by Godiva Glenn
He gripped her thighs tight as he feasted, and she swayed against him, trembling as he found just the right spot and assaulted it.
She’d been trying so hard to help the men with their kingdom she’d forgotten other needs. She’d forgotten that she’d come in search of a mate of her own.
Thank goodness Liam hadn’t let his own priorities completely slip away.
With one hand scraping the stone at her back and other buried in Liam’s hair, she let go of the last tendrils of uncertainty that clung to her. His mouth was like fire on her, wild and unpredictable.
Her climax blossomed too quickly to prepare for. She clawed at him and cried out, trying to survive the pleasure that overwhelmed her senses. Bright spots filled her vision, ghosts in the dark even through closed eyes.
Her pounding heart reverberated in her ears, each thump sending a wave of tingling pleasure from head to toe.
Liam stood. She felt his body press to her, felt his fierce erection resting between their bodies. He curled over her, holding her steady on trembling legs that didn’t recall what standing was.
“This will have to do,” he whispered into her ear, past the still crashing water. “Until I can be inside you and leave my mark.”
Fianni woke and rolled away from the sunlight streaming into her bedroom. Of all the things she missed about Earth—and it was a small list—blinds were near the top.
All of Nova Solara operated by the light of day, however, so she knew she had to get up even if her legs were still jelly from her romp with Liam the night before.
She rubbed her temples as she carefully opened her eyes. That was real.
Even though she hadn’t had a drop to drink the night before, her body seemed to think otherwise. Every muscle was sluggish. Or insanely relaxed.
Most guys, most decent guys, wouldn’t go after their best friend’s woman. Now, Fianni was in the strange position of having gone after Rask and now Liam. Though to be fair, she hadn’t been the aggressor in either encounter.
They wanted a mate to share, but did the random hookups she’d experienced count as that? She sat up and narrowed her eyes at nothing in particular.
Does Liam even know about Rask?
It seemed like an awkward meeting was inevitable. This complicated things to an epic level. She wasn’t going to deny having feelings for the men anymore, but it didn’t solve anything just because she could admit to wanting to stay with them. I owe Iona that apology.
But there was still Arron.
The dragons wanted to find balance with a single queen, but if that wasn’t meant to be, Fianni wasn’t going to let Rask and Liam be miserable for their brother. If it boiled down to it, she’d just hire Gerri for Arron once everything else was settled.
Surely there was someone out there for a socially-challenged silver dragon, and with all of them mated the public would have to be satisfied.
The door slowly opened as she watched, and Rask entered holding a tray of fruit and biscuits. He froze upon realizing she stared at him.
“You?” she asked, sitting up. “All this time?”
He frowned, and a wisp of smoke escaped his nostrils. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”
She jumped out of the bed and brushed her fingers through her tangled hair. His head tilted and examined her, and she tugged her nightgown into place as if there was a way to make it presentable.
“I know. I’m tired, but something woke me.”
He set the tray down and approached her. “I knew I’d be busy, but I didn’t think we’d have no time together at all.”
“Are you away again today?”
“For a bit.” He leaned down and took a deep breath of her hair. “You found Liam last night?”
“I did,” she answered carefully.
“I’m sorry you don’t have much privacy,” he said sincerely.
She stepped back and looked at him. There was nothing strange in his expression, but she refused to believe it was this easy. “It truly doesn’t bother you?”
“It bothers me most that you left the castle unaccompanied, and at night… but what can I do about it? Lock you in your room? Set you over my knee?” He smirked and swept her into his arms. “Spank you? It’s tempting.”
She looked away, hiding the excitement that surely painted her face. Rask had a way of bringing out a naughty side of her that she had no idea existed.
“Mmm. I’ve missed this. The scent of you. The feel of you. The way your cheeks glow red when I talk,” he groaned into her hair.
With everything else going on, they’d had little time together. The moments that would have gradually intensified, the days and nights of getting to know each other and exploring a new relationship—they didn’t get that.
What they got was stolen kisses in quiet hallways and quick gropings while passing from one meeting to the next. It frustrated her, and she knew it had to be bothering him.
“You have a little time, don’t you?” she asked coyly.
“Very little, but yes. What idea is churning in that impish little brain of yours?” he asked.
“My bed is right here…”
He sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “I don’t want to mark you without—”
“And if that’s not going to happen?”
“I believe it will happen.”
She stared into his eyes but knew there was no forcing the matter. He wouldn’t make love to her without Arron and Liam. He wanted to be sure they all marked her together, truly shared her.
“I have another idea, though,” he said and lifted her into his arms.
“Rask!” she squealed as he carried her from her room and down the hallway. “Where are you taking me?”
“Haven’t you wondered where I sleep? Where any of us do?”
“Of course.”
She’d often listened at night, trying to track footsteps. And though she’d been lost plenty, and entered many rooms by mistake, she’d yet to come across the personal bedrooms of her mysterious dragons.
He walked towards the end of the hallway and she stared as the wall came closer and closer, then he turned.
