Dain smiled. I swallowed, feeling my heart thumping against Falin’s chest.
“Maybe you’re not so tired, after all?”
“I could run a marathon,” I lied.
“What do you want to know?”
“Are you going to bind me?”
“I don’t need to bind you for a Mark.”
“Is it going to hurt?”
“Yes.”
“On purpose?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I changed my mind about a Mark. You need a Claim.”
“What’s a Claim?”
“Do you want my protection?”
His eyes seemed to peer right into me instead of my looking into him and they locked me in place. I couldn’t move, couldn’t take another breath until I answered him honestly.
“Yes,” I finally said.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” I answered.
Dain nodded. “This is what we mean when we tell you that you’re not ready yet. You need to learn more about bargains and magic and the courts.”
“You won’t teach me,” I complained.
“We will,” he said. It felt like a promise and I remembered that the Fae couldn’t lie. “Until you learn more, you need to rely on your instincts. Your magic is innate, part of the instincts that tell you to accept my Mark.”
“And if my instincts told me not to trust you? Would that stop you from Marking me?”
“No,” he said. “That is fear, not your instincts. I should have done it the first night we met when my instincts told me not to delay. This is what happens when you ignore your instincts.”
Falin tightened his grip. Would he disobey Dain if I asked him to take me out of the room?
“Release her,” Dain said.
“No,” I told him. “I want to be in Falin’s arms when you Mark me.”
Falin let me go but he didn’t shove me off his lap. I knew I was drawing a line somewhere but what side Falin stood on wasn’t certain.
“Is that what you want in return for your submission to the Claim?”
“No,” I said. There was something I really wanted from him, ever since Falin told me how he tricked me with glamour.
“Don’t push me, Eve.”
A hint of the dark pressure of his glamour filled the room. Falin had told me that even the revelation of Dain’s true form had really been more glamour, convinced that I couldn’t face the truth. They all thought me weak and it was getting me nowhere.
I took a big, deep breath, straightening my shoulders.
Falin stayed quiet, holding still.
“I want to see your wings,” I said. “Your real wings.”
“Didn’t they feel real to you this morning?” Dain asked.
I was catching on to them. The Fae would ask another question back or talk their way around an answer to avoid telling me something they didn’t want to admit without outright lying about it.
“They felt very real. Your glamour is good.”
“Good?” he said with disbelief, arrogantly probing for a compliment.
“It wasn’t the touch of the wings that impressed me,” I said. I unwrapped my arms from Falin’s neck, leaning back and tapping myself on the chest, over my heart. “The heaviness here, like something was pushing down on me. How does glamour do that?”
Dain put his hand over mine on my chest. “Did it hurt?”
“No,” I said. “It was like hanging from the top of a rollercoaster and looking down before it drops.”
My breasts were still out of the bra, nipples prodding my shirt that was dampened where Aeric had put his mouth. I had forgotten it, but I looked down as Dain stared at me, chest heaving against our joined hands with another breath and making the situation even more obvious.
“No bargains for your Claim,” Dain finally said, looking back up at my eyes.
I could feel his hand burning through mine. One last Mark and I would be done. Was it worth fighting him about it?
Dain removed his hand from me and yanked his heavy, leather-armoured shirt off. I stared at his chest even harder than he had looked at me, fascinated by the detailed tattoos covering half his chest and one shoulder. It was similar in style to Falin’s but the lines were heavier and the tattoo seemed to circle around his back. Metal banded both his upper arms like Eloden’s single band, but a dull grey of iron instead of bronze.
He was built like a god, thicker than Falin and Aeric. Dain’s bladed slabs of muscle were severely cut, a hard bulk earned by the kind of heavy, physical work nobody did anymore, and the numerous scars lining and puckering his bronze skin were a testament to the dangerous life he had lived to earn his power. His massive body was comparable to a fully grown male lion, only looking lazy with strength, but more than capable of taking down any threat that dared provoke him.
