by Amy Marie
She smiled and slipped her hand into the inside of his elbow. “Well, you’re in another world, walking with a woman you just met, on your way to kill another woman. I’d think fear would be on the forefront of your mind.”
He shrugged. “You haven’t given me any reason to fear you. Although I do feel I’m a little frightened of this world. I made the acquaintance of Richard the lizard. Then there was Tom the crow.”
She nodded as he continued on about his travels to the cave where the shadow man had come into his dream.
“Did he give you this hat?” she asked when Joseph became quiet during his tale.
They stopped walking when they approached a balcony that overlooked the land. She remembered the area once green with life, the sky with the sun setting over the horizon, the people living in her kingdom.
“Yes,” he said after a long moment of silence.
“It is filled with magic?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Why do you wear it?”
“Are you ready for the story of how I became . . . this?” He motioned to himself as if he were merely a vessel.
She nodded and leaned against the balcony wall.
Joseph sighed and leaned in, just in front of her.
“When there’s a blood moon, magic is awakened in shifters, mainly wolves. If someone is bitten under the blood moon, that person will lose their soul and humanity, then become the same type of creature they were bitten by.”
She reached up and touched his cheek, satisfied he didn’t retract from her, but, instead, closed his eyes. He was reliving this nightmare for her. “I’m here,” she whispered.
He nodded, then continued. “I became the beast my family hunted. It was the humane thing to do, to end their lives. No soul, no humanity. They only lived as beasts. But my sister . . .” He trailed off and took in a deep breath. “She didn’t kill me, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Ella repeated.
He told her about the experiments, the doctors, the shock treatment. Then told her about the shadow man presenting Scarlett with the hat for him to wear. “It keeps my humanity in check. As for my soul?” He shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get that back.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered and cupped his cheeks. “But, please know, I’m here, no matter what the cost. I promise, Joseph Rose, with my last breath, I will help you fight this evil that tried to take your life and will aid in getting your soul back. I vow this to you as your rightful queen.”
“You are not my queen,” he sniffed and pulled her hands from his face and turned away from her.
She smiled and touched his cheek, turning him back to her. “I am your queen so long as you are in my world. You are my subject. It is my solemn vow to protect you with my life.”
“Shouldn’t that be your guards?”
“Well, if I had guards, then, yes. However, for now, you are my world, Joseph.”
His eyes met hers and a hunger erupted in his stare. “Tell me you feel this.”
She nodded. “Yes. I have since I first saw you, and from the moment our hands touched.”
“With you, I don’t feel like I’m lost. With you, I feel . . . I don’t know how to describe it,” he whispered.
“Normal?” she offered.
“Yes! Normal. Why is that?”
She grinned wider and stepped into his space. “Because, Joseph Rose. You are my mate.”
He blinked, then frowned. “Your what?”
“My mate.”
He shook his head. “I’m not a shifter. There’s no way I can be your mate. Wait, you are a rabbit shifter, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, the white rabbit you saw was me. Well, my doppelgänger anyway. I can shift into any creature of my choosing.”
He made an O with his mouth, then met her gaze.
She cupped his cheeks again and lifted up on her toes. She gently pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth, and her breath rushed from her lungs. Just the contact she had with him caused her heart to beat rapidly. She wanted to mate with him, be with him, mark him as hers.
But would he accept her as his?
Joseph’s eyes closed and he moved his arms around her waist. He pulled her against his body and Ella sighed into his mouth when his slanted across hers.
“What is this I’m feeling?” he mumbled against her mouth. “I feel this instinct to take you, and I don’t understand it. I only know I need to be with you.”
“My blood calls to yours,” she whispered and slipped her fingers through his hair. She touched the brim of his hat, and Joseph hissed.
“Be careful. If I lose it, if it comes off, I’ll turn into the beast and will kill you.”
She closed her eyes and forced herself to keep the words she wanted to yell at bay. The hat controls you, but you’re fine here in the underworld. Different magic, Joseph! Instead, she settled on a nod, and met his lips with hers once more.
She slid her hands under his tunic and felt his skin, hot to her touch. He was so warm, not because of the years she’d spent in prison, but because of the years she spent alone, without touching another human. His body shivered when she ran her hands up his chest. His muscles rippled beneath her fingers. She moved further up, and his nipples responded to her contact.
Joseph growled against her mouth and grabbed the back of her legs, lifting her against his body. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he carried them back into the castle. Just inside was a chaise lounge with a sheet draped over it.
He laid her on the couch and settled his body between her legs, their lips never parting. He pulled back just enough to look down her body. As their eyes met, she pulled her bathing robe open and exposed her naked flesh.
His gaze traveled back to her eyes and his pupils dilated further, his lips shook in a snarl. It was not the monster he felt was at the brink of rising, but his own inner beast he had a hard time taming. It was the primal need of the mate you were destined to have being just at your fingertips.
“I need you,” she whispered. “Please don’t hold back.”
