The Fall Of The King (Lightness Saga Book 3)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  Shite. Fuck. Shite. Fuck. Shiiiiiiiittteee.

  He bellowed out garbled words, his grip digging into my hipbones.

  Nothing could have prepared me for how he would feel. Not anything. Nothing I had experienced in life had felt this good. Even the slight pain from his size was exhilarating.

  He moved deeper, growling as he picked up speed. I made noises that would have put the stewardess on the plane to shame. I had made fun of her. Now I understood there was so much sensation you couldn’t hold it in. It had to break out. He was almost too much.

  Almost.

  I matched his ferocity. Pushing back, matching the savagery of his thrusts.

  We were punishing each other, unleashing all the anger, hate, and desire we had felt and wanted the other to be reprimanded for. It was hate-sex. Nothing more.

  He took my hands a rung lower, bending me farther forward and plunged deeper.

  Holy shite. I gripped the railing, feeling the pulse of my orgasm start. I never wanted this to end, but at the same time I chased after the climax like a fiend.

  “Fuck, Druid.” He slammed in harder. “You shouldn’t feel this fucking amazing.”

  I couldn’t even respond. Was there lightning in the sky or merely the electricity tearing off our bodies?

  The pavement of the road rumbled with an approaching car. We would be seen any moment, but I didn’t care as my climax scaled my torso.

  Sensing the approaching vehicle, Lars pulled me up, pressing my back to his chest, getting somehow deeper. His hand reached around and rubbed me as he bit down at the sensitive skin behind my ear.

  “Fucccckkk!” My body broke apart and gripped him like a vise. I screamed, air ripping from my lungs, as my system was crushed by the delicious orgasm. I didn’t want it to stop. Surges and waves rolled through, taking me so high I no longer existed as a singular entity.

  I was Earth. Sky. Every color. Sound. Every living organism.

  And nothing.

  I heard him bellow behind me, felt him throbbing and emptying inside me.

  Gradually, I floated back to earth. I couldn’t move or speak, our breaths in sync, his chest plastered to my back. The rain sprinkled down on us.

  Reality started to slip in, but my brain was not ready to accept I’d just had sex with a fae. Incredible sex. Mind-blowing, earth-shattering sex.

  On purpose.

  If I was going to break a rule. I really went for it.

  Shite. What did I just do?

  Chapter Thirty

  Lars

  Every expletive roared out of my mouth as I released inside of her so violently I had to reach around and grab on to the gate to keep upright. I didn’t swear much before; it did not suit a king. However, since I met her that had changed. Now I was hollering the words out, stringing them into full sentences.

  I had left the bakery determined to keep the focus on our mission, berating myself I had let her weaken me. She should have been nowhere near capturing my thoughts besides how she would break the spell on the cauldron.

  My resolve lasted for about two and half minutes. My gaze kept drifting to her mouth, how it moved around her sandwich, how she licked her lips to get the drops of coffee from them. In her anger at me she’d held her chin high and pointed toward the window, as if we’d had a lovers’ squabble. The way the Druid, even silently, could oppose me at every turn turned me on. I wanted to fight back, smash the silence and fill the car with her moans.

  When she started tapping the lid of her drink, cracking her knuckles just to irritate me, it drove me over the edge. The tension in the car exploded, crumbling the last of my willpower, and the demon took the reins. It wanted her and was not going to let me get in the way anymore.

  Demons were not known to be refined or respectful, which is why I kept it far from whomever I was with. It lived to claim and destroy.

  After Aisling, my demon went into hibernation, no longer caring enough about a woman to show itself as passion. Since the moment Fionna stepped into my life, the demon had been dancing below the surface, aggravated and restless. Clawing. Wanting. Edgy. Angry.

  A strike of lightning zigzagged to the ground, striking the field near us. Electrical energy prickled my skin as I pumped into her the final time. I bellowed as she pulsed and tightened around me. Pleasure tore through me. My mouth locked open in a groan, ecstasy freezing me in place.