“Take your shirt off if you want to see my wings,” Dain said, interrupting what I’m sure had been at least a full minute of my staring.
“Are we bargaining?” I asked, forcing myself to look up to his eyes.
“No,” Dain said. “We’re never going to bargain, little Mouse.”
“I’m not a Mouse,” I said, annoyed. “Why not bargain?”
“Do you want me to undress you? Would that be easier?”
So, this wasn’t optional. I blushed. Other than Orin, the rest of the Fae were all watching us. If my bra was on properly, it wouldn’t show anything more than a bikini top.
“Let us see your pretty breasts, Baby,” Falin whispered. He shifted under me and I felt the evidence of his reaction to the turn this conversation had taken.
I had worn a bikini dozens of times. I could do this. I slipped my hand into the neckline of my shirt, reaching for the outlines of my bra cups and covering my breasts up again.
“Fine. Falin can do it,” I said.
I didn’t have to tell him twice. Falin pulled my shirt from the waist and quickly up. He left my hands tangled in the sleeves over my head and let go to grab me by my hips and lift me over his head. I shrieked but he ignored me. I thought he was going to kiss my breasts until he kept going, lifting me so my belly button was level with his mouth.
I struggled out of my shirt the rest of the way to thrust my hands into his hair and pull his head back as he licked around my navel, dipping in to tease my innie with his tongue. I felt the smooth metal of his piercing tap against the sensitive skin and imagined just how it would feel rubbing against me elsewhere.
Normally, I’m ticklish, but that was amazing. Who knew I would like to be kissed there?
“Let her go, Falin,” Dain ordered.
Hot breath trailed slowly up my belly to my chest and neck, little nibbles here and there as Falin slowly lowered me to sit over his lap. Dark eyes met mine, drawing my attention away from Dain. It was the kind of look a guy gave you to let you know he wanted to take you to bed and skip everything else. I’m pretty sure he had forgotten our company.
“You can’t keep her for yourself,” Dain warned.
Eloden whistled low. “Such beautiful breasts, Sweetheart.”
I blushed further at the male appreciation. The bra I had on was one of my favourite, a little push up with demi cups that I didn’t quite spill out of when fastened, but the illusion was tantalizing. I put it on and sat in front of the mirror and felt prettier whether I was putting on lipstick or brushing my teeth. Nobody had ever seen me in it except for myself.
“I want to Mark you again when you’re done,” Falin whined to me. “It needs reinforcing.”
“Your Mark is strong,” Dain said.
“You’re just mad that you didn’t get to bargain with Eve,” Aeric added.
“She probably forgot all about your little bite by now,” Kheelan said.
I gave Kheelan a sneer. He was such an asshole. I couldn’t believe I let him Mark me.
“All that matters is the protection it provides,” Dain said. “I’m going to place my Mark under Falin’s on the back
of your neck and shoulder. Do you want to lie down on your front to make it easier?”
“Can’t Falin hold me?”
“No, not this time,” Dain said. “He can bind your hands to his own if you’re willing to hold them over your head.”
“Why the binding?” I asked, not ready to get tied down again.
“It’s traditional,” Aeric reminded me.
“To keep you still for the Claim,” Eloden added, practically.
“He’s going to do it unglamoured,” Falin said.
“To keep you from running in the other direction like your instincts are going to scream,” Kheelan warned.
Fae didn’t lie. “I want to see your unglamoured form first,” I insisted. I also wanted to know more about this Claim thing before I agreed.
“No,” Dain said. His golden eyes left no room for bargaining, already looking over to Falin and nodding towards the middle of the bed.
Falin stood up with me in his arms. He turned around to the bed and kneeled on it, knee walking with me wrapped around him again. I tightened my grip as we passed Dain. Falin tried to loosen my arms, so he could lean over and drop me in the center of the bed, but I whimpered and clung. This was a terrible idea.
“I don’t need to see your wings,” I told Dain.
“No, you don’t,” Dain agreed. “I would have needed to show them anyway to complete the Claim. You can close your eyes.”