He thrust his body against hers, the material of his pants causing friction against her naked skin. She gasped and lifted her head to kiss him.
“I need you,” she repeated and reached between their bodies. She slipped her hand over the erection in his pants and grabbed it. She stroked him through the material, and Joseph responded with a thrust to her hand.
“I don’t understand what’s happening to me,” he told her. “It feels as if I’ve been waiting for you my entire life, and, up until today, I never knew I needed you.”
“The beast inside you has been long asleep, and now he’s awake and ready to pounce his found mate. It’s not the beast you fear you are, but the beast that has been dormant inside you since your birth.”
His breath came in a rush, haggard and flustered. “Tomorrow we’ll discuss more of this. Tonight, is only about you.” With that, he pushed his pants down and freed his cock. He pressed the head to her pussy and pushed.
Her back arched, and she gasped, holding onto his shoulders. “Oh, gods,” she whimpered.
He pulled back and thrust in again. “Am I hurting you?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s just . . . it has been so long.”
He grinned as he held her gaze. He pulled back and drove in again and again, their bodies connecting on a level beyond primal. They were no longer Ella and Joseph, they were of one being, one mate, one soul.
Joseph’s pace quickened, and Ella yelled his name. Her voice echoed through the empty walls of her castle.
He pushed himself up and pulled her hips to his pelvis, then shoved himself into her harder and faster, making her his. “I’m going to lose myself to you, Ella. My queen,” he said the last part with a grunt.
She reached for him and with one hand around his neck, the other grabbed the couch. She pulled herself up and pushed Joseph backwards until he lay on his back. She rocked her hips back and forth, faster with each strid
e. She pressed her palms on his thick, strong chest. His muscles moved beneath her touch like a ripple of waves.
She tilted her head back with the welcomed orgasm readying itself to shatter her soul. He thrust his hips hard up against her body and her body quaked with her sex pulsating. Her growl resonated throughout the castle when she looked back down to her mate beneath her body.
“Mine,” she whispered and came down to Joseph, her lips hard against his own.
“Mine,” he repeated when she freed his mouth.
Her hair fell around and past her shoulders. She moved her hips back and forth a few more times as she rode the waves of her orgasm. She tilted his head to the side and leaned down to lick up the side of his neck.
Joseph’s body bucked under hers and his dick pressed inside her once more. He hadn’t come yet and was still quite hard.
She moved her hips more, milking his cock as she did. He groaned under her body and his hands moved across her back, pulling her harder against him.
He began to thrust his hips up against her, fucking her. Her body bounced slightly, and she whimpered next to his ear.
“You are mine now, Joseph Rose.” She would mark him as hers, give him the bite of the mate. Her inner shifter would then be mated to his and when he was ready, his inner beast would be released. This was not the blood moon bite. This was the pairing of mates, like a betrothal of husband and wife.
“Yours,” he told her. “Forever.”
“Forever,” she repeated and bit into his neck.
Chapter 9
It felt as if time moved slowly. The sky was still dark, and the moons were bright, causing a cascade of light upon the dead grounds of the underworld. Ella turned toward a sleeping Joseph. His eyes danced behind his closed lids, and the mark on his neck was red and slightly swollen.
Joseph didn’t flinch or hesitate when she’d marked him. She knew, now, he didn’t realize he was also dual natured. Maybe it was the bite at the blood moon he’d told her about that brought the dormant gene forward, or maybe it was his coming into adulthood. Either way, the shadow man had punished poor Joseph with the hat he wore. Joseph was convinced removing it would result in him turning into what he hated most: his wolf.
If he no longer had his soul, he wouldn’t be here in the underworld and definitely wouldn’t be here with her. He would have told her to fuck herself and the help she needed. He would be his own man, regardless if all the underworld depended on him.
She let go a long breath and brushed the hair back from his face. The hate from the shadow man still laid upon his head. Joseph had tied a makeshift strap to it to bind the hat to his head. It kept it in place, never to come off. When she’d asked how he bathed with it, he looked to her as if she had two heads.
“It goes into the shower with me.”
Of course it did.
His breathing continued deep and heavy. She turned over onto her back and a chill settled over her body. She’d been held captive for longer than she’d thought. Hoping no longer than a year’s time had passed, when she finally was able to get hold of a calendar, she was shocked to find it had been a three years, four months, and a few days.
How had it happened? How had the red queen made it into her realm? Ella thought back to the conversation with the woman when she’d been arrested.
The red queen had smirked. “I met a man who promised me all the power in the universe. The only catch was I had to imprison the current ruler of the underworld, take her magic, and take her place. And, well, here I am!” A maniacal laugh had come from the woman in red when she’d turned on her heel and walked away from Ella. The memory played again in her mind.
What did the shadow man have to gain from the red queen? Other than wanting power, why would the red queen want the underworld? Was the underworld an easy target and easily defeated? Looking back, the answer was yes. She’d managed to take it over without much effort. Then, again, having all the power and magic a world can provide would allow just that: a hostile takeover.
