by Meg Xuemei X
I gasped and threw my head back. My body clung to his. He was so warm and solid.
Ares’ tiger-golden eyes burned brighter, yet lust stormed in them like dark midnight.
For a moment, our mingled breath was all I heard in the quiet night; his pure male scent filled my nostrils and I drank it in.
“Freyja.” His whisper sounded like a mating call.
“Yes, Ares,” I responded keenly, my body going all soft and feminine, yet the fire of frenzy licked me inside out.
My touch became the fire of lust, and I was almost choked with tears at the blessing. Did it mean the curse was lifted off me? Would my touch no longer kill? But then how was I going to protect myself in this violent planet?
Ares had neutralized my death touch. Would it be permanent?
He slithered his hand from under my shirt, his fingers tracing down my spine.
I had never felt this good. As I moaned, his hand moved up to cup my breast and squeeze it gently. His thumb and forefinger kneaded my taut nipple.
“Touch my every inch,” I said breathlessly.
“I can’t believe you’re so soft,” he whispered, lust lacing in his voice.
“And you’re so hard.”
“I’m supposed to be hard.” He pulled me down toward him, his mouth slanting over me.
Our lips locked. I’d never been kissed, but something in my nature knew what to do.
Fire seared us both, leaving no gentleness, just fierce hunger.
Ares plunged his tongue into my mouth and thrust at my hard palate. Pleasure stoked higher and higher at his every stroke. My tongue caught his in a mating dance.
I never thought desire could be such a tangible thing. It was fire. It was ice. It was the wind in my blood and clouds in my mind. It was flame traveling under the water.
With a groan, the prince pounced, and the next second, I was on my stomach, his weight delicious on top of me. His large, powerful hand came around from beneath and cupped my breast, massaging and kneading it.
“I’ll soon have your breast in my mouth,” he whispered in my ear, his voice hoarse and husky yet unbelievably sexy. “I want to touch you everywhere and I don’t even know where to begin.” His lips made the first move as they traced from my earlobe to my neck. I moaned with desire as he kissed along the length of my neck.
I had no idea one could have that many pleasure spots on a neck.
And just like that, I was in the grip of a mating frenzy.
I bucked my ass toward him. His hardness pressing against the curve of my buttocks was most welcoming. I had never wanted anyone, but I wanted this male. I wanted every inch of him. Earth, I would let him do anything to me.
I swayed and thrust my ass toward his erection again, offering myself without reservation.
Mate me.
An animalistic sound rumbled from his chest, arousing me more.
Ares shifted his position and lifted his torso, his elbow supporting some of his weight.
His hand left my breast and slid to my heated channel between my thighs. His fingers rubbed my sex back and forth before prying open my folds.
“Yes, Ares, it feels good,” I moaned in satisfaction. I was ravenous. I needed to be touched. I never knew I would need the touch of a man this much.
“You’re so wet, peach,” he slurred and glided his long, large finger into my pussy as I lifted my hips to give him more room to play with.
His finger thrust slowly in me at first as if to savor. In and out and in with a smooth rhythm. He inserted a second finger, thrusting urgently.
Every single cell in my body came alive. I was no longer death. It was the most incredible feeling in the world—alive and free like the flowing colors, howling wind, and unstoppable wildfire.
“So tight and hot,” he murmured in a voice that was charged with lust.
He grounded his crotch on me, his erection huge and hard, and I writhed beneath him.
“Take me,” I said, “however you want. Please.”
My body was starving. Every inch of my skin screamed for this male’s feral touch and wanted him to brand me.
My hand stretched backwards and got into his undergarment. He gasped and let out a string of ancient Dragonian words as my palm moved across his curly pubic hair. Pureblood Dragonians were hairless, but Ares was a half-blood. He had a lot of hair. His physique was that of an advanced human, but he was bigger and much more powerful than humans.
Strength was etched on his every muscle, and my touch learned it all.