  Gradually reality dotted my sight. My muscles retracted, going limp, my head fell back. I swear I felt the demon sigh contently, curling back deep under my skin like a sleepy lion.

  Happy. Relaxed. Completely satisfied.

  Suddenly I felt something I hadn’t in decades…utter peace.

  Yet even this was different from how it had been with Aisling, as if all my life I had been searching for something. And I finally found it. Even the storm had eased as though we were the ones causing it.

  Could our magic be so intense together?

  That only happened when…

  Fear immediately sprang up, my heart thumping from exertion and terror.

  No. My brain instantly denied. Absolutely not. She wasn’t anything than another fuck. Nothing more.

  The hand resting on the gate slid up her neck cupping it angrily as I leaned into her ear.

  “Never again, Druid,” I snarled. I tried not to think about the fact I was still inside her. Truth was I didn’t want to pull out or away, even with the impending vehicles about to pass by. Actually, it only made me want to start again. To claim her like some caveman.

  I growled with annoyance about to demand that she understood where we stood, when I sensed eyes stabbing the back of my neck like a fork. I curved my neck, still holding Fionna close to my body.

  A woman in the house across the street stood at the window, one hand on her hip, the other shaking at me, her mouth moving as if she were telling me off. I was reduced from grown man to horny teenage. “We’ve been caught.”

  “What?” Fionna turned her head the same way. It took her only a few seconds before she started laughing, her body vibrating with humor, which only made me grow hard inside of her again.

  She hissed, gripping the fence.

  A truck pulled up to the stop sign. I planned to be gone by the time it passed.

  Reluctantly, I pulled out, zipped myself back in, hauled up Fionna’s pants, and grabbed her arm, speeding us through the gate and down the path. By the time the truck fully passed the house, we would be gone. To human eyes we’d move faster than a blink. The woman would likely be standing there wondering if she imagined us.

  “Damn. Let a girl zip her trousers,” Fionna grumbled, buttoning her top button once we were safely in the trees.

  We both stopped and stared at each other, as though realizing what we just did. Maybe I really was going mentally insane. I had never been so reckless and impulsive. This was by far the most irrational I had been in a long, long time. When you’re young, you chalk it up to learning, pushing your boundaries. I was far too old to be this imprudent. I pushed up my sleeves, annoyance burrowing into my head.

  “I think it’s best…we just forget that little incident.” Fionna rubbed her sweater down flat. “Pretend it never happened.”

  “Yes.” I nodded. “I think it’s best.”

  Awkward silence clipped down around us, chewing on the air like a rat.

  “Well?” She raised her arms, twisting back for the car. Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

  “It’s this way.” I motioned down the trail, forcing my gaze to stop roaming over her mouth, tracing her lips. Her neck.

  “Oh. We’re here?” Her brow furrowed, peering around.

  My head bobbed in response. There was no real parking lot or signs, the spot still trying to stay hidden from the general public.

  “Okay. Then let’s get to why we’re here. Find the cauldron.” She took determined steps forward, reaching Jacob’s Ladder. The glen, which was once called Ashdow, was a gorgeous chasm carved through old red sandstone, reaching heights of
over seventy feet and some widths only ten to fifteen feet. Dramatic and magical, it was surrounded by farmland and rolling green grass. Tucked deep in the land and bordered by dense twisted trees and scrubs, you would never know it was there. A true hidden treasure.

  According to local lore, the gorge was a secret meeting place for the ancient Druids. My skin thrummed with their magic, which swirled off the surface of the river, as though they were still there communing with nature.

  Each step down the treacherous, uneven stone steps, slick with rain, mud, and leaves taunted you like an obstacle course. If you could safely reach the bottom, you were awarded the enchanted scenery soaring up around you in dramatic fashion. Nature’s theater.

  Halfway down the steep staircase, Fionna’s hand gripped the back of my shirt, holding on for dear life as her boots squeaked over the slippery, worn steps. It would be so easy to slip and fall down the steep ravine.

