I did indeed experience a measure of dismay as I watched the scraps of what had been my pants fall, but only because my mate’s enthusiasm had left me with virtually nothing to wear. Either way, I couldn’t bring myself to protest, not when Victor eyed me with so much hot lust and honest appreciation. In fact, his desire left me able to process a single thought. Naked, now!
Sadly, I didn’t have his speed or his coordination, so I couldn’t get rid of his outfit like he had done with mine. This turned out not to be a problem, or rather, a problem Victor himself fixed. In the blink of an eye, he tossed off his boots and wriggled out of his pants and underwear.
When he was at last naked in front of me, I experienced a few seconds of awe during which I wondered just what I’d done to deserve such a wonderful mate. Pixie dust rose around me from my trembling wings, frustratingly reminding me of just what I’d given up for us to be together. But I had no regrets, none whatsoever. Nothing was too big of a price to pay for the bond I now shared with him.
My thoughts melted into pure, hot emotion as Victor finally covered my nude body with his own. And when he pressed his lips to mine, I forgot about everything that wasn’t him. I’d have even forgotten about myself had his awareness of me had not been so very poignant.
As he thrust his tongue in my mouth, I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our groins came into contact, drawing out choked moans from both of us. His erection nudged me impatiently, and his thoughts echoed in my mind, “I need to fuck you, Larue. I need to be inside you.”
“Yes,” I answered. “Oh, please…Yes…”
I couldn’t for the life of me have mustered enough coherence to say anything more, even mentally. In the end, it wasn’t necessary, as my mate could read my mind as well as I could read his. He knew exactly what I craved, and he gave it to me.
When he broke our kiss, Victor only did so because of that knowledge, of the acute realization of my need for him. He licked his lips, as if he simply couldn’t get enough of my taste, scanning my face with impossibly hot eyes. This time, he didn’t speak. Instead, he briefly pulled away and opened our nightstand drawer.
I experienced a small moment of irrational panic at the loss of his embrace, but I needn’t haven’t worried. He returned to my side in mere seconds, holding a small vial full of translucent liquid. Apparently, the royal family provided their guests with all sorts of comforts. In a way, it didn’t surprise me. It was so like Arthurians to cover every need of the people they welcomed in their home.
Breathless, I watched as Victor poured some of the oil on his fingers. My mate met my gaze, unblinking, so focused on me that he almost seemed to have forgotten about what he was doing. He didn’t look at his hands as he worked, and yet, he managed not to spill it on the sheets. When I lifted my legs in the air, exposing myself to him, he reached for my opening with his now-slick digits, and still, he didn’t look away from my face. It was as if an invisible string bound our gazes together, making us too greedy for each other to be able to look away. Distantly, I thought it wasn’t really surprising. After all, eyes were said to be the windows to the heart, and our souls were certainly united. And now, our bodies would be one as well.
Slowly, Victor slid two fingers inside my channel. I released a gasp, but didn’t move. I remained completely still, bent in half, as if my mate had hypnotized me. Perhaps he had. As seductive as I sometimes tried to be, it was nothing compared to the addictive sex appeal Victor exuded.
And he knew it, too, damn it. He knew just what he did to me, and he took shameless advantage of it. Naturally, I couldn’t complain, especially not when his digits brushed against my prostate, triggering small explosions of pleasures through me.
But it was my turn to want to berate him for teasing. I needed him now. As much as I enjoyed every touch of his talented fingers, I craved more. I was choking, burning, drowning in the need, and only one thing would sate it.
I could sense Victor’s desire echoing mine, but he didn’t rush things. Instead, he prepared me thoroughly, lovingly, his honest affection for me entwining with his ever-rising lust. When he finally deemed me ready, I was on the brink of coming just because of our prolonged foreplay.
He slicked his cock up with more oil and lifted my legs on his shoulders, making the position a little more comfortable for me. Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed the strain, but I did appreciate the change regardless, because it brought him closer to me.
Finally, his cock nudged against my anus. He was still holding my gaze when he slid inside. It was an impossible moment. There was no other word that could have described it. This was our second time together, and as such, the first one I experienced that unique burn of his entrance while being mated to him. And, sweet Goddess, it felt so overwhelming I could barely think. As he fully impaled me on his shaft, I felt as if I’d fallen in a different reality, like I was underwater, and the lines of my world were blurring. The only thing that remained steady and so very there was Victor. Victor. My mate.
“Larue.” Victor murmured that one word, and on his lips, it almost sounded like a prayer. His voice echoed through me like a physical caress, and I finally released a breath I hadn’t even known I’d been holding.
Somehow, I managed to mimic his effort and answer, “Victor.”
That simple exchange might have seemed a little ridiculous, but in those few syllables, we said far more than anyone else would have heard. We shared our love for each other, the importance of this moment, and the complete perfection of it didn’t need more than those simple words to be vocalized. Truly, it didn’t need to be vocalized at all, but it was so powerful that I simply couldn’t keep it restrained.
And then, Victor pulled out of me and thrust back inside. His dick struck my prostate, and this time, his name escaped my lips in a high-pitched whine, about seven syllables longer. Maybe. I couldn’t be expected to count things like that when my mate was wreaking such insanely pleasurable havoc on my body.