I wanted to explore him everywhere. I wanted to feel his strong heartbeat pounding against my palm again. Hearts stopped at my touch, but his only beat harder.
I was losing patience. I had been yearning for this for years.
My fingertips touched the base of his shaft, and it jerked forward. My hand curved around his length. Its size and hardness were both impressive. My hand could hold only half of it. I glided my hand up and down his cock.
The prince groaned, his fingers thrusting faster and harder inside me.
I panted against the pillow and he panted on top of me.
“Fuck me,” I moaned breathlessly. “Fuck me now.”
This could be my only time to be intimate with a man.
“You asked for it,” he said roughly. With one hand on my ass, Ares flipped me onto my back. In an instant, he was above me. His knees urged my legs open, and I obliged enthusiastically.
He pulled my pants down to my knees and I kicked one side off my leg.
Thick lust distorted his handsome, powerful face, making it almost beastly. His eyes were the dark fire in the storm. Earth! I was aroused beyond measure.
I arched my back and propelled my hips toward him with my bare, moist sex.
A guttural sound rumbled deeply in his chest. He tore his briefs apart and his cock sprang free. It was large and silky smooth—the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
He gripped his cock with one hand and pumped it before pressing it against my entrance.
I sighed with pleasure, anticipating the feel of him inside me.
His cock brushed open my folds and pushed forward along my narrow passage, sending sparks of wildfire to my every fiber.
Pleasure I had never experienced rocked me senseless.
I cried for him to give me more. I demanded more. Mate me. Fuck me. I was in a heated frenzy. I would not care what would happen to us tomorrow or if the world should shatter to pieces. I wouldn’t care if the universe collapsed and the stars rained down upon us.
Right now, all I wanted was his big dick inside me, fucking me into oblivion.
He thrust into me explosively, but he didn’t drive home. He prolonged the sensation torturously, driving in inch by inch in slow succession.
I gasped at our shallow joining.
The pleasure was so intense that it numbed me for a second.
I wanted all of his length. Every inch. I wanted it completely embedded in me, filling me, so there would be no empty ache inside. I had lived with hollowness for too long.
After today, I would no longer be the barren land where no one could sow and plant.
In my uncontrollable lust, I spoke.
Ares halted his advance and stilled on top of me, his muscles taut like steel as he restrained from trembling.
I widened my half-closed eyes, realizing that I had uttered in ancient angelic tongue. The musical sound flowed out of me, and now they would undo me.
If Ares knew I had Angel blood, he would snap my neck while he was inside me. That was how much the Dragonians hated Angels. They hated King Agro more than anyone and anything. My biological father slaughtered two-thirds of Dragonian populations during his rule of terror on Earth.
The Dragonians even hated the Fallen Angels led by High Prince Seth, their one-time ally. The Dragonian royals especially hated him. Every earthling knew Commander North Darken had desired the Fey Empress ever since he’d laid eyes on her when she’d ridden outside the immortal realm. He thought
she would choose him after their combined force defeated King Agro and his Reaper army, but the Empress mated with the Angel High Prince instead.
The rumors said that the commander still pined for Earth’s beauty, but the High Prince of All Angels wouldn’t have it. As soon as the Angels were no longer a threat to the Fey, the Fey Empress put up their magical walls again to separate themselves from the mortals.
I became motionless as well, no matter how much I wanted to thrust my hips toward him and take all of his length in me. I was now at his mercy. If he chose to kill me, I couldn’t stop him. My body was no longer a weapon toward him.
Panic rose within me, yet waves and currents of pleasure kept washing over me and made me shudder.
I had lost control. I was so thirsty in the desert that I wouldn’t mind losing my life for a patch of water.
I raised my head and stared at our locked flesh before peeking into his eyes. The hunger in them was like the force of volcano, yet he was trying to smother it. It was foolish to even try. And I wouldn’t allow him. I wanted the lava spewing spectacularly into the sky. I wanted the fire burning into eternity instead of ashes and smoke.