  Nearing the bottom, I heard the sound of rubber sliding, her boots losing their grip on the surface. Her arms circled my waist with a cry. Halting, I reached around, tugging her into me, keeping her steady. Her physical weight against me was nothing, however, the heat from her body pressing into mine, and the feel of her hands fanned out on my stomach carried the weight of a boulder against my back.

  The demon awoke with a start.

  Shit. I wanted to fuck her again.

  She didn’t move, as though she could sense my thoughts.

  “You all right?” I tried to speak evenly, but a roughness pulsed my words.

  “Yeah.” She yanked her arms back, clearing her throat. “Fine.”

  I stepped onto the ground and moved away from her. Her nearness stirred my blood to a boil, as if she had put me in a cauldron and let me cook. Clearing my throat, I refocused on the terrain around us.

  It was even more spectacular than it had been from above. Nature’s own magic coated every rock and tree in deep green moss. Ferns and roots from trees above dangled down like ropes, curling and twisting overhead or alongside the jagged walls. Red water trickled through the gulch, carving out its own trail, crafting an old-world sense of peace and ambiance, a slice of the earth that had not been touched the industrial age or modern technology where pure magic still existed. And somewhere hidden here was the last Treasure of Tuatha Dé Danann.

  My gaze shot up to the top of the stairs, paranoid Stavros was following us, that I would lead him straight to it, picked at my skin the same way a vulture did. I had no idea where he went, but I knew he was far from done with me.

  But no magic was felt. Not Unseelie King magic. I would feel it, sense my own magic thrumming off him.

  “You probably will perceive it before I do.” I turned back to Fionna, motioning for her to take the lead. She stepped past me, looking forward. My sight landed on a deep reddish-purple bite on the side of her neck right above three nail marks. I reached out, grabbing her shoulder. “What’s that from?”

  “You.”

  I inhaled through my nose. I didn’t remember biting or clawing her. Fuck, I had lost control. I let the demon slip through.

  “I apologize,” I replied stiffly.

  “Don’t.” She curved back to look at me through her lashes. “I enjoyed it.”

  The demon flooded forward, sharpening my senses. I knew my eyes had gone black. He wanted to conquer and take.

  Her nose flared.

  It happened one time. That’s it. I closed my eyes, man and beast fighting for control. The demon would not rule me. I breathed in and reopened my eyes, stepping away from her.

  Fionna gulped, her gaze drifting forward. “Let’s go this way.” She headed down the gorge. It had been unknown, a secret place only locals and old legends talked about, until a TV show used it. Now the place could be crawling with tourists who were on a mission to discover the gem themselves. The weather this time of year thankfully kept the sightseers away.

  We were already wet from the rain, but stomping through the river and climbing over fallen debris drenched us in water and mud. Her tight jeans fit her like a second skin. My notice drifted more than once to her backside as she scaled objects, and my body responded as the wet jeans stuck to her ass and legs.

  Shit. I was in trouble.

  And a liar.

  I said only once, but no doubt once was not going to be enough to my demon. Somewhere inside I knew two or three times wouldn’t be either.

  My demon had a taste and it marked her.

  Now nothing could stop it from completely devouring her…if she’d still have me.

  ~~

  Every once in a while, as Fionna moved through the gulch, she would close her eyes and chant a revealing spell.

  “Isaac really made sure the cauldron’s magic was concealed.” She frowned, her hands on her hips, her body slowly spinning around, examining the ravine. “I mean, how many fae have passed by here over the decade and no one sensed it was here?”

  “You really don’t feel anything?”

  “What do you think?” She cocked her head, glaring at me. “That I’m still trying to trick you? Take it behind your back?”

  “I can’t say it hasn’t crossed my mind,” I replied sharply. “You’d love to say you outmaneuvered me, right? Bested the King?”

  “Sod off, demon,” she barked, swiveled around, and proceeded down the gully. “Everything is always about you, isn’t it? Your ego can’t see past its own reflection.” She stopped short, whipping around to face me, forcing me to stumble back. “Believe me, I haven’t spent my nights dreaming about you. Or how to outsmart you. I wouldn’t have to put that much effort into it.”