“Let go,” Falin whispered to me.
“I can’t do this,” I admitted. Dain told me to pay attention to my instincts and right now they were screaming to run before I was bound. Kheelan had almost gotten it right.
“You weren’t afraid of Dain earlier,” Falin said. “Where’s my mouthy wench?”
I laughed despite my nerves. “Who calls a girl a wench anymore? Are you a pirate?”
“Aye, I may have been accused of hoarding treasure before,” Falin said, dropping me onto the bed by following down with his own body, just barely holding his weight from crushing me. “I’ve got a cutlass I would like to introduce you to, wench.”
“Where’s your eyepatch?” I said, avoiding all talk of swords. I wasn’t that naive.
“You can’t see if you’re hiding your face against my shoulder,” Falin pointed out.
I released my grip a little, leaning my head back in the bed. I saw Falin’s scruffy chin and then as he turned his head I got a glimpse of a very piratical looking black leather eye patch.
“How?” I asked, fascinated. It had to be magic.
“Glamour, Baby,” Falin said. “Want me to glamour the rest of your clothes off?”
“Stop playing with her,” Kheelan complained.
“He can’t glamour your real clothing off,” Aeric said.
Eloden didn’t sound so sure. “And he calls me a fox.”
“She only needed to remove her shirt,” Dain said. “Get her into position.”
“I said no,” I yelled. Falin winced above me and I remembered his sensitive hearing.
“Baby, your Marks need a Claim to bind them. Let Dain take care of it,” Falin coaxed. He had softened his voice for me but not his insistence I give in.
“If I get you to say ‘yes’ first do I have your agreement to the Claim?” Dain said.
“I’ll never say yes,” I muttered under Falin.
“Your agreement to the terms?” Dain said.
“I’m not bargaining with you,” I replied.
“It’s not a bargain, but an agreement,” Dain explained. I kept my silence stubbornly. Getting into an argument about semantics was foolish when I didn’t even understand what a Claim or Mark really was other than me getting bitten in some magic kiss on the neck.
“Your silence can be interpreted as acceptance of the agreement but you will say ‘yes’ before I bind my Claim,” Dain finally said after it seemed I had lost my voice.
I still clung to Falin so he upped the ante and let me have more of his weight, pushing my hips into the mattress. With my legs wrapped around his hips, it angled him perfectly for every hard inch to press against my core. Falin was not subtle, slowly withdrawing his hips and pistoning them again, drilling against me hard enough to set me throbbing.
“Stop,” I hissed at Falin. This kind of team play against me was unfair.
He thrust again and held it, pushing down against me so hard I couldn’t hold back a moan. “Let go, first,” he ordered me.
I gave him a sulky look as I finally released my hold on his shoulders and hips, drawing my legs together under him. He lifted his weight off me and left me aching.
“Dain?” Falin asked. His dark eyes were making a slow trip up my body, pausing at my bra where the fit had loosened from going horizontal and all of Falin’s thrusting. I might have more bared to him then I had intended.
“No,” Dain said. “She won’t be telling us you distracted her when she made this decision later.”
I got the message. I had wanted to have control over my choices and Dain was going to hold me responsible for them.
“Turn over,” Falin ordered me. He helped me when I didn’t move, grabbing one hip and getting me onto my side. I got a very loud smack that didn’t hurt too much given I was wearing jeans to try to encourage me to roll over.
“Harder,” I snarked.
With all of them watching and Dain planning to seduce me into accepting his Claim if I had gotten his drift, it was actually kind of a turn on. I never thought the dirty BDSM novels I secretly devoured would become a reality but Falin was full of surprises.
“Oh, Sweetheart, you don’t know what you are asking for,” Eloden said, groaning.
“She thinks it was Falin playing with her,” Aeric said.
I realized my mistake just as another harder smack landed. The jeans still cut the strength of it, but this time it got my attention as intended. Fuck, it burned in a heat I couldn’t deny, feeling it reawaken the ache of my unsatisfied arousal.
