by Mila Young
I frantically dig my hand into my pocket for the ruby, my only thought to escape, to get out, or even call the fairies. I don't know exactly how to do that, but it doesn't stop me from trying. Power erupts deep in my chest.
But he moves too fast, and panic takes me.
I cover my head, cowering, the stone clasped in my fist.
Someone darts into the room in a sudden flash.
Deimos.
Oh my god, thank you.
He snarls and leaps onto Jasion's back, locking an arm around his throat and wrenching him backward.
Jasion jerks his head back, his hand diving into one of the small leather bags hanging from his belt. But when he glances up to see it's Deimos, his face turns snow white.
His body slackens, and he slips his hand free from the pouch.
"Your Highness," he gurgles.
"You like to hurt women?" Deimos snarls like a lion. He releases the mage and spins him around by the shoulder.
Then his fist flies at Jasion's face. Over and over. He knocks him off his feet. Deimos is wild and never stops. He drops to one knee and pounds like a machine.
Blood and groans.
I don't look away, not for a second. I’d like to say it's too gruesome and violent, but Jasion deserves that and so much worse. My chest blooms at seeing my prince fight for me. There's no hesitation, and I adore him in that moment more than I thought possible.
Michae stumbles toward them, shaking his head as if his vision is blurry.
The mage cries out, his hands pushing against the prince, but he never strikes back, never uses magic. Guess he knows that's instant death.
Michae firmly sets a hand on the prince's shoulder.
Deimos finally stops his assault, his fist bloody. Jasion draws in raspy breaths, his eyes puffy, lips torn open. There’s so much blood. I should feel pity, but I am cheering on the inside.
Deimos gets to his feet and looks over to Jasion. "Get the fuck out of my face before I rip your spine out. You touch her again, and I’ll keep my word." He swings his attention over to a bewildered Michae. “Get him out of here, now!” Then my prince takes long strides toward me, his eyes flooded with worry.
He cups my face with a clean hand, studying me. "Did he hurt you? I'm going to murder him if he did."
I shake my head but his gaze falls to my neck where it burns from Jasion’s fingers. "I’m fine. You arrived before he could do worse."
He draws me into his arms, holding me so tight I can't inhale, but I don't want to push him away. Not when I'm shaking all over from the attack.
Deimos breaks from me and watches as Michae drags the mage out of the room. "Why did he attack you?"
"He came here to tell me I wasn't worthy of royalty. He pissed me off, so I provoked him by saying Ahren is into girls and he doesn't stand a chance."
Deimos bursts out laughing. "That's my girl. There's no doubt now Jasion is so head over heels infatuated with my brother that he'd do anything to get rid of the competition. So, he's staying locked up until all this shit is over."
I blink at him. "The funeral?" My mind echoes with Jasion’s words about not being worthy, about royal blood. But I won’t let him get to me, I just won’t.
Deimos looks at me for a long pause before he nods. "Come, I want to get cleaned up and take you away from everything for a while."
“I'd love that." He collects my hand and we slip out into the hallway and make our way to his room. "Thank you for helping back there.”
His lips pinch to one side, and his hold just squeezes slightly. "No one is going to hurt you again."
I smile to myself because I never expected to have men in my life who cared and protected me so much.
Once in his chamber, he heads into his bathroom where I hear the splashing of water.
Unlike my room, Deimos has a huge bed, a couch, fireplace, even a table, all in the main area. It's twice as big as mine.
Deimos emerges, wiping his hand on a towel while wearing nothing but dark pants that sit low on his hips. Muscles ripple across his chest and arms, his abs rock-hard with a thin line of hair trailing down into his pants. With everything happening so quickly since I arrived in this realm, with Deimos falling sick, we never got a chance to be together. The way he looks at me now is temptation on steroids, and my nipples pebble at the way his stare devours me.
"Come over here, kitten."
I involuntarily move toward him, my body now listening to him, apparently. I slide right into his arms, and he embraces me, nestling his face into the curve of my neck. Each breath I take fills me with the masculine scent that is all Deimos and has me melting against him. Looping my arms around his chest, I know my heart is in a good place with him. It sounds corny, but after he collected me from Earth and all the things we went through, the cure and magic I used to heal him, there's a bond between us.
"You always smell like delicious berries," he whispers in my ear, then draws my earlobe into his mouth with his tongue.
My toes curl in my boots, and every inch of me shivers with anticipation. This whole time, I've only kissed Deimos and done some heavy petting, but nothing more. Now, I can't get the image of us naked and together out of my mind. I crave it, long for it...
He lifts his head to look at me, and my attention goes to the cut under his eye. It’s healed, even if blushing pink.
"How did you get that wound?" I ask, knowing he went out hunting yesterday. I skim my fingers underneath the wound lightly, then kiss his cheek.
"I want to say it was from a fight with a bear in the woods within the kingdom grounds, but the truth is we don't have anything wild in here. Only pheasants and deer. I tripped over a tree root and a low hanging branch whipped me in the face."
A laugh erupts past my lips and I regret it at once, but I can't stop myself. "I'm sorry, but that's hilarious."
