by Marie Hall
“You’re a satyr.” She beamed and her heart became so large, so warm, and each beat was an echo of his name, each thump a cry of love. She moved into him.
“You are not disgusted?” His voice was dark and deep and made her insides quiver.
When she neared him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and she sighed, breathing in his scent. “I’m so grateful you’ve shown yourself to me. That you trusted me. We make a fine pair, you and I. The nymph and the satyr. Don’t they tell stories of us?” She wiggled her hips when his hard thickness brushed against her center.
He hissed. “I could entrance you; it is what my ilk does. But I want you to choose me, Shayera. So I forgo my use of magic—I will not charm you to love me.”
Framing his face, she tamped down her own magic, buried it deep, deep inside, because she wanted that same declaration from him. “I choose you with all that is inside me. With all that I am. I am yours. And, satyr, you are mine. All mine. Forever. Say it.”
His brow twitched, but his grin was pure sex. “I am yours. Dark heart, body, and soul. And you, my lovely siren, you are all mine.”
Then he was pushing her down and the clouds surrounded them and rose up to meet them, creating a bed.
She gasped as her clothes vanished and then laughed when he fell on top of her, pressing his weight down on her. Spreading her legs wide, she opened for him, wrapping them around his waist and shifting her hips up just enough so that her center brushed his own.
They hissed in unison.
“I will not last long,” he chuckled.
“Nor I. But if we have an eternity, then who cares, right?”
“Shayera.” He pushed himself off her just enough so that they could look at each other without going cross-eyed, and his muscles trembled. “This is your first time and I wish to be gentle.”
“I do not want gentle. I’m a nymph, I was born to do this.”
“Only with me,” he growled and the ruby of his eyes glowed a bloody crimson.
“Yes.” And with that word she forced him inside her.
Rumpel thrusted deep, penetrating her to her very core, and she wept because the immense strength and power that poured from him was glorious and dangerous and almost frightening.
“Give me everything, Shayera.” His hot words were whispered in her ear. “All of you. All your charms, all your passions. This is magic, love, this is magic. What you and I have, this is real. Now. Give it to me.”
And she did. She released it all. Everything she always held inside. The power that roiled like thunder beneath the surface of her flesh, she blasted it out and it poured from her like a blinding, glittering wave of golden light that crashed against his own dark splendor.
The force of it slammed into them, taking them beyond the heavens, beyond the stars. There was sex, and then there was this.
And it was so much more.
Tears burned from her eyes and he was there kissing her, kissing them away, thrusting deep and making her body flare to life like a supernova ready to implode.
“Trust me, my love. Trust me and let go. Whenever you’re ready, let go. I will catch you. I will always catch you.”
Biting her lower lip, she approached the yawning, dark chasm, the pinnacle of that rising orgasm that threatened to obliterate her. Then he was kissing her, shoving his tongue into her mouth and she accepted it with a delirious moan of desire. He tasted of cherry, of cinnamon. Of heat and fire.
“You’re so beautiful.” His jaw clenched. “So damn beautiful.”
Her head swam, her pulse raced, and her blood resonated with song. “I’m dying,” she cried.
“Then take me with you.”
And with one powerful, final thrust of his hips, she spilled into the little death, taking her dark prince with her.
His howls echoed like thunder, and she trembled into it. Lost, but not alone. He was holding her and he brought her back. His touch, his whispers, his love…
Then she blinked open her eyes and they were present in one another’s arms. She laughed, hugging him tight, and so did he.
“Was that even possible?” She blinked up at him. “No one ever told me it would be that way.”
“It’s not that way. Only for us, Carrot.” He twisted a hank of her hair around his finger as he nuzzled the side of her neck, breaking her out in a wash of goose bumps.
Gasping, feeling as though she’d run a mile, she slapped a palm over his chest. Straight over the spot of his heart.
“I adore you.”
“I will work the whole of my life to ensure you say that to me every day.”
His ruby eyes gleamed and she had to frame his face.
“My dark prince, I vow it.”
He sealed that vow with a kiss.
Epilogue
Euralis, under the guidance of Danika and Rumpel, was beginning to grow out of his shell. They allowed Shayera twenty minutes each day to go into his cell. The first day was not fun. The boy tried to attack her and might have succeeded if not for the cage.
But weeks had passed and now his son smiled at Shayera. Her charms, which had once been such a curse, were now a miracle.
Today he allowed his siren into the cage.
She was a vision dressed in white with flaming red hair curling wildly down her back. Euralis was in boy form and had his head in her lap while she read a storybook, a tale of a boy who cried wolf.
The child never took his eyes off her, his look adoring, and Rumpel could understand. She’d bewitched them all.
They’d gotten married in the traditional binding ceremony of Kingdom denizens, trading the stones of Veritas, but in his heart, their wedding had happened the night before. In the quiet, peaceful darkness of a storm, he’d pledged his soul to her.
She glanced up then and smiled.
I love you, he mouthed to her.
Her cheeks heated to a bright pink.