  “Now who is the egotistical one?” I regained my footing on the mossy rock, though too late for my feet. My boots were saturated with river water. “And who said anything about dreaming about me?”

  Exasperation flashed in her eyes, a blush spotted her neck and cheeks, revealing more than she wanted.

  “Really?” I rubbed my chin with smugness.

  “Fuck. You.” She turned to stomp away, but I grabbed her arms, shoving her against the narrow wall of the gulley. Fire shot from her eyes, but I could feel her body curve toward me, her chest moving frantically for air.

  “What did I tell you about that?” My words came out gruff, but I could feel my body opposing my need to keep this woman at arm’s length. It was no longer just the demon who wanted to be inside her again. And she knew it. It was difficult not to. It throbbed, chafing against the wet denim, pressing into her.

  We didn’t move, our breaths syncing. Her eyes watched me defensively but smoldering with heat. Then something shifted as though I could reach out and touch her thoughts, understand every nuance of her facial reactions. Her soul hovered close to the surface. If I wanted, I could have breached it, dived in and seen what really made her tick.

  The longer we stared at each other the more I felt my layers and protective shields also peel away. I needed those safeguards in place. It was the only way I could survive in the world, and as King, my life depended on it.

  My feelings as a man did not matter. I kept them locked away, hidden from my enemy, even myself. But Fionna’s inscrutable brown eyes seemed to strip that all away, exposing me.

  I detested it.

  “Stop,” I snarled, gripping her arms tighter.

  “You get out first, demon.” She shoved back, plunging into my head and soul. I could feel her, intruding on my space, and damned if the demon didn’t just sit back, acting as a welcoming host, offering her a cool beverage and appetizer, wanting to show her straight to the bedroom.

  “GET OUT!” I bellowed, ramming my walls back up and tossing her out. Before she could even respond, I crashed into hers, shredding her mental walls like an animal. I didn’t so much want to know her true thoughts as to give a dose of what her invasion felt like. I prodded forward, ready to be attacked, but all I felt was warmth, power, and exquisite pleasure encompassing my presence. I heard the moan come out of my mouth. Sex was amazing, but this was on
another plane. Pure bliss pulsed through me.

  To a demon this only meant one thing. If you didn’t know it before, sex usually established it, locking it in place. We could have a thousand partners and never experience it. Once in a lifetime, your demon found its perfect match.

  I already had found mine a long time ago.

  She was dead.

  I should never experience this again.

  “Oh gods...” Fionna groaned, gasping for breath as if she were about to climax.

  She felt it too.

  My demon wanted to stay, but I didn’t. Fionna was not supposed to be a mate. Aisling was the love of my life. Death was not supposed to change that. I had accepted it. It actually kept that part of my life simple, neat, and easy, while the rest of it remained constantly in chaos. I liked my life the way it was. I didn’t need some pint-size Druid messing it up.

  I jerked away from her, tugging at my demon to retreat. My spine hit the opposite side of the slender ravine, gasping for air.

  The rush of the creek at my ankles filled the space between us. Time ticked by, my muscles twitching with the experience. My demon growled inside, perturbed at me for stopping.

  “What the shite was that?” Her voice barely carried over the babbling of the water.

  Starring down the gorge, I set my jaw. I had full control here. “Nothing.”

  “Bollocks.” She splashed through the creek. “Tell me what just happened wasn’t normal, right?”

  “Normal?” I huffed with amusement, facing her. “No, it certainly was not normal.”

  She licked her lips, gazing down at the moving water, her forehead crinkling.

  I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her. Hold her to my chest. Protect her. Feel her against me. My fingers pinched the bridge of my nose, breathing through the urge.

  “Well, whatever you did.” She cleared her throat. “It showed me a vision of the cave where the cauldron is.”

  “What?” I dropped my hand.

  “About two hundred meters that way.” She pointed back where we came. “We passed it.”

  My head jerked back down the ravine, all awkwardness dissolving instantly. “Seriously?”