Mark of Truth (Wicked Kingdoms Book 1)

by Graceley Knox

  “A moment if you would, Ever.” the King says, his tone making it more of a statement rather than a request.

  I bristle and wait to be told to stay away from Dare. Our actions are punishable by death if King Teag chooses to hand us over to the Light Elven Kingdom. Funny how all rational thought flies out the window the minute Dare’s hands are on my body.

  Stopping, I don’t respond, just raise my own brows.

  “I was wondering if you and your friends would like to join us for dinner tonight.” King Teag says, hands clasped in front of him. “Seeing as how you seem to be rather familiar with my family, and I am not so familiar with yours.”

  Goddess, he doesn’t fuck around. Gets right to the point.

  “Y-Yes. I m-mean no. Dinner, yes.” I hope my response was actually in English before I scamper away back into my room. Rude or not, I feel like I’ve just been through the ringer emotionally. From laughter, annoyance, white hot desire, and embarrassment, I’m ready to just sit and stare at a wall and pretend that this hasn’t become my life.

  All of this because my mother asked me to go to a festival with my cousin. Who wants my hand in marriage.

  Blinking the room in front of me into focus, I look at each of my friends, all of them more family to me than those of my blood relation.

  “You guys are never gonna believe this shit.” I flop back on the bed dramatically and begin regaling them with my tales of the last few minutes or however long it was that I was out there in my own little world.

  CHAPTER

  FIFTEEN

  Dinner with the King and Queen of Goblin went off without a hitch, even considering the snide remarks from his snobby wife and her court of ladies smooth sailing. That and my crew becoming loud and boisterous after a few cups of ale. After round three they began trading battle stories with some of the other guards in attendance while showing off their various scars right at the table. Eryn’s jaw was dropped more than not, I was laughing through it all, and it was just what we needed. A bit of normal in the crazy our lives had become.

  The following night I’m still lacking the answers I came here for originally. At this point I’m losing patience. The Fae have a penchant for avoiding questions and a certain way of putting words together like a jigsaw puzzle. All I want is a straight answer from someone—who my father supposedly is, what that means for my future, what the hell a mark of truth is, and whatever anyone knows about the situation and apparent uprising happening in the Light Elven Kingdom. If I get one more “all will be answered in time,” I’m going to scream bloody murder in everyone’s faces and start swinging until I feel my questions are fully answered.

  I’m lying in bed thinking when a knock sounds at my door. Probably one of my crew. I whip the door open, hoping to make whoever is there jump in response. I’m not met with one of their smiling faces but with Dare’s. His serious expression sends a frisson of tension through me.

  I sigh, swing my door open a bit wider, and resign myself to what’s probably going to be an uncomfortable conversation. I wave him in and latch the door behind him. I turn around and find him sitting in one of the large wooden chairs in the sitting area. With his broad body, he dwarfs the chair, which is saying something since it’s the size of one of those electric smart cars. Legs spread, both arms resting on the arms of the chair, he seems completely at ease despite the lines of tension marring his face. He looks like a king sitting on a throne, ready to address his court.

  I lean against one of the carved wooden bedposts, determined to make it less awkward between us despite the fact that I was ready to let him fuck me in the hallway earlier. I cross my ankles in hopes that it will keep me from acting like a bitch in heat. For good measure, I wrap my arms around my chest too. With all my limbs contained, I feel like I’m ready to do battle—battle meaning talking about what had happened earlier and making it clear that it won’t happen again.

  I start speaking first. “Listen, about earlier…” The desire I felt earlier washes through me before I can stop it. I clear my throat and pick up where I left off. “That can’t happen again. It’s not worth the death sentence. No offense, but I like living, and even though you agitate me, I don’t want you to die either. At least not yet.” I nod and wait for his reaction.

  Jerking his head back a bit, he presses his lips together and furrows his brow. “Is that so?”

  “Yeah.”

