by Alisa Woods
She sagged underneath him.
Her brain buzzed, but the fog of it was clearing.
Leonidas pulled back, hands gone from her neck. He peered at her carefully, holding himself away from her body but not going far. “Rosalyn?” His voice quivered, and her heart hurt with that sound. Why were there tear tracks on his face? And why was there blood all over his hand?
“What happened?” she asked, reaching for his face.
He flinched away but then came back. Her fingertips touched the wetness on his cheek. The usual sparking magic passed between them, but it was just the normal flush of pleasure, not that… obsession from before.
She blinked. What the hell happened to her? She scrabbled back from him, sitting up and looking around with wide eyes, as if she had just awoken from some horrible dream.
“You were demon-infected.” Leonidas said the words like they hurt him. “Invidias daemonus. Envy class. I… I had to cure you. And give you blood.”
She nodded and swallowed down the dryness in her throat, left over from the screaming. Holy fuck. She’d been possessed. She looked down at her body. She was smeared with blood. Her dress was in tatters. One nipple was showing through one of the rips. She self-consciously shifted the remnants to cover herself then peered around the room.
Everyone was staring at her.
Leonidas with his tortured face, keeping his distance. Cinaed staring at her with open-mouthed horror. Leksander scowling at both her and his brother. And that red-haired fae, the one who fought Zephan—he had scorch marks up and down his bare chest, but he was standing calmly separate from the others.
Zephan was gone.
“You’re on your own now, House of Smoke,” the fae said. Then he disappeared—just slipped away into one of those brilliant-flash-of-light magic tricks the fae did to travel.
The rest of them stood awkwardly like they were waiting for some signal. From her? Leonidas? She wasn’t sure. Then she noticed, on the floor next to her… her mating gown.
She wiped the blood from her hand on her ruined black dress then carefully picked up the white, filmy one. When she looked up, some wordless pain was passing over Leonidas’s face. She wanted to go to him, but she needed less audience and more clothes.
“Could you guys, you know…” She gestured to Cinaed and Leksander with the gown. “Give a girl some privacy?”
Leksander’s inscrutable scowl didn’t budge, and neither did his body, not until Cinaed stepped between them, blocking their line of sight. Then he coaxed Leksander into leaving the room. As they crossed the threshold, she struggled up to her feet. Her legs were still wobbly, and she was light-headed as fuck, but she managed.
“I, um…” She gestured to her shredded dress. “I should probably clean up. But then I can put this on.” She held up the mating gown. This was far from how she envisioned offering to mate with Leonidas. But with fae attacking and the kidnapping and vampires and all the rest… she didn’t want to waste any more time. They need to do this now. Before anything else went sideways.
“Rosalyn…” Leonidas was giving her that pained look still. Didn’t he want to mate with her? What was she missing here? Even now, even with the possession gone, her head was still fuzzy.
“I know it’s not ideal, but…”
“This isn’t…” He stared at the white gown still in her hands. “You wouldn’t want this. You’d be giving up too much.”
“What are you talking about?” Her head buzzed. If she could just sit down for a moment… she shuffled the two steps over to the cold bath and eased down to sit on the edge. She gripped it to make sure she didn’t topple in.
Leonidas frowned then came to stand in front of her. He used a single finger to lift her chin so he could peer at her neck. Then he kneeled in front of her and took the mating gown from her hand. He dipped a corner in the bath and used to clean her. She stayed quiet, mesmerized by the gentle way he wiped away the blood at her neck and her chest and her hands… it seemed like it was everywhere.
“Your wound is healed now,” he said in an oddly distant voice. “I infused you with my blood, more than enough to replace what you lost.” He dropped the bloody gown on the floor at her feet, then finally met her gaze. “I banished as much of the demon as I could.”
As much as he… “What are you saying?” Icy fingers of dread clenched her heart.
“The essence…” He stopped, and that struggle tormented his face again. “The demon fused with your witch nature.”
The dizziness came back, hard. She gripped the side of the tub. “But you… you cured my mom. When the vampire bit her—”
“She wasn’t as far gone as you.” There was almost a sob in his voice. “We stopped him mid-attack with your mom. You stopped him. Do you remember?”
And she did. She fucking attacked that vampire with a broom and fought him off, stopping him from taking too much from her mother… and from giving her too much of whatever evoked the demon.
“So this…” She swallowed. “This daemonus… it’s still inside me?” That thought sent a shiver of panic through her. She didn’t feel different… did she?
His frown came back. “It was always inside you.”
“What?” She leaned away from him. This was straight-up horrifying her.
“That’s how it works,” Leonidas said, tightly. “Zephan’s serum or whatever it is brings out the demon type lingering in your DNA. The classes of demons are based on the seven deadly sins—they’ve always been the darker forces laying wait inside of humanity. For you, it was invidias daemonus. Invidia Class. Envy. Covetousness towards traits or possessions. An insatiable desire for everything and anything you don’t have—sex, money, power.”