He raises a brow, then his fingers find the bottom of my top and slide under to tickle my ribs.
I flinch and cry out as he tickles me like a mad man playing the piano. Slapping his hand, I shove him away playfully and leap out of his reach.
"Come back here, I'm not finished," he teases.
"Don't you dare or I'll scream. I'm ticklish."
His lips quirk upward. "I know." Then he lunges after me.
A yelp flies past my throat and I spin away, darting across the room. I jump up and scramble right over his bed, making a mess of it, then hop down, snatching a pillow for a weapon. Giddiness claims me; I can't remember the last time I just acted silly and laughed at nothing.
He comes at me, careening around the bedpost. I slap the pillow into his head, and he shoves it aside. Then in a flash, he swoops an arm under my knees and another around my back, swinging me up and off my feet.
"You cheat!" I declare.
"How is that cheating? I caught you and now I get to have my way with you."
I cling to his neck, pressing my lips to his collarbone. "There were no rules about this, so it doesn't apply."
He tosses me onto my back on the bed. The mattress bounces beneath me, and he crawls over me, making his way up from my legs to my face. "That's where you're wrong, my kitten. I always get my way, even if I have to play dirty."
I push myself up and reach for a pillow to whack him in the head, but he matches my attempt with a kiss. Our mouths come together; they mash, our tongues craving one another. He kisses me deeply and hungrily, and I don't blame him. This has been way too long in the making.
His hand reaches for my shirt, and he tugs at it aggressively, the buttons popping. He's so strong, all angles, and looks spectacular.
And in that split second of meeting his gaze, a memory I’d forgotten slams into me.
Every time I’ve kissed Deimos, my power shot outward and opened a portal. As if thinking the same thing, his eyes widen, and he gets off the bed in a heartbeat. His hand meets mine and he pulls me to my feet.
“Shit, did you open a portal again? Can you feel it?” Frantically, he scans the room l
ike somehow the answer lays in here somewhere.
My mind is reeling at a hundred miles an hour, and for the life of me I can’t remember if I even felt a surge of power. Arousal, yes, in bucketfuls. Power? Not sure.
“Guendolyn,” he prompts me, holding onto my arms.
“Don’t rush me. I’m trying to think. How could I forget about this? It only happens with you, not your brothers, but why?”
“So, you kissed my brothers while I was close to death in bed?” His brows pinch, his shoulders curving forward almost in a defeated pose.
I cock my brow at him. “Really? That’s what bothers you right now? Anyway, I’m convinced there was no power energy when you and I just kissed,” I state. His brow remains furrowed, and I can’t tell what upsets him most. Me kissing his brothers or that I might have opened another portal somewhere.
“You sure?” He’s already leaving my side and crossing the room in long strides, his arms swinging at his sides.
“Yes. Last time it was unmissable. There was no shaking of walls now.”
He opens the door. “I’ll be right back.” And he’s gone in seconds.
Oh, shit. Why can’t things just be normal? Like kissing my boyfriend shouldn’t always come with the potential of hell unleashed.
Deimos returns so fast, I haven’t moved from where I stand. “My men are doing a sweep of the kingdom just to be on the safe side.” He strolls closer. “So, you’re certain you didn’t feel any tingling of power.”
The more I think about it, the more I’m positive. “Yes.”
“Why? What’s changed?”
The same thought crosses my mind, and I shrug, going through everything that happened recently. But with regards to controlling the portals, something has changed.
“Hmm, well actually.” I reach down to my pocket and pull out the ruby.
“Is that fairy stone from the king’s throne?”
“Yep. And when I hold it, I can now control opening a portal. So—”
“So that’s the answer. It’s got to be next to you.” His hands settle on my hips and he tugs me toward him. “Thank fuck, as I can’t take any more shit, especially if it means not taking you as mine.”
I stare up into his gorgeous eyes, and the panic attack we both had fades. He guides me back to the bed and kisses me, softly this time. My arousal spikes in moments. Our mouths part, and I lean toward the dresser and place the stone down.
Deimos is right there, picking up the ruby and pressing it back into my hand. “Hold it just to be on the safe side.” There’s a serious tone in his voice, a worry that somehow I’ll unleash another wave of disaster on the kingdom.
I can’t even roll my eyes at his concern because last time we kissed, it ended in him being bitten by a Bloodcursed. I almost lost him, and the panic and danger we faced to save him is not something I want to experience again. Wrapping my fingers around the stone, I flop back onto the bed and call him to me with a bent finger.
My heart is racing, a flush flaring over me as I pull off the remainder of my top, along with the undergarment. Nipples pebbled from the sudden coldness, the anticipation of what's to come hums through me.
Deimos groans his approval as he stares down at me, the sound sending a spike of desire between my thighs. My prince leans over me, his lips on my breast, kissing it all around, making his way to the nipple. He accepts it greedily into his mouth, sucking on it like he's starved, like I'm the air he breathes and he can't get enough.
I moan against his touch, running my fingers through his long blond hair. He's captivating, everything I always wanted. I always thought men like him were not in my league—turns out I was wrong.