I snapped out of my trance and began to move with him. As we fell into a rhythm, he increased the pace, fucking me faster and faster. He was burning me from the inside out, branding me with his heat, with his passion. Time and again, his dick filled me, stretching me to the limit. My wings twitched against the bed, and my heart beat so fast it threatened to burst out of my chest. I felt him in every inch of my body, from my eyelashes to my toenails, but it went beyond that. I sensed him in the very depths of my soul, so close to me, impossibly close.
Hooking my legs higher on his shoulders, Victor brought his face to mine. When he pressed our lips together and his dick once more into my body, I couldn’t take it any longer. I sensed him whisper in my mind, “Come for me, Larue,” and instantly, I obeyed.
It wasn’t a conscious thing, but his words triggered an instinctual response inside me. With a scream that his kiss drowned out, I came, trembling and swamping our bond with my magic.
Victor grunted, and our connection exploded with renewed rapture as he found his peak as well. I felt it all, felt my pleasure and his, and it was simply too much. For a few moments, I actually blacked out, lost in the pure mind-melting perfection of it. Victor was right there with me, his emotions accompanying me as I floated on clouds of rapture. My mind was a litany of his name, but that was all right, since his thoughts echoed a similar need for me. We simply fit together, just like I’d known we would, from the moment I’d realized he was my mate.
I would have loved to remain like this forever with Victor, but alas, time could be very ruthless. All too soon, I found myself returning to reality. To make things worse, Victor had already slipped out of my body. But all unfortunate things could sometimes have a pleasant side, and this time around, the silver lining was that I was in my mate’s arms. That went a long way to soothe me. In fact, the afterglow began to settle in a pleasant daze, a contentment that I’d only ever experienced with Victor.
I closed my eyes, ready to drift into slumber, when suddenly, a wave of shock washed over me. “Larue,” Victor
whispered.
His voice sounded breathless, but not in a good way. His eyes had gone wide, and he scanned my face with shock and panic.
At first, I didn’t know what was going on, but then, realization struck, Victor’s thoughts communicating it to me. I stared at my own hand where it had been resting on Victor’s chest, and I saw it fading.
Over Victor’s shoulder, I saw the sun finally surrendering to the late hour, its last rays melting into twilight. Suddenly terrified, I got up, trying to figure out what to do. But there was no time left. Next to me, Victor’s form suddenly shifted into a small black cat. As for me, I disappeared altogether.
“Larue.” Victor’s voice seemed shockingly like a desperate meow as he leapt toward me. “Lovely?”
His distress broke mine, and I extended my arms to catch him. I almost expected my attempt to fail, but it didn’t happen. He landed safely in my embrace, and released a surprised sound as he did so.
“I’m still here,” I told him as I petted his fur. “It must be the curse manifesting.”
“Larue,” he repeated for the third time. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”
Damn it. We were back at what we’d started. I wasn’t exactly surprised, at least not at Victor’s self-flagellation. Still, when we waited for a few moments longer and nothing else happened, it occurred to me that things could truly have ended up much worse.
“We can actually use this to our advantage,” I told my mate. “Anelah would probably be able to sense me, but it can’t hurt to look around when no one else can spot me.”
“How can you even think about that?” Victor asked. “What if you don’t return to normal in the morning?”
“I will,” I answered. I had no idea how I could be so sure. Perhaps it was my magic providing the answer, or something else entirely. Maybe I just wanted to believe it. Either way, I had faith that no curse could separate Victor and me. “Everything will be all right. You’ll see.”
Victor didn’t look convinced. Okay, so reading a feline’s expressions wasn’t exactly easy, but I’d gotten pretty good at it in the past weeks, and our bond certainly helped to validate my first impression.
I might have said more, but I caught sight of something outside, or perhaps…someone? “It seems we might get to use my new ability sooner than expected,” I told Victor.
My mate leapt out of my arms and onto the window sill. “And we might have a chance against Anelah yet.”
I smiled at him, even if he couldn’t see me. Yes, things were definitely going as we’d hoped. As long as we had faith in true love, we could still win this battle.
Chapter Thirteen:
In Which Weddings are Lovely and Sometimes Unfortunate Events
As it turned out, my mate proved to be right in that the strange effect of the curse would prove to be useful. It helped us slip out of our quarters unnoticed for the purpose of investigating what we’d just seen.
Our room was on one of the superior levels in the Arthurian royal residence, and on a corridor that was guarded by a good number of bulky Arthurian soldiers. This made it very difficult for us to sneak out of the building in a normal way.
Fortunately, I benefited from the assistance of a lover who had wings. We decided there was no sense in bothering with the door anyway. My mate took me in his arms, and we went out of the room into the balcony. I kept my gaze straight ahead, so that I wouldn’t have to focus on the fact that my mate remained invisible. It helped that he held me so tightly and caressed my fur, and my terror for him slowly began to melt into a more sedate fear.
Larue flew off the balcony and landed unseen in the courtyard below. Here also, there were numerous guards, which was why I leapt out of his arms as soon as we were on the ground. After all, a black cat would be disregarded as harmless, but not if it was floating midair.