I drove my hips up to take all of his length in, but the prince pressed his large hand down on my flat belly. He was still trembling, yet he restrained himself from invading in me further.
Why? What was stopping him?
Anger wheeled in his eyes, as strong as his lust.
The prince met my gaze, a pained look twisting his face. The pain in his eyes became agony.
Something struck me.
No, Earth, no! I thought he was immune.
My touch hadn’t harmed him, but the venom of my body fluids was going to undo him. Now he was going to die on top of me while he was inside me.
“Ares,” I whispered in cold dread.
He stared at me with a resigned, dark look.
His anguish wasn’t physical.
“I can’t,” he said. “I won’t. The Oracle warned me of this.”
I felt a new wave of anxiety surging to my throat. “Warned you of what? Of me?”
“She mentioned tests and trials,” he said in a strained voice, “but I never thought you were the test and trial. I didn’t expect to be so drawn to you like a moth to the flame. I’ve vowed celibacy until I meet the First Witch, my own mate.”
During his emotional struggle, he moved another half an inch inside me.
He wanted me badly. I was the First Witch. But I knew even if I declared who I was, he wouldn’t believe me. He would mock me in anger. I stared up at him and watched as fate laughed aloud.
“I won’t fail my true mate,” he murmured. “Many females before you have tried to tempt me but none succeeded, until you came along. I won’t let you or anyone destroy my future.”
He shuddered. And with a string of profaned cusses, he yanked his cock out of me.
Cold emptiness immediately closed in and enveloped me.
“I’m sorry, Freyja,” he said, his voice hardening, more to himself than to me. “Even though we both want this, I won’t allow myself to lose to lust. Not with you or any other female. Not until I find my witch. She’ll be the only woman for me.”
“I won’t say a thing,” I whimpered pathetically. “She won’t even know.”
“Don’t beg for a fuck,” he said with contempt. “If I keep fucking you, I’ll lose her. I’m not a weak man, but you tempt me beyond measure. The first time I set my eyes on you, I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. You made me think of you and want you all the time. If you have to be the test, so be it. I’ll pass the trial. I’ll stay faithful to my future mate, and my joyful union with her will be my reward.”
He rolled off me, grabbed his armor and boots, and walked out of the bedchamber. He stopped at the doorway. I hoped he’d had a change of heart, but the cold words that came out of his mouth made it clear he hadn’t.
“Return to bed,” he said, not bothering to look back at the woman he’d just mercilessly discarded. “And don’t try to escape again. The sooner you find the First Witch for me, the quicker you’ll have your gold and freedom.”
“Fuck your gold,” I said.
I picked up my pants and boots and stormed back to my bed in inconsolable anger.
I curled up in bed. My face burned in shame, yet inside, it was as if someone shoved chucks of ice in me, and the ice burned and bruised worse than fire.
I trembled in rage and humiliation. My only bright spot in this cold darkness was my hatred for Ares and his witch.
Confusion clouded my mind. Wasn’t I the witch?
It didn’t matter. He’d rejected me because he coveted his witch more.
Yet, a hopeless, pathetic part of me still wanted the Dragonian prince, and my body craved his scorching touch. I would pay any price to have his hands on me.
In bitterness, I hoped, for my own sake, my hate for him would be stronger than my unbridled lust.
CHAPTER 12
The Druid
Ares was nowhere to be found when I woke up. I hadn’t sensed him coming in after our unfortunate episode, so I didn’t know if he slept in the room, but then I’d almost passed out in the end after such a crappy day.
After I took time showering and shampooing my hair, I found a new set of clothing and a pair of boots in the closet. They were just my size. Beside the fine clothes were velvet gloves, which was a nice variety to my leather ones.
The clothes had to be from the druid. Ares didn’t have a considerate bone in his body.
A prophet indeed. Merlin had seen me coming. He even knew my sizes.
No one had ever taken care of me like this. And I knew in my heart that he had no agenda. I, Freyja the First Witch, would remember this kindness.
