say, panting for breath.

  “Let me take care of you.”

  He moved the wicked fingers deep inside him again, and the burn was too much, but the other hand was caressing his ass, making him shiver, and Cole seriously thought he might lose his mind. He became a little panicked and practically tried to climb up the bed to reach the headboard, but Levi put a hand under his stomach to move him back into place, and then hold him there. “Shhh, baby. Relax and let it happen. I’ve got you.” He pulled at his hips to put a pillow under them and raise him off the bed.

  Loud voices were yelling downstairs and footsteps ran down the hallway outside their room.

  Cole tried to straighten up again, but Levi leaned across his back to whisper in his ear, sweet crooning words that didn’t make much sense, but soothed him and made him feel something fluttery in the pit of his stomach. His whole body felt hot and shivery. He heard himself make a little whimpering sound that he’d never heard himself make before. It embarrassed him, and he tried to cut it off quickly before Levi heard it. He felt Levi stroke his back, moving the fingers of one hand down to cup his ass.

  He decided to make one last bid to get up. “Levi. I…I think we need to go check on all that.” Levi crooked the fingers inside him again, sweeping over his prostate and lights exploded inside his head. “Oh, fuck!” he cried out, trying to lurch forward to hump the pillow beneath him, desperate for friction on his cock. “P-please!”

  Levi’s hands patiently pulled him right back where he wanted him. The fingers pulled out and he felt his hole clenching and unclenching in need. A few seconds passed and something cold and wet was being dribbled down the crevice between his ass cheeks. Lube? Where the hell had he gotten lube? Almost before he could form the thought clearly, the sinful fingers were back, slicking the lubricant deep inside him. Squirming, he tried to turn his head to voice a half-hearted protest, and then he felt the hot poker of Levi’s cock against his ass. Suddenly whatever he wanted to say didn’t seem important anymore.

  “What? What are you doing?”

  “Loving you, baby. Giving you what you want. You do want it, don’t you?” The wicked whisper sighed softly in his ear.

  “Yes,” Cole whispered back to him.

  He felt a hot pressure at his entrance, and he heard
Levi’s voice again. “Just relax, baby.” He rubbed his cock slowly through his crease. “Let me love you.”

  “I-I…Oh fuck!”

  Cole heard a little chuckle behind his ear. “Exactly what I had in mind, sweetheart.”

  A warm kiss dropped on the side of his neck, and Levi crooned to him again for a moment, before gently nudging his cock inside Cole’s hole. Easing it into him, Levi slipped past the first tight ring of muscles, and then as he felt the by-now-familiar burn, he hissed in a sharp breath. Levi held still, his hands soothing his back, massaging his ass. Slowly he moved in deeper until something hot and hard—his balls, maybe, but Cole wasn’t sure—snuggled up against Cole’s ass. Cole moaned with pleasure, and Levi ran his hands up under his chest and over his nipples. “Feel good, sweetheart?”

  Still feeling shy and embarrassed, Cole nodded his head. Levi moved his lips down the side of his neck, nibbling and licking. Cole shuddered in his arms, impaled and helpless. Levi’s fingers were on his chest, pulling and teasing his nipples, and each time he twisted the nubs, the feelings made his cock, which had softened a little when Levi entered him, stand back to attention. Gradually the feeling of being stuffed and stretched began to recede, and Levi moved his hand down to wrap around Cole’s shaft, moving slowly up and down.

  Levi thrust his cock in and out in time with the slow strokes his hand was making on Cole’s shaft. The feeling was almost overwhelming, and to his horror, Cole felt hot tears filling his eyes. He was almost overcome with a myriad of emotions, some bad and some so good. If the sex had been hard and rough, it wouldn’t have been so much like claiming, like ownership. There was no longer any pretense he wasn’t exactly where he wanted to be. No way to gloss over the fact that he was being thoroughly owned, and he wanted this more than anything.

  A sudden banging came at the door and it swung open without any more warning. Cole drew in a sharp breath and Levi jerked the covers over him and sat up angrily.

  “What the hell is it now?” he shouted hoarsely, turning toward the door where a tall thin man with a long beard and black robes hovered in the doorway. Though he seemed to be quite ancient, his eyes were bright and shining.

  “I’m so sorry, Your Highness, but your father told me to come for you immediately. There’s treachery and treason in the palace, and we don’t have any more time. Marek knows of your return with the true king. Your father’s goblin mercenaries have revolted and gone over to Marek’s forces. They tried to trap your father in his throne room, but he fought his way out, along with your brothers. The goblins have taken the palace and they’re coming for the two of you now. Your family has made their escape back into the Demon Realm, but we have no time to lose. You have to come with me or it will be too late!” He stepped inside the room and bolted the door behind him before turning back to Levi. “Hurry, my boy. They were right behind me.”

  Levi leaped from the bed and pulled on his pants. He pulled Cole up, blanket and all, and swept him up in his arms. Cole, who had little experience in being manhandled, flailed his arms and tried to get down.

  “There’s no time, Cole. We have to go.” He nodded at the man with the beard. “This is Avid, my father’s wizard. We have to go with him.”

  “But how do you know he’s even telling you the truth? What if this is a trap?” Cole clutched at Levi’s shoulders, still struggling to get away.

  “Stop, Cole!” Levi shook him none too gently. “Avid is also my mother’s oldest brother. I trust him with my life.”