She looked back. “What?”
“It’s a false dead end. Don’t ask me how they did it.”
She thought back to all the times she’d wandered halfway down the hall and turned around. It seemed so clearly a solid wall, but all along there was a sharp turn at the very end.
“In plain sight,” she marveled, then looked forward again.
“Perfectly structured, with each stone painted to complete the illusion. But that’s not what this trip is about.”
Rask opened a door and carried her to a bed much like her own, except the sheets were deep red. He tossed her onto the bed and she bounced gently as he moved around, his hands working with something she couldn’t see.
“What are you up to?” she asked.
He held a looped end of scarlet rope up. “I wanted you to see this.” He wrapped it around her wrist but didn’t pull it taut. “And I want you to think about it.”
Running her free hand down the braided length of rope, ideas flowed through her head, but she wasn’t sure what he wanted. Or rather, she knew what he wanted, but couldn’t guess the reason why.
“You want to tie me to your bed?” She tested the comfort, tightening the loop. “Why?”
“To torment you. To keep you. To control you.” He grabbed the loose end of the rope and held it out, causing her to lean to one side as it pulled her arm away. “If you say it’s not for you, then I won’t ask again. But I’d prefer you not rush your decision.”
“It’s not to hurt me,” she said, sure of her statement.
He stretched the rope toward the edge of the bed and pulled back the pillows, revealing a metal ring attached to the bed. He slipped the rope through and made a loose knot.
“I’d never hurt you. I’d sooner carve my own heart from my chest.”
“But you want to have me helpless.”
>
“So very much,” he confessed. “I want to tie you down and make you beg. I want to use you for my pleasure and watch you writhe to escape.”
Goosebumps crept along her arms at hearing him say such wicked things. She wasn’t used to being given this sort of attention, but as she spent more time with Rask, listened to his husky voice and lewd words, the more she felt it fit her just fine.
“You look at me and see a sweet girl, don’t you?”
“What do you mean? Of course you’re sweet.”
She picked at the loop of rope idly. “Right. But I’m not… I’m not what most guys look for when they’re looking for someone to tie up. I’m cute. I’m the one who looks good at a picnic.”
“Are you trying to say you think you aren’t sexy?” He arched a brow.
“Well, yes. I’m Harmony. I’m fun and pretty but I’m not…” She lowered her voice and hummed a bit.
“Saying it doesn’t make it so.” He pushed her down onto the mounded pillows. “It sounds like in your mind you don’t look like you’d enjoy this sort of fun. That’s not how it works. You can look sweet and be Harmony and still fit right here, tied to my bed.”
She sucked in a breath as he lay between her legs, pressing his weight down and grinding his erection against her through her dress.
“But…” she breathed.
“No more of that. I’m trying to have fun and you’re worrying needlessly about not being sexy? Not being naughty?” He clicked his tongue and lowered his voice. “You let my brother eat your pussy last night. I think you’re plenty dirty enough for me.”
She groaned and tried to hide her face, but he held her still.
“And you loved it. It doesn’t matter if it’s not the sweet sex you’re used to.” He slid down her body and rested his head on her breasts. “I don’t want to hear you worry unless it’s something worth worrying over.”
But as he spoke and moved, something did strike her as worth worrying over. The way Rask rested against her, the way his hand now stroked her stomach…
“I can’t give you an heir,” she whispered, forcing the words out before fear hid them.
His hand stopped moving and he looked up, still pressed against her. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t… I’m not… In all of my years, it’s never happened. It’s the downside of being fae. We don’t reproduce often, or at all. We’re immortal. It’s… and I know I should have said something.” Closing her eyes, she tried to hold back tears. She hated herself for waiting to speak up. Waiting until she’d fallen for the men she was leading on. “I didn’t tell Gerri, I didn’t tell you or Liam. I knew I should have, I just didn’t think I’d end up matched with the two guys in the world that need children.”
Rask sat up and untied her wrist from the headboard while she watched, her heart breaking. She couldn’t read his face. The dark pools of his eyes seemed turbulent, but that told her nothing.
He smoothed a hand over his chin then turned towards her and lay at her side.
“Rask?”
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
“Sorry? I don’t understand…” Is this it? Goodbye?
His hand cupped her cheek and he stroked his thumb up and down in gentle sweeps. “We never discussed children, but I assumed there would be at least one,” he admitted. “I’m sorry for making you think that’s all you’re here for. You’re not.”
“I didn’t think that,” she promised. “Not like that.”
“I asked Gerri for a Queen. I didn’t tell her I wanted children or needed them.”
“You do, though.”
He furrowed his brow. “When it comes to that, something will work out. If the crown leaves our hands, there is no shortage of cousins around us.”
“But your bloodlines… and Arron is so proud of your lineage.”
Rask scoffed. “He’ll survive.”
“Maybe it’s easy for you to say that. And besides, you aren’t the king. It’s not your crown that’s leaving, not really.”
“Then tell him. I know the secret you’ve kept pains you, and I can understand why you kept it, but in the end, secrets are no good for us.”