  His look doesn’t change to agreement. What the hell? He’s supposed to agree that it’s a bad idea. But even as I deny any further intimate happenings between us, a sharp pain in my chest at the thought of never feeling his body against mine shocks me. I fix my expression to one of indifference, blanking my features, and I wait for further sarcasm from him.

  “Little álainn, would we be so horrible together? Am I that awful to behold?” he asks softly, his posture relaxed.

  Not sure where he’s going with this, I purse my lips and regard him seriously. “It has nothing to do with my feelings for you. It’s a death sentence for us and for anyone else who knows.” I pause before emphasizing, “Death. Sentence.”

  He looks at me and shakes his head. Before I can snap at him and demand to know why he’s frowning at me like I’m missing something obvious, he speaks.

  “You are not in the Light Elven Kingdom, Ever. Despite their best efforts to eliminate any couplings between goblins and elves, we do not adhere to the same rules they do. We never have. And we never will.”

  And with those words, my world shifts.

  He’s right. One hundred percent right. I’m not in the Light Elven Kingdom. I’m not even considered a citizen, or whatever they call it, of Elven. I’m leath cine. Or maybe half goblin, but I’m still unsure about that and I refuse to fully acknowledge it without solid proof. But the Light Elven Kingdom turned their backs on us with that declaration, basically declared war on an entire species. They should have no say in what we do. How have we allowed them to rule our lives for so long? And how can the leaders at MECA ignore the Goblin Kingdom’s willingness to accept us? Most of us go through life feeling like we don’t belong, or only partially belong, even within the walls of MECA’s compound.

  We all yearn for something more—for the ability to touch the land our ancestors came from. We need to be with others who not only understand us but accept us fully for who and what we are. Surrounded by humans outside the walls of MECA, we’re never allowed to forget that we’re different. But maybe being different isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe it’s something to be revered. Something to teach our children and our children’s children. For a people so diverse, we’re exceedingly close-minded. The realization saddens me.

  I probably can’t change the thinking of so many beings whose way of doing is the way they’ve lived for centuries. But even if I can change the way one person is affected, like Arela, who was forced to live with a family who loathed her, I’ll consider it a positive impact. Or even a step in the right direction.

  Broad fingers slide over my bare arm and startle me out of my own thoughts. I snap my head upward and lock eyes with red-and-orange-colored ones that send strands of heat through my blood.

  Electricity flows through my body, radiating from where his hand touches my skin. Each pulse sends tendrils of need to my core. The strength of the desire shocks me.

  I throw caution to the wind. I go up on my tiptoes and wrap my hand around the back of his neck. He doesn’t resist me, his mouth meeting mine in a scorching kiss of pent up frustration.

  He parts my lips with his and invades my mouth with his tongue. He explores every recess with a thoroughness that leaves me panting for breath.

  With a jerk, I’m wrapped in his arms. I dig my blunt nails into his scalp, rake my hands through his hair, and hold on.

  I let out a breathy moan and pull back from our kiss. His heavy-lidded gaze leaves no question as to what will happen if I don’t put a stop to this now.

  I’m no longer mentally battling myself and my upbringing. I’m only feeling
. I answer his unspoken question by grabbing the hem of my shirt and lifting it over my head. My intentions crystal clear, my heart hammering in my own ears, I throw back my shoulders and give him a challenging look. Next move is on him.

  Groaning, he reaches for me and pulls me almost violently back against his body. “I want to be so deep inside you that you no longer know where I end and you begin, little tine. Let go for me. Let me have all of you.”

  He slants his mouth over mine once more and runs his rough hands over the bare skin of my back. Each touch sends tingles to the pit of my stomach. I tug at the hem of his shirt. I’m clumsy in my haste, and my hands slip to his firm ass. I leave one hand there to get my fill and continue pulling at the fabric in the way of what I want most at the moment—to feel his hot skin against my own.

  His mouth leaves mine for the barest of seconds and he rips his black shirt off. He throws it behind him before capturing my mouth again.

  I yank my mouth from his and scan his muscled form. “Fuck.” His body is a work of art, and I want to worship every part of him.