He loved everything about her. Her spunk. Her intellect. Her body. But mostly he loved the purity of his siren’s soul.
Rumpelstiltskin had discovered the greatest prize of all was the love of a good woman. And while this interlude was wonderful, he could only hope that Giles would return soon.
Euralis was stronger, but he was still too weak.
That amulet had to work; there could be no other option.
She joined him back in their chambers ten minutes later. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed his cheek. “Become who you really are, my darkness.”
Smiling, he transformed for her and then slipped his arms around her waist.
“No regrets, Rumpel?” Her blue eyes gleamed.
“None.”
“Euralis will be okay.” She sighed. “I believe it with all my heart and soul.”
And so did he—he believed in magic when she was with him. Believed that good would come to those who waited.
“I love you, Shayera. Always.”
Her smile sank into his soul and no matter what the future held, they had each other, and that was enough.
It was always enough…
“No regrets, my dark prince. None at all. Believe in Giles, in Danika, and the strength of my love. He will be saved. Have no doubt of that.”
“Is that a deal?”
“Do you want it to be?” She quirked a brow and wore a sultry smile. “Does that do it for you, love?”
“Always.” He pinched her bottom.
“Rumpel, you’re incorrigible.”
“Would you have it any other way?”
“No.” She kissed his lips. “Absolutely never change.”
And for her, he never did.
~*~
Stay tuned for a sneak peak of Hood’s Obsession, Book 9 in the Kingdom Series which will follow Giles and the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf, Lilith Wolf, coming July of 2014! If you’d like to know an exact date, then make sure to sign up for my newsletter!
Author’s Note
My goal and hope is to have the dark prin
cess saga finished this year. Ending with Hook’s daughter in Book 11. BUT, do not despair, I do not plan to end Kingdom any time soon. Just like how I evolved from the Bad Boys to the Dark Princesses, I’ll once again be expanding my universe and am looking at penning romances for the fiendishly bad girls of fairy tales, the evil witches. They will have their stories after the princesses are done, on the docket are plenty of bad, bad ladies and this is going to be a lot of fun. I’ll be continuing to spotlight many of my past characters, such as Rumpel, Hatter, and the Big Bad Wolf (to name a few) while introducing you to many others. I find that I’ve enjoyed my dark, twisted take on fairy tales too much to even think about walking away from them just yet. So I hope you’ll trust me enough to hang out a little longer in my mad world of tea parties and fairy magic…
About Marie Hall
Marie Hall is a NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves books that make you think, or feel something. Preferably both. And while she's a total girly girl and loves glitter and rainbows, she's just as happy when she's writing about the dark underbelly of society. Well, if things like zombies, and vampires, and werewolves, and mermaids existed. (Although she has it on good authority that mermaids do in fact exist, because the internet told her so.)
She's married to the love of her life, a sexy beast of a caveman who likes to refer to himself as Big Hunk. She has two awesome kids, lives in Hawaii, loves cooking and occasionally has been known to crochet. She also really loves talking about herself in the third person.
If you want to see what new creations she's got up her sleeves check out her blog. or contact her personally at [email protected]
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Marie Hall Books
Kingdom Series:
Her Mad Hatter, Book 1 (FREE EVERYWHERE based on Alice in Wonderland)
Gerard’s Beauty, Book 2 (Based on Beauty and the Beast)
Red and Her Wolf, Book 3 (Based on Little Red Riding Hood)
Jinni’s Wish, Book 4 (Based on Arabian Nights)
Hook’s Pan, Book 5 (Based on Peter Pan)
Danika’s Surprise (Book 5.5, novelette and first introduction to the upcoming Dark Princess Series)
Moon’s Flower, (Book 6 based on the legend of The Man in the Moon)
Huntsman’s Prey, (Book 7 spinoff Dark Princess Series)
Rumpel’s Prize, (Book 8, Based on the tales of Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast)
Moments Series (NA Contemporary Romance)
A Moment, Book 1 (Ryan and Liliana’s Story)
Right Now, Book 2 (Alex and Zoe’s Story)
This Time, Book 3 COMING May 2014
Night Series (Urban Fantasy)
Crimson Night, Book 1
All Hallows Night, Book 2
Howler’s Night, Book 3 (Coming August 2014)
Chaos Time Series (YA Time Travel Serial)
Sable
Slayde
Synnergy
Eternal Lover’s Series (Paranormal Romance)
Death’s Lover, (Book 1) From Grand Central—Forever Yours—Publishing
Previously published under the title The Witching Hour
Death’s Redemption, (Book 2) Coming JUNE, 2014 from Grand Central!
Sneak Peek of Hood’s Obsession
(Giles and Lilith Wolf’s romance), Book 9 of Kingdom coming July 2014!
Lilith Wolf ran like her life depended on it.
Mainly because it did.
They were closing in fast.
Two from the left side, three from the right, and they were catching up. They were men, but covered in fur and they were coming in hard.
“Keep running, girl,” the leader growled, “we love it when they run.”