“I know,” she promised.
“Damn it,” he growled, glancing over her shoulder towards the large window in his room.
She could tell the way the room lightened that the sun was getting higher. “You need to go. It’s alright.”
He pulled her close and squeezed her, almost too tight. “I wish I could stay with you longer. But while I’m gone, think about it. You should tell Liam and tell Arron too.”
“Why Arron?”
“He’s an idiot, but he’s part of this.”
She shook her head. “No. There was a point where I wondered, but we’ve gone nowhere.”
“We’ve all been busy, stressed, and going a bit mad. If there was a point where you wondered, chances are he’s still analyzing it. Dissecting it.” He kissed her forehead and sat up. “Fuck, I hate leaving you right now.”
Sitting up she caressed his arm. “I know. But go on. Do whatever it is you do when you’re not around.”
He chuckled under his breath. His thumb swept away the remnants of her tears. “I’m suppressing my worst tendencies and begging the smaller packs and clans to keep faith in us.” He stood and stretched his neck side to side then rolled his shoulders. “Suffice it to say, every minute of being a caring ambassador makes me want to return here and bend you over.”
“I’m not sure if that means I’m a good influence on you or what,” she joked.
“The best. Definitely the best.”
The truth was a conundrum. Most days, being honest was refreshing. Soul cleansing.
But when the truth could only cause pain, it was torture to expel. Torture that Fianni was preparing herself for. Or procrastinating, really.
She wrapped Rask’s rope around her wrist, winding again and again. Bondage fascinated her, though she’d never considered it before. But it could have been that Rask had a way of making anything sound good.
She was eager to try anything. Like she’d told him, and like she’d told others through the countless years of her life, being immortal didn’t mean she’d done everything, experienced everything. There was an entire world of discovery still out there for her.
Unlike her family resting in the Fade, Fianni wasn’t bored of life, nor was she content to sleep through the heartache of watching their world split in two. She’d hidden away long enough. After Kohl’s death, she’d lasted a year before she retired to the Fade.
But at least I was strong enough to pull myself out. She just needed the strength to try again—or not even the strength—the clarity. I loved Kohl, but he’s gone.
Sitting up, she whispered to herself. “I deserve a second chance at love.”
Determined to stop standing in her own way, she rolled out of bed. With every step out of the room and through the familiar halls, some of her bravado faltered, but she kept looking.
Craig was standing at one of the hallway intersections and she approached him.
“Is Liam here, or is he out?” she asked.
“Here. I’m not sure for how long, though.” He jerked his head to the left. “He’s in the common room down there. I believe Arron is with him.”
Perfect.
Anxiety pricked her skin, but she headed down the hall. Telling Rask was easiest, she knew that. After all the lewd things he’d said to her over the last two weeks, she felt like she could say just about anything to him.
Her relationship with Liam—if it was that—was newer. Besides, how would she even bring it up? Out of the blue? Seemed that way.
She pushed the door open and entered. Liam sat alone, his golden coronet askew on his slicked back hair. She’d only seen it on him for certain meetings, and it looked like his last meeting had been a disaster.
He smiled when he saw her and stood. “I was just hoping for something bright.”
She looked around and
joined him. “I thought Arron was with you.”
“You’ve just missed him. He’s off to inspect the cave systems around the base of Onus ridge.” Liam placed a hand gingerly on the small of her back and pulled her close. “Did you need him?”
Shaking her head, she took a deep breath.
“Has he upset you?”
“What?” she asked, looking up. “No. Why do you ask?”
Liam tucked her hair behind her ears with both hands, seeming thoughtful. “When you first arrived, Arron made a comment to me. The same comment, actually, that he’s made quite a few times in my life. That no matter what is in my blood, I live as a dragon.”
“That sounds like him.”
“It took me a while to realize what he meant. Or what I thought he meant. It got in my head, you not being a dragon.”
She nodded. “Yeah. He mentioned the same to me. But I still don’t see how it matters, and Rask doesn’t care.”
“Rask certainly wouldn’t. His family tree has dwindled to branches. They don’t obsess about purity.” He shrugged. “He could do worse than a fae, couldn’t he?”
She arched a brow. “I suppose we don’t need to have that talk then? The one where I tell you that Rask and I have something?”
“It didn’t seem like you two were hiding, exactly. I’m the king, it’s hard to keep secrets from me. Spies everywhere,” he commented, glancing around the room.
“Oh.”
“In any case, I don’t think Arron actually cares, either. I think he just doesn’t want to seem like he’s ignoring tradition. And I have to admit, seeing him bothered made me want to deny that you were my mate.”
“Do you still feel that way?” she asked, bracing herself.
“Of course not.”
“But you may change your mind,” she said slowly. “Because I can’t give you dragon children.”
He kissed her forehead and chuckled. “Well you won’t give me wolves, and that’s something to keep Arron happy.”
“No, I mean… I can’t do that. I can’t have children.”
Two down, one to go.