  I start my perusal at the powerful set of his shoulders and let my hand follow my path. Slowly I trace down to his defined abdomen. A small trail of dark hair meets my finger and runs down the center, starting at his navel. “I want to follow this line with my tongue.” The words are freeing. I shudder as years of my uptight upbringing fall away from me like shackles being unlocked.

  I take my time to appreciate every inch of him and splay my hand as wide as I can across the ridges of his muscles. My eyes finally catch up to where my hand rests on his lower abs and I stop to admire the view. The perfect V starts above the waistband of his leather pants.

  The large bulge I felt against my mound earlier is proudly displayed beneath those pants. He’s massive, but it’s a turn on. A challenge. One that I’m more than willing to accept. He has the body of a warrior, and I want him to wage war on my senses until he makes me surrender.

  I slowly drag my gaze back up and meet those flame-colored eyes. My breasts are displayed by a scrap of lace and black silk and my swollen nipples are scraping against the fabric. He frames my hips with his hands before sliding up my waist to the sides of my breasts. He brushes the undersides of my breasts with his thumbs before following the band of silk to the clasp at my back. His hand moves against me, and with a clack of the metal hooks being undone, my swollen peaks are bared to him.

  “Perfect,” he whispers.

  My heart beats faster.

  He steps back and licks his lips, his grasp still tight around me. He pulls me with him towards the chair and I follow willingly. With another flick of his wrist, he unbuttons his own pants and sits down. He relinquishes his grip on me and issues an order in a tone that brokers no argument.

  “Finish stripping for me, little tine.” He grips his erection and slowly slides his hand up.

  I slip my thumbs under the waistband of my favorite pair of skin tight jeans and keep eye contact with him. I shimmy out of them and lean forward. The position displays my breasts for him and his gaze leaves mine.

  “Your breasts are perfection, little tine. I can’t wait to wrap my lips around each peak.”

  I stand there in only my panties and I thrust my shoulders back. I have large breasts, unlike most of the other elven leath cine. I don’t wait for his next order. Instead I take the two steps to reach him and climb up on his lap. My ass rests against his strong thighs, and I shiver at the contact.

  “Any other orders, goblin?”

  “You’ll have to wait and see, little tine.”

  He slips an arm around the small of my back and tilts my jaw upward. His grip is firm as he lowers my needy lips to his waiting ones. My need ratchets higher with every inch of his skin that touches my own. I glide one hand down the finely sculpted muscles of his chest to his ripped abdomen until the tips of my fingers brush the parting of the fabric of his pants.

  “Are you sure you don’t have any other commands, goblin?”

  I lean back and slowly unzip his pants, careful of his bulging erection. I run my fingers over the silky smooth flesh before trying to encircle the wide width with my thumb and forefinger. They don’t meet. Fuck me, he’s going to have to work himself into me slowly. The thought sends a shiver of desire through me.

  “Tell me the thought you just had, little tine.”

  While I struggle to form a coherent thought, he kisses a path from my mouth to my jaw. He nips down my neck, stopping only to blow little bursts of hot breath over the wet spots he’s leaving.

  “I’m thinking you’re going to have to take your time working into me.” I suck in a breath and slide my hand slowly up and down his shaft. My pulse speeds up at the feel of him in my grip. “You’re so thick. The thought of it makes me wet for you.”

  “You can take me.” He arches me forward with his hand at my lower back until my swollen breasts are directly in front of his full lips. “But first, I want to taste you here.” His lips part, and he lowers his mouth to my hardened nipple. He swirls his tongue around it, each flick sending tingles of desire straight to my clit. I wiggle on his lap, trying to relieve the pressure he’s building deep inside me.

  Sucking harder, he bites down on my nipple. The pleasure-pain of his action sends sharp shocks of desire within my core. Breathing out a low moan, I grind my wet sex against the ridge of his thigh. The motion dampens my panties further, and the wet heat of my own desire slides over my nub making me clench my thighs in need.

  “I need you.”