I put on the pale blue shirt and matching pants and looked into the mirror. The color brought out the dark blue in my eyes. For a change, I didn’t wear the red cloak the druid had left with the clothing. I wouldn’t be among the crowd today.
I stalked out of the house, hands inside the velvet gloves.
Boomer waited outside the door, his hand on the hilt of a broad sword. A watch dog. He didn’t take me lightly now.
“His Highness asked me to escort you to the garden for breakfast,” he said in a bored voice.
Dining in the garden? Picnic? If I weren’t a captive, I would jump up and down.
I looked up at the sky. It was nearly mid-morning. At least Ares hadn’t sent one of his minions to drag me out of bed before I was fully awake.
Ares was immune to my touch. Was this one also lucky? I was dying to test Boomer in order to know whether the Dragonian prince was the only one who could touch me, but I controlled my urge to take off my gloves and lay my hand on the grumpy warrior.
I silently followed him and entered the maze of the garden.
The air was hot, humid, yet the fabric of my clothes didn’t stick to my skin, unlike my old attire. The gloves were breathy enough for my hands. I bet Merlin’s gift was made of special material tailored specifically for me.
Which meant that the druid had seen me coming a long time ago.
Voices reached me before I saw the group around a wooden oval table.
Ares darted a glance at me then showed no interest for a second look. He talked to Merlin in reverence and drank his fucking high tea.
“Freyja,” Lucas greeted me with a wide grin. “You look like a fair maiden.”
Einarr gave me a polite nod. The rest of the Dragonians sent me a collective warning scowl. I could see that the lot blamed me for Tyrone’s banishment.
“You look fetching yourself, Lucas,” I said.
Lucas chortled in appreciation.
Ares put down his teacup, louder than necessary, but he didn’t look my way.
The druid smiled warmly. “Good morning, Freyja. Did you sleep well?”
“Quite well after a dull night,” I said with a quick, easy smile and caught the prince tensing on his seat. “Thank you for your generosi
ty, Merlin. I wish one day I can repay you.”
If I ever lived through my expiration date, I’d repay him. I remembered every kindness toward me and always paid back my debt, good or bad.
“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do,” the druid said, then shifting to the ancient angelic tongue, “for a princess.”
I felt the blood drain from my face instantly. And this time the prince’s eyes glued on me. Just when I thought the sorcerer was friendly, he decided to betray me. Though I was no match for him, I would still fight him. He’d find that I had a nasty surprise for him.
A crackling sound made me jump, and dark fire traveled on my skin aggressively. I widened my eyes in shock. I hadn’t known I had fire magic and I had no clue how to muster it or douse it if I wanted to.
Merlin stared at the fire sneaking up my neck and face in amazement, but Ares and his gang couldn’t see it.
“Freyja,” Merlin called, and his benign intention reached me like the breeze.
I’d been paranoid. If Merlin wanted to harm me, he could have done it last night. When he had called me princess, he’d used the ancient angelic tongue that only he and I could understand.
The fire on my skin vanished, but my blood remained cold.
“I’m no princess,” I said icily in the same angelic tongue.
“You were born a princess, Freyja,” Merlin said. “You’ll be queen to a great, new nation. Do not be ashamed of your legacy for any reason. You don’t know how important you are to Earth.”
“I don’t care about being important,” I said.
Merlin sighed. “Your bloodline is the most ancient and powerful in the universe—own it.” He shifted back to the common Earth language, “Join us, Freyja.” He pointed to the empty seat next to Ares.
I would not sit by him.
I sauntered toward the table. A drink would ease my parched throat.
I lifted the cup of tea Merlin poured for me and picked a large piece of teacake with my gloved hand.
“If you don’t mind,” I addressed Merlin instead of asking the jackass prince’s permission, “I would like to sit over there. More breathing space.” I scrambled toward a small round table that could accommodate no more than three people and happily put some distance between the Dragonians and me.