His voice was a bassy rumble, a mix between man and beast. Heart in her throat, she called to her animal, the wolf that lived and breathed inside of her. It pulsed against her, hungry, and violent. Ready to defend her.
The men laughed, gods they were gaining. They were so close. Way too close. She could practically feel their breath on her neck.
Her skin shivered, pulsed with the energy of the shift and then… the wolf exploded out. She shed her skin, becoming nothing but muscle and fur and the woods were alive.
The wolf was wild, free, unhindered by things like emotion. Fear, anger, pain… none of it mattered except the need to run.
Her muscles bunched and gathered and her giant paws practically tore up the ground beneath her as she swerved in and around giant weeping willows whose branches soared into the heavens.
The sun was setting, soon the moon would be the only light in the sky. If she could just reach home, she should have never left the safety of her father’s wards.
Not now, gods what had she been thinking?
A giant body plowed into her middle, knocking her senseless and tossing her to the ground. Snarling, she jumped to her feet, snapped her jaws at the red haired leader who’d still not fully shifted and darted away.
“Run, but I’ll get you. I’ll always get you, Lilith! You belong to me.”
Then he howled and if she’d not been half human, if her human side didn’t hate St. John the way she did, she’d have turned back around. She’d have gone to him, because he’d thrown out the mating call and her damn wolf wanted it.
Then another howl, and another. Three more, all joining in chorus and she whimpered, her claws gouged into the earth as she stopped, pulled by the instinctual need to go to him. To crawl to that vile, repulsive Alpha.
She whined as the call grew louder.
No. No. She screamed it at her wolf. Don’t go. This is a trap.
But the instinct was just too strong.
Brain and body at complete odds, she turned and whimpered her way back to the circle of men. They stood, holding hands, the alpha drawing his strength from his pack. His brown eyes glimmering with the threat of violence and sex.
Violent sex. The claiming of a wolf. They’d all wanted her, daughter of the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, she was a conquest, sport. A notch on their belt, that was it. They wanted to take what was hers and turn it foul, tarnish it, ruin her for another.
No one knew she was out here. Her brothers would kill St. John if they ever discovered what he’d done. She crawled on her paws and belly, screaming at the wolf to stop.
“That’s right, you beauty,” St. John cooed, “come to your master.”
She snarled and he laughed.
“You cannot deny me, Lilith, I am an Alpha.” And the moment he said the name the collective power of the pack slammed into her and she knew this nightmare was real.
She would be raped, tainted, all because he could.
It wasn’t that St. John wasn’t good looking, up until two weeks ago he’d been a mate. A friend. She’d considered him as an option briefly, but he had a temper and when shifters mated, it was for life. She was picky.
He should never have asked her for her hand. Should never have demanded she told him the truth. Because the moment she’d denied him she’d sensed his immediate shift from cordial friendship to dangerous obsession. Wolves hated to be denied, but most especially Alphas.
She watched in horror as his fingers slowly undid one button of his shirt at a time. Not only was he going to rape her, but he was going to do it to her while in his half turned form.
Doing that while she was fully wolf would show not only dominance, but disdain. That he could overpower her even as a man.
She whinnied when the stench of his arousal brushed her sensitive nose. He reeked of male musk, a horrible fishy stench. Now her wolf finally seemed to understand what was going on, because she snorted the scent. Offended by its repulsive odor.
Her wolf did not recognize this Alpha as its mate. If she had the scent would have been clean, crisp, intoxicating.
He dropped the shirt to the ground. St. John was covered in a fu
rry carpet of red all along his arms and torso. She shook her head even as her paws dragged her into the center of the circle.
“Cover her eyes, boys,” St. John laughed.
Then she was set upon, but still under her thrall she couldn’t move. Could only scream in her head as hands tied a velvet mask around her eyes.
Shivering, trembling, she whined and awaited her fate.
Cries and howls suddenly exploded around her and the power locking her limbs in place was gone. But these cries weren’t ones of jubilation and conquest, but raw, visceral fear and pain.
Terrified, she jumped to her feet, shaking her head from side to side to release the mask. Had her brothers found her trail?
But if they had, why wasn’t she scenting them? She smelled smoke and brimstone. Not altogether displeasing, but not the fresh earthiness of her clan. What was going on?
Growling, she rubbed her head against tree bark to peel the damnable mask off. She debated whether to shift back to human form but quickly dismissed the idea. Stronger as the wolf, she knew she had no choice but to remain as she was.
There were grunts and hard exhalations of breath, a body being slammed. Then another. More howls. And then finally silence.
Standing stock still she listened to the rustle of dry leaves dance on the grassy meadow. To the chatter of squeaking mice. The hoot of an owl. The breeze smelled of apples and flowers and something dark… something dangerous.
Only one heartbeat besides her own remained in these woods. The mask was only half off, all she could see were her paws and the ground. Pulse racing she stood on edge waiting for the… whatever, to come at her. She could hear its breathing, it hadn’t gone anywhere.
The longer she waited, the louder her instinct became that this predator meant her no actual harm.