“What are you thinking about?” Joseph asked.
She looked at him. “Did I wake you?”
He shook his head. “No. Had a bad dream and woke up. Also, heard the tick tock in my head.”
She looked to his hat once more, then back to his eyes. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “But I don’t trust myself without the hat. Please, don’t ask me again.” And with that, Joseph sat up in bed. He stood naked and walked over to one of the windows.
His back had a large scar that ran the length of his left side. He had a few other scars along the way as well, but this large mark was the one he’d suffered at the hands of a pack of savage wolves at the blood moon. In the moonlight, it almost glowed silver.
She stood, pulled her night robe around her body, then crossed the room to him. She embraced him from behind and rested her cheek to his back. “I’ve waited for you for so long.”
He held onto her hands. She felt him inhale and exhale a few times before he spoke. “How did you know it was me you waited for?”
“My visions never lie.”
“You had one when I broke the window.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement. She nodded against his skin. “Yes, I did.”
“I saw it, too,” he repeated to her.
She nodded once more.
“What do we need to do to make that happen? How do we get your powers back? How do we save the underworld from the death she’s placed upon it?”
These were the questions of the century, and she had no idea how to answer them. “I think we’ll find out as soon as the shadow man is slain.”
He removed her arms from around him and turned to face her. He held her hands in his. “How do we kill a man that may be invisible or immortal?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know yet, but I know we’ll figure it out. We must. In my vision he was dead and she was seriously weakened.”
“Okay,” he whispered and looked to the ground. His face contorted as if he were fighting off a severe headache, or someone was hurting him.
“What’s the matter?” she asked and cupped his face. “What’s happening?”
“My head,” he grunted. “Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. It’s all I can hear. The more I think about how to hurt the shadow man and the red queen, the more my head hurts.”
“And if you don’t think about it or any sort of planning?”
He met her gaze. “I am,” he paused, “just me.”
She nodded. “Right. Then we need to figure out a way to separate you from the hat. He’s got some sort of control over it and —”
“No,” he said and cut her off. “No, absolutely not.” He removed her hands from his face.
“You said you trusted me,” she fought back and held onto his arms. “Trust me to not hurt you.”
“And I told you, it’s me that’s fearful of hurting you. The answer is no.” He turned away from her and strode toward the bathroom.
She wanted to do something for him, to convince him, this was literally in his head. He needed to separate himself from the hat. The hat was, in a way, alive. It was controlling so much of him, and he had no idea. How could he know?
She sighed and followed him into the bathing chambers. “Listen,” she started and sat on the edge of the tub as Joseph undressed. The water ran hot and bubbles formed on the surface. He stepped into the soap-filled water and rested back against the basin. “I’ll let it go for now, but I need you to know I have your life in my hands. I would never do anything to jeopardize that or hurt you in any way.”
He reached for her hand and pulled it to his lips. He feathered a kiss across the back of it and closed his eyes. “I know you wouldn’t, but I don’t know what will happen if I remove it. I can’t take that chance.”
“What if I have a way to prove it to you?” she asked.
“I don’t know how you can do that, but if there’s a way, yes, I’ll listen.”
&n
bsp; She nodded and dropped her night robe. She stepped into the oversized tub and laid back against Joseph’s chest. The water steamed the room and she hadn’t felt that relaxed, even before the red queen had invaded. She needed Joseph.
Her mate.
Ella’s prince.
Chapter 10
The trek to the palace of the red queen was not a short distance. However, a few of the creatures that stayed around the white queen’s castle remained. Two of which were horses: one white one black, both beautiful.
The pair road across the underworld in two days’ time. Ella managed to scrounge up food for the horses and themselves. After a few stops to rest and one night’s sleep in a cavern they’d spotted, Joseph and Ella spied the red queen’s castle over the horizon.
She pointed as her black horse, Licorice, neighed into the silence of their surroundings. “There it is.”
The white horse, named Satin, which Joseph rode, stood still. Satin let go a long breath and Joseph turned to his queen. “Are you ready for this?”
She nodded. “Yes. I have been ready since the moment she invaded my kingdom.” She inhaled deeply, then smiled. “Can you smell that?”
He sniffed a few times, then shrugged. “Ever since you came into our world, the balance has shifted. The dead have slowly begun to come alive once more. Even the grass that was burnt from the sun has been growing. You were wet when you arrived so it must have rained the other night!”
“Yes, the rain came to me in a time of severe need. I don’t know if I would have made it to you without it.”
Joseph’s featured soured for a moment and he stared at the grounds.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’m thinking of the dream I had about the shadow man coming to me, offering me food and telling me I’d need to kill the red queen.”
“Yes?” She also found this dream odd. Why would the man of shadows offer such information if only to provide the enemy with endless power?
“What would be in it for him?”