The end result was that I had to separate from him, which was something I honestly didn’t appreciate. However, we still had our bond, and because of it, I managed to focus on our current endeavor.
We’d lost sight of the person we’d spotted from our quarters, but that wasn’t a huge problem. I scanned the courtyard with eyes that could see through the dark and slowly sneaked toward the stables, following my instincts.
I sensed my mate behind me, and together, we made our way to our destination. The actual stables were guarded, but we didn’t go in. Instead, we went around, continuing on our path. I didn’t actually know where we had to go, but regardless, we found our target.
Hidden in the space between two buildings, a familiar figure had just dismounted and seemed to be trying to figure out what to do next. He’d tried to disguise himself, but all that blond hair was unmistakable, and I was used to seeing him covered up.
“Now what?” Rapunzel asked.
I almost thought he was talking to me, but he couldn’t have spotted us. Instead, it became obvious that he’d addressed the question to his horse, which predictably turned out to be Magda.
“Now, we speak to them,” the mare said.
Her big brown eyes fixed on me, and I couldn’t exactly say I was surprised that she’d sensed us. After all, she was a magical horse of a special Morgannian breed.
Startled, Rapunzel turned toward us. His gaze fell on me, and he blinked, looking a little confused. “Doctor Frankenstein?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “Come quickly. There’s not much time.”
“So I was right then,” he said with a gasp. “I had this unsettling dream, and I just knew I had to come.”
“I’m not sure how much you know,” my mate said, “but whatever dream you had was probably quite correct. Prince Kirril’s brother, Medwin, has been bewitched by the same woman who cursed Victor.”
He seemed to have forgotten he was invisible now, and really, to a certain extent, I’d lost my awareness of it as well. However, I received a very strong reminder of it when Rapunzel’s eyes widened and he stared at the spot where my mate stood, but where nothing appeared to be. “Larue?”
“It’s a long story,” I said with a sigh. “Come on. We have some planning to do.”
Rapunzel followed, guiding Magda along. As we headed back the way we’d come, I was already elaborating a plan to stop the upcoming wedding. Whether Rapunzel knew it or not, he’d given us a very strong weapon against Anelah.
* * * *
The next morning
“Is everything ready?” Kirril asked in a soft whisper.
I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me and answered, “Yes. I take it you did your part.”
“It wasn’t so difficult,” the Arthurian prince said. “I couldn’t get close to Medwin, though. Anelah’s keeping a close eye on him.”
Victor released a sigh. “Well, we’re just going to have to hope your brother will be strong enough to fight her when the time comes.”
He jumped on the bed, glancing toward the window and looking unsettled. All throughout the night, we’d made arrangements to make sure the wedding wouldn’t happen, but for Victor, our own predicament had remained very present. I knew he still feared that I wouldn’t return to normal, and while that had given both of us powerful incentive to do what needed to be done, this apprehension remained very present.
But now, we’d finally learn whether or not my condition was here to stay or not, at least until the end of the curse. Suffice it to say, both of us were quite anxious. I could only hope that my natural magic instincts had been correct, and the enchantment on me worked like the one on Victor. It would be quite bothersome to have finally bonded with my mate, only to be forced into this situation. I supposed it wouldn’t exactly stop us from coupling if need be, but I honestly didn’t want it to get to that.
Finally, the rays of the sun peeked out from under the veil of darkness. Almost instantly, I felt a ripple of magic flow over me, but I kept my gaze on Victor. As my mate turned from his feline form into the human one, I at last dared to bring my hand into my line of sight. I was visible again.
Vic
tor extended his arms toward me, and I didn’t delay in following his invitation. I pounced on him, and our lips met in a kiss that tasted like relief and shared desire. As our tongues dueled, his hands swept all over my body, as if he was trying to make sure I was really there.
We might have surrendered to our passion altogether had Kirril not cleared his throat. “Well, looks like this is my cue to leave.”
“No, stay,” Victor said as he broke the kiss.
I nodded, my wings trembling due to my arousal. “If you go, Victor and I will end up fucking, and we don’t have time for that.”
Yes, I craved Victor with a hunger that would never be abated, but the dawn of this day had brought me a hope for a future that went beyond this moment. Now more than ever, I wanted everyone to have what Victor and I did. Kirril deserved to return to Dineiro’s side with an open heart, and Medwin couldn’t be meant for the cruel fate Anelah had reserved for him. I intended to ensure the curse was broken, and then hide with Victor and make love to him until neither of us could walk.
“All right,” Kirril drawled. “I’ll turn my back, though. Dini’s jealous.”
The reminder that I was naked embarrassed me a little, and as Kirril looked away, I reached for my clothes. During the night, we’d gone to see Kirril, informed him of Rapunzel’s arrival and the development of the curse, and begun to make arrangements for today. In the hope that my condition would disappear—or rather that I would appear—he’d provided me with a tentative Arthurian wardrobe. They weren’t exactly the type of clothes I was used to wearing, but they were elegant enough for the wedding, so they would serve the purpose they’d been meant for.
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