“Oh, God.” His words were tightening her chest. Because that thrumming need for things she didn’t have… when hadn’t she felt that way? Not like a maniac, like when she was possessed, but constantly and with a low-burning rage for her entire life. A desire to return to the covens. To learn magic withheld from her. To gain all the things she’d been deprived of since her father kicked her and her mother to the curb. Of course, Leonidas couldn’t purge all of that from her—it was part of who she was.
Her hands came up to her face, covering it, as a horrible grief overcame her. Leonidas didn’t want her anymore. Now that he knew the truth about her, that was it—he was done.
She let her hands slowly fall from her face. She could see them shake. “I can… I guess I can just get dressed and leave as soon as… as soon as I’m dressed.” God, she was babbling.
He scooped her hands in his. The familiar sparking between them fought against the dark cloud of sorrow descending upon her. “You’re not going anywhere like this.” He pulled her up to standing and magicked away the remnants of her black dress, swiftly replacing them with the cream-colored suit.
Of course. Because she wasn’t fit for a dragon prince to mate with anymore.
But then he confused her by leading her to the four-poster bed, sweeping up the fine netting that covered it and pulling her to sitting next to him. “Before, when you were crying out to mate with me… I know that was the demon talking.”
She frowned. “Why does that matter?”
He smiled, small and bitter. “Because even after I banished most of it, you still wanted to mate. I know it’s still influencing you. And it can’t work that way, Rosalyn. You know that. It has to be True Love, and not a demon-driven desire for… well, any part of it.”
She leaned back. He thought she only wanted to mate because of some deep-driven envy thing? Because she had a green-eyed monster thing going and coveted something he had? Her gaze dropped to her hands folded neatly in her lap over the cream-colored suit. Just like the one from her Aunt Gwen. Was it true? Did she only want Leonidas for the money, power, and magic, just like she wanted back in the coven just to access their magic? That seemed all wrong. Because she’d never thought of him that way before her demon-envy reared its ugly head. She wanted him because he was good and dec
Well, mostly decided.
She raised her gaze to meet his beautiful, pain-filled blue eyes. “You’re really no good at negotiating,” she said with a small smile.
“Negotiating?” he asked, the puzzlement on his face almost comical. Definitely cute.
“You’re supposed to tell me how great it would be to mate with you,” she urged, gently.
He frowned and shook his head, very minutely. “You’d be giving up your coven.”
“And gaining a husband.” Her smile wanted to grow, but she held it in check.
“A mate is much more than a husband.” He frowned deeper. “You’d be bound for life.”
“Doomed to a lifetime of amazingly hot sex.” Some of the grin snuck out. “You’re right, that’s a terrible existence.”
“Rosalyn—”
She shushed him with a finger across his lips, one that sparked pleasure and gave weight to this growing sense of rightness inside her chest. “You’re terrible at this, Leonidas Smoke. Let me speak.”
His eyes widened, but he stayed quiet.
She climbed up on her knees, which wasn’t easy with the skirt, then balanced with her hands on his shoulders and peered into his brilliant blue eyes. “You should say, ‘Rosalyn, my love, you should mate with me because I’ll give you endless orgasms and all my love. You’ll be forever adored and protected as long as I live. And, furthermore, if you play your cards right, you could have an impossibly cute baby dragon to play with because that’s part of the deal when it comes to marrying dragon princes. Total package.’ See? Who could resist an argument like that?”
His eyes were searching her face. “You’re just saying that because—”
She whipped a finger up to stop him. He shut his mouth. “Because I’m infected with a demon? Perhaps. The only problem with that impeccable logic? I was thinking all those things before Zephan the asshat tried to fuck all this up for us.”
“You were,” he breathed out, not quite a question.
She answered it anyway. “I was. Not only that…” She squinted her eyes and glanced at the bed they were perched on. “I pictured you with another woman—any other woman, because you would have to be with someone—and I about lost my damn mind with jealousy.”
His eyes widened. “You mean it.”
“Hell, yes, I mean it.” She play-scowled. “Don’t fucking tell me you’re in love with someone else now, Leonidas Smoke.” She fisted the thick fabric of his brocaded jacket in her hands, pulling him closer. “Because I will fight for you, and I’ll win. You belong to me. You belong with me. We belong together, dragon prince, and if you doubt that, it’s okay, because I’m sure enough for both of us.”
His mouth moved, but no words came out.
So she kissed him.
Leonidas almost forgot to kiss her back.
There was a surreal moment when Rosalyn Thorne’s seductively soft lips were pressed against his, and he had absolutely no reaction other than being stunned out of his mind.
She wanted him.
For real. Not the demon essence he could still taste inside her. Not out of some weird sense of obligation or because she wanted to save him. She simply, purely, wanted to be with him.
His lips came alive against hers. Then his hands went in her hair and around her back. He had her flat on the bed in half a second. The feel of her underneath him made his mouth water, and that sparking magic wherever they touched had already sprung his cock to life. His tongue plundered her mouth, devouring the sweetness she offered up. His heart was swelling so fast he could hardly breathe. Was this true? Was it really happening?
He pulled back, breathless. “Say it.”
“I love you?” Her cheeks were gorgeously flushed, her lips swollen from his kiss.
“No, the other part.”
“That I want to mate?”