  “Not yet,” he whispers back harshly, his response ending in a hiss. “I want you desperate for me, little tine.”

  “I am desperate for you.”

  He ignores me and slips his hand under my lacy panties. Rip! The fabric disintegrates in his palms. His calloused hands are rough on the sensitive flesh of my ass as he grips it.

  I flick a finger over the pearl of wetness seeping from the top of his cock and bring my finger up to my mouth. I slide my tongue over the drop of his pre-come. “So good.” His taste is salty, musky, and a flavor that is purely Dare. I move to get off of his lap, but his grip on my hips stops me.

  “I want more of your taste.” I lick at my finger again and look pointedly at his cock.

  “Not this time.” He drifts his hand downwards to my sex, and he parts my soaked folds. The first stroke of his finger sends jolts of desire through me. He continues to stroke my pussy, and I bite my lip and wait for the right moment to attempt to force his finger into my sheath.

  “Tsk, tsk.” He chides me, no longer teasing my folds, but drawing wide circles around my clit.

  I wiggle and try to get him right where I want him, but he avoids my maneuvering and continues teasing me mercilessly. “Dare, please.”

  My pulse hammers as I wait for him to slide his finger inside my wet heat. Slowly, so slowly, he slides his finger back through my folds and dips the tip inside.

  “Mmm, yes.”

  “Good girl, little tine.” He slides his finger deeper. First to one knuckle and then the other.

  I rock back and forth, pleasuring myself on his broad finger. I lean down and crush my mouth to his in a passionate kiss, nipping at his lips and then lapping at them to soothe the sting.

  “More,” I plead, sitting down hard on his finger. “Give me more.”

  “Greedy, little tine.”

  He inserts another finger and it stretches my tight walls. He rubs small circles on my clit with his thumb and thrusts his fingers in and out of my drenched pussy.

  “Mmm, yes. I want your cock inside me as I come.”

  “So slick for me. But I want your sweet cream dripping down your thighs before I enter you.”

  I nod jerkily and continue to move my hips against his fingers. A third finger enters me and quickly becomes as soaked as the others. Little trembles start in my pussy, and I whimper.

  “Dare. Please.” I dig my nails into his shoulders.

  He crooks his fingers inside me, hittin
g that spot that sends shivers through my entire body. Shock waves of pleasure buffet me, drowning me in the need to come. I jerk against him, my pleasure building as he increases the pace. His thumb works my clit with expert precision, and I know he’ll get his wish. I can feel my own wetness on the tops of my thighs.

  “Now,” I pant. “Please, Dare, please now.”

  He shakes his head. “Not yet. I want my hand drenched with your need.”

  He clenches his teeth down on my hard nipple, and just like that, I’m soaring. Euphoria spreads through my limbs, and I jerk against him. I scream his name and my nails leave red crescents in his shoulders. My body goes tight as he squeezes every ounce of pleasure from me.

  My thighs go weak and I can no longer keep myself held high above him. I go slack in his arms and rest my forehead against his chest.

  “I think you’ve killed me.”

  “We’ve only just begun, little tine.” He lifts my face to his and sips from my lips, his tongue tangling with mine languidly.

  With his kiss, I feel the burning need build within me again. He just made me come so hard I saw both suns of Goblin behind my eyes, and seconds later he has me ready to go again. I’ve never been this hungry for sex. Never wanted a man this much. But I’ve never been with a goblin before. Maybe they do it better. Or maybe it’s because he makes me feel something other than desire. He makes me think. He challenges me in every way possible.

  I pull back from our kiss and grip his length in my hand once more. If it’s even possible, he’s harder than before.

  I lift my hips up again, not sure if I’ll be able to ride him with my legs still shaking from my own release. “Let’s move to the bed.”

  “Uh-uh. Remember, I want to see all of you as I slide so deep inside you, you no longer know where I end and you begin.”

  When he puts it like that… I reach between our bodies and position him at my entrance.

  “Put me inside you, Ever.” He thrusts his hips up a bit. The smooth tip of his cock brushes my folds.