“The next one will be on your bare bum,” Dain warned. “Get yourself into position now.”
If only there weren’t voyeurs. I reached down and covered my butt with my hands, turning my head to glare behind me. The sulky look was positively surly now.
“Keep your paws to yourself,” I told Dain. “It’s only your bite I may agree to accept.”
“She’s so ignorant of Fae customs it’s astounding,” Kheelan complained.
“How can I know about Fae customs if nobody tells me anything,” I said, frustration making me grind my teeth as I rolled over onto my belly. No way was I moving my protective hands from making pockets for the back of my jeans.
“She’s going to bolt,” Kheelan predicted.
“No. Eve, you can do this,” Aeric said, encouraging. I remembered his hands helping me line up my arrow. He wasn’t quite the jerk I had first thought.
“Give me your hands,” Falin whispered from above my head.
I looked up, propping my chin on the pillow I had been keeping my face buried in. Falin had thoughtfully placed the pillow there for me. His gaze was impossible to decipher. The piercings made him look as fierce as ever, but I was still more worried about the Dark Fae behind me.
“I don’t need you to hold my hands,” I told Falin, putting up a brave front.
“Falin,” said Dain. I heard the snap of a belt and jumped half a foot off the bed.
I closed my eyes and whimpered but didn’t move my position, again. Dain was quickly replacing Kheelan for the greatest asshole award. Spanking might be something I had thought about in bed alone, keeping it to erotic novels. A belting until I agreed to Dain’s Claim was too close to the line I didn’t want to cross even in fantasies. Strong, dominant men were sexy but I had to be a willing participant. I felt pushed past my unspoken limits.
“Come on. Let me see these tiny hands that managed to put an arrow in a target on her first day,” Falin softly wheedled, unaware of my fear.
“Belt,” I blurted out, seconds from bolting, damn to Kheelan for realizing i
t first.
A baffled look came over Falin’s face. “I’m going to hold your hands, not bind you with a belt,” he finally said.
“Dain isn’t going to spank me with it?”
“No, I’m not,” Dain said from behind me. Anger deepened his voice even further. “You’re the one making this more difficult on yourself. I took the belt off because the iron buckle could hurt you when I lie over you.”
“Give me your hands now,” Falin said. He looked angry at me, too.
“I don’t see why you need my hands,” I said. I was embarrassed that I had wrongly guessed Dain would hurt me. I wanted to bury my head in the pillow and get this over without any more drama. I should just give in.
“Go away,” I told Falin.
“Don’t forget I’m going to be sleeping with you tonight.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?” I asked, jumping again as Dain kneeled on the bed by my ankles.
“Does it have to be just one?” Falin answered.
Dain’s hands came to rest beside my hips. He was on all fours over me, not touching but I could feel his presence looming, the little light from the window turning to shadow as his bigger body blocked it.
He licked my fingers. “No,” I whispered. Would he obey our agreement?
“Give your hands to Falin if you don’t want me to nibble on them, little Mouse,” Dain said.
I curled my fingers up to try to avoid him. “I already told you I’m not a Mouse.”
His tongue forced its way into my palm and he sucked one baby finger into his mouth and nipped it before releasing it. “Should I come up with another endearment for you?”
“My name is Eve,” I said. I squirmed under his insistent ministrations, still trying to cover as much of my butt as possible with my hands being attacked.
“Eloden calls you Sweetheart, but he thinks all the ladies are sweet. Perhaps it’s satirical,” Dain said after sucking another of my fingers suggestively. He nipped the pad of my thumb next.
“His ignorance is bliss,” I said. “Maybe I’m sweeter to Eloden.”
“She put her hands in his hair and told him how gorgeous his fiery locks were while caressing the fox like a tame pet,” Falin complained.
I partly lifted my head from the pillow to give him a one-eyed glare.
No Faerie Tale Love (Faerie Series Book 1) Page 23