“Yes, that.”
“I want to mate,” she said, resolutely.
“You’re absolutely sure.”
She reached down between their bodies and grabbed hold of his cock through his pants. His whole body clenched with her touch. “Let me show you how sure I am.”
He groaned and went to kiss her again, but she pushed him back, somehow rolling them both on the bed until he was on his back, and she was straddling him. She grabbed hold of his jacket, then pulled him up to sitting part way, just enough to have him up but not enough to spill her from his lap. Her skirt was hiked up to her waist, and he could feel the heat of her sex even through her panties and his trousers. She ground against him and made him groan again.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I know these clothes are made of magic, dragon prince. Make them disappear.”
So he did. And suddenly, they were skin-to-skin, sex-to-sex, with the full lot of it jolting him with electrified pleasure. “Oh fuck!” he exclaimed.
“Hell, yes,” she breathed, then she lifted up and slammed down, impaling herself on his cock.
“Holy fuck!” he cried out again. The sudden tightness of her squeezing him left him with almost no breath. Then she rode him, and that had him gasping for air. She gripped his shoulders and slammed down on his cock with such passion, such fury, that the ancient springs of the bed creaked a rickety complaint. The two swayed and bounced their way quickly toward climax. His was rising fast and furious, and fuck no, he couldn’t come first. If this was to be the first step of mating—and for the love of magic, nothing was stopping him now—then this had to be all about her. The pleasure. The orgasms. He needed his seed inside her to pave the way for the sealing, but it was the sweet agony of the pre-sealing sex that would give her the edge in surviving it.
Only she was already quivering around his cock, her hot flesh close to coming undone around him. She tipped her head, that gorgeous red hair spilling down her back as she bounced and bounced and slammed down hard on him. He braced his body against the onslaught, leaving one hand behind him for balance, then moved his thumb right to the top of her sex, flicking her with his sparking magic right where the pleasure would drive her over the edge. She was so close, it took no time at all. She cried out his name and a whole string of curses and kept riding him, drawing out the sweet convulsing pleasure.
“Oh my God, yes,” she breathed, bringing her head back, dipping down to brush her cheek against his. Sizzling magic connected them everywhere from deep inside her to the tip of his nose. “Fuck, I needed that so badly.” She opened her eyes and peered at him. She was still riding him, but slower, more seductively. “And no, that’s not the demon speaking. Although you sure bring the wicked out of me, hot stuff.”
He grinned and grabbed hold of her, twisting to lay her back on the bed, fully intending to wring a few more orgasms out of her before they got to the hard part. The painful part.
He nibbled at her breasts, her nipples standing firm and demanding his attention. “I want to bring out all your wicked parts, Sweet Rose.” He worked his way up to her neck. He was still buried deep inside her, slowly stroking, building her back to climax again.
But instead of bucking against him and urging him on, she held his cheeks in her hands and looked deep into his eyes. “Let’s make a baby,” she said.
“That’s the idea, my love.”
Then she lifted her hips into his stroke, deepening it. “I could be wrong, but I think you have to come for that.” She smirked. “Besides, it’s fucking hot to feel your seed inside me.”
Seed. Oh, no.
In all the haste and the sudden turns, he’d forgotten to ask. He slowed his pace. “My love.” He bit his lip. Fuck, how could he say this?
She immediately picked up on it. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to ask you…” He stopped stroking, staying deep inside her but still. “If we’re going to mate, if we want to make a baby…”
“What do you mean if?” Her concern was ramping up, but for the wrong reason.
“What?” She looked horrified.
“It’s okay if it happened. And even if you… enjoyed it. That’s part of his mindfuckery.”
“I didn’t. Fuck! Leonidas—”
“It’s okay.” He stroked her hair and her cheek. “It’s okay, my love. It’s not your fault. I just need to know.”
“Leonidas, I did not have sex with Zephan.”
“Are you sure?”
She scowled at him, angry now. “I’d remember.”
“Not if he didn’t want you to, love.”
She was back to looking horrified… then her expression collapsed into a cold fury. “No.”
“Okay.” He nodded. Then he kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m sorry, love, it’s just that… if his seed is in you right now, and I seal you to carry my child, well… we already know fae and dragons can mate. I don’t know if a witch can carry the child of a fae, but I sure as hell don’t want to find out.”
Her anger dissolved. “Oh.”
“Right. This is going to be our baby. Mine and yours. Not fucking Zephan’s.”
She nodded, and her hands were soft on his cheek again. “He wanted to rape me. He tried, in fact. But he couldn’t.”
Leonidas couldn’t hold back his surprise. “Couldn’t? Sweet magic, please tell me that asshole couldn’t get it up. Please.”
She smirked. “Well, it’s almost that good. Turns out his Winter magic is incompatible with witch magic. Or something.” She slid a finger down Leonidas’s cheek. “You know that pleasure that sparks between us? That has to be your Summer magic, my love, because Winter? Exactly the opposite. You should have seen the look on his face.”
His grin was a mile wide now. “I fucking love you so much.”
“Of course, you do.” She lifted her eyebrows. “I saved your life.”
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