  The door behind them burst open, splintering the wood around the frame. A horde of goblins crowded through and their stench was horrible in the closeness of the room. The tall wizard turned to face them, raising both arms, which were covered in tattoos—strange, fierce-looking symbols, like nothing Cole had ever seen before. He shouted out a few harsh-sounding words and flames leaped up to the ceiling in front of the goblins, enveloping the ones closest to it and acting as a barrier against the others. They screamed and fell back, beating at the flames leaping onto them, but before they could regroup, Avid stepped up close to Cole and Levi, opened his robes and wrapped them around the two men, bringing his body up close to theirs. He smelled of wood smoke and green grass.

  Cole couldn’t see anything with the voluminous robe wrapped around him and his head pulled up again into Levi’s chest. They were definitely going to have to discuss this high-handed treatment later. He had a sensation again of moving swiftly, but this time he heard nothing at all except for Levi’s excited breathing in his ear.

  The movement stopped abruptly and Avid finally pulled his robes away. Levi set Cole back on his feet and he blinked at the sudden brightness around him. They were inside a stone walled room somewhere—no, not a room, but a vast chamber in a cave. The walls were lit with torches and a woman was speaking nearby. Cole shook his head to concentrate on the words, but she was speaking a language he’d never heard before. Then his vision slowly adjusted to the dimness and he saw her clearly.

  A tall, incredibly lovely woman was standing in front of them. There were many people in the chamber, including soldiers with shields and swords. The woman had long, black hair and dark eyes and the same golden skin as Levi. She was smiling at him, holding out her arms to him as she spoke and then she stopped and laughed, a sweet, chime-like laughter that was almost childlike.

  “I’m sorry, my son. I forget you don’t speak the language of the Sidhe. Welcome to our home, Leviathan. We offer you refuge here in the Hollow Hills as long as you need it.”

  She smiled graciously at both of them and Levi nodded. Tersely, he glanced down at Cole. “Cole, this is Queen Fionna, the queen of the Faery Sidhe. Queen Fionna is my mother.”

  Chapter Six

  “Beyond the growth of dark green pine,

  That crowns its western shoulder,

  There lies that Faery-land of mine,

  Unseen of a beholder.”

  —Dreams, by Cecil Francis Alexander

  “Your mother?” Cole said softly. “But I thought…”

  “That she abandoned my father soon after I was born and left me behind?” Levi looked the lovely queen up and down contemptuously. “That she couldn’t be bothered over the years to see me or find out how I was getting along without a mother? That’s right. But I’ve seen her portrait where my father stored it in the attics. I used to stare at it for hours and wonder what I’d done wrong to make her leave me behind when she left my father.”

  The wizard Avid, still standing beside them, put a warning hand on Levi’s arm. He allowed it, but he still regarded his mother with bitter anger. “I finally decided it was a waste of time to try to think like a faithless whore.”

  Loud, angry murmurings started up around them, but Fionna lifted a hand, and the sounds stopped. The beautiful woman in front of them shook her head. “I see you don’t understand, Leviathan. But your father loved you so much—at the time you were his only son. I left you behind because I couldn’t bear to take everything away from him. I knew he would raise you into a fine, strong person and he has. You don’t understand what forces caused me to leave your father, but you must believe me when I tell you that if I’d had any other choices, I would never have left either of you behind.”

  Levi made a disbelieving sound in his throat and turned back to Avid. “Why did you bring me here? I thought you were taking me to my father.”

  “He did, Leviathan,” the queen interrupted. “Your father, his consorts and your brothers are all here. One of his poor consorts was killed during the escape, and Egill, himself, has been gravely wounded. The doctors are doing all they can, but he has fallen into a coma.”

  Levi whirled around to face her. “Where is he? Take me to him.”

  “You can go to see him soon, son, but first we must talk.”

  Levi growled and took a menacing step toward her and this time it was Cole who grabbed his arm. “Levi, it’s your mother and the queen. Think about what you’re doing. They’ll
kill you.”

  Tall, scowling guards had come from everywhere at once, it seemed, to surround and protect their queen. They bristled with weapons and more than one of them had drawn their swords. At a single word from the queen, they put them down and backed slowly away, though they remained close at hand.

  “You can help him more now by speaking to me, Leviathan. We need to make plans. Marek wants your prince, and until he has him, he’ll never stop. His wizard Lariol is already trying hard to find a way past our wards, and he’s one of the strongest mages I’ve ever seen. Marek is now the new high king, but he’s filled with hatred for you both, and he won’t rest until Prince Elvie is dead—and you alongside him.”

  “But why Levi? What has he done?” Cole tightened his grip on Levi’s arm and felt his hand steal around his waist to give him a reassuring hug before he turned angrily back toward his mother.

  “How do you know the prince’s true name? Who told you?”

  The queen lifted an elegant shoulder. “I’ll tell you everything I know, son. You’ve come between Marek and what he wants, and so far the two of you have evaded all his attempts to capture you. He already has us surrounded here and under siege. As soon as he realizes the two of you are with me, he’ll offer me a huge bribe to give you up. When that fails, he’ll try to starve us out. He thinks time is on his side.”

  “And is it?” Levi asked, his tone grim.

  Fionna laughed that tinkling laugh again. “Not at all. The Sidhe have always been more powerful in our magic than the other faery tribes. They won’t get past our wards, no matter how strong their wizard is. Your father laid siege to us long ago when I was forced to leave him, but he finally had to give up and go home.” Her tone softened and she got a faraway look in her eyes. “And your father is the most stubborn, willful creature I’ve ever met.” She gazed back up at Levi. “I think you might share those traits with him.”