Closing my eyes, I soften into the mattress and feel every kiss, every mock bite, every lick as Deimos adores my breasts. I wrap my legs around his hips, lifting my pelvis up to grind myself against the erection in his pants. The stone in my hands feels still cold.
When his mouth is on mine again, I flip open my eyes and wrap myself around him, kissing him back. I can't get enough of tasting his lips.
His hand dips between us and pops open my pants. My stomach flip-flops—I'm so horny and yet at the same time, slightly shy. I'm not the most practiced girl when it comes to sex, and well, this is our first time.
A sudden rapping on the door has us both freezing. We exchange worried looks.
“Must be my men,” he murmurs before he jumps up to his feet and rushes across the room as I tug the blanket up to cover myself.
Please don’t let there be a portal I’d opened. I love kissing Deimos, so universe, don’t take that away from me.
Chapter 6
Deimos
I wrench open the door to my bedroom. Two of my guards stand in the hallway, and their faces show no traces of shock or terror. “Did you find anything?” I ask.
"Nothing. All is fine,” Reinland says, the taller of the two.
“Are you certain?”
They both nod, and relief washes over me. Maybe Guendolyn was right that the fairy ruby controls her magic when she's with me. Though it begs the question... Why did my kiss trigger her power in the first place?
“Alright. Let me know if it changes," I instruct my guards and shut the door. My sexy kitten lies in my bed, wrapped up in the blankets, only her head poking out.
"Sounds like we're all clear," she says, climbing out of the nest she made for herself.
My gaze dips to her gorgeous bouncy breasts tipped with the most perfect rosy nipples. She sees me staring, and her cheeks blush. I love how easily she responds, how innocently she reacts when she's normally feisty. Both sides of the same coin, and I adore everything about her.
"I'm disappointed," I state. "You're still wearing your pants."
She grabs a pillow and tosses it at me. "You can't talk. Take off yours first."
I grin and march over to her as she draws another pillow to her chest.
"You're mine." I snatch the pillow from her grasp and throw it behind me. Then I grab her by the waist and haul her to me, my fingers tearing apart her buttons.
Her eyes widen. I let my arousal take the lead, and I hook my fingers into the top of her pants and yank them and her underwear down her legs.
She takes a deep gasp of surprise.
The pants jam at her ankles, as she's still wearing her boots. I tsk, meeting her sheepish expression.
She shrugs and sticks her tongue out. "That's what happens when you rush."
I can't deny, I enjoy her fighting against me. As I reach down to grab her foot and rip off her boots, I take in her gorgeous body. Round breasts, her waist cinching in then beautifully curving to follow her hips. The small mound of light hair between her legs glistens, and already her arousal perfumes the air.
My cock twitches, growing. Frantically, I drag the boots and pants off so I can reach my girl.
“Don’t make me wait too long,” she teases me, her eyes batting as she lays there looking spectacular.
She looks at me with wide eyes, lips parted, her knees locked together as she lies on the bed, propped up on her elbows. My balls ache with a desperate need to claim what I've wanted for too fucking long.
I reach a hand down to her knees, and her breath quickens at my touch. I pry them open. She gives no resistance. Her sweet pussy is slick, and I run my thumb over the seam of her heat.
She trembles, her thighs falling wider. Her hips rise slightly in response to my strokes. Unsure how much longer I can hold on, I lean forward and sweep my hand to the back of her neck and bring her up to kiss me.
Her gasp makes me want to protect her from the world.
“I missed you so much,” she whispers, struggling for breath through her emotions.
“Today I will claim you, mark you, show you what you’ve missed.” Let her see that no matter what the future holds, she will always have me by her side. To keep her in our kingdom, I may propose to my brothers that Luther or I marry her under the court's rule to avoid hiding her. We'll need to work out how to
create her a Seelie identity, but I drive those thoughts aside.
I can't believe I just thought of marriage when I vowed to never settle down.
“Stop talking, just kiss me,” she demands.
Her mouth melts against mine. She's soft and smells so good, and hell, all the things I want to do to her… We fit perfectly together, and I'm not just talking about sex. I intend to get to know her better, to show her life here can be magnificent with Luther and me by her side. I want to protect her, wrap her in my arms and keep her close.
Her fingers thread through my long hair, drawing me closer. Need claws through me, and our mouths part. Her cheeks and lips are rosy, and the heat in her eyes calls to me.
“Take me,” she says, and my cock twitches at her words.
I lay her back on the bed and pull back, tugging my pants down my legs and stepping out of them. My erection sits stiff and so hard it aches.
"Touch it," I ask, and my kitten obliges, sitting up, her lower lip between her teeth, gaze locked on my cock. She grasps the shaft, and I hiss at the sensation. Her long fingers curl all the way around, and she tugs.
"Fuck!" I've waited for this so damn long.
Soft wetness presses around my tip, and I glance down to that sweet cherry mouth wrapped around my cock.
My chest rises and falls quicker, my blood racing south, balls tightening.
Oh, hell! My eyes flutter upward as she takes me deeper and deeper. That wicked tongue lashes over my erection, the sensation driving me insane. I rock my hips forward and back, slowly at first, but the intensity escalates too fast.
I slip out of her mouth with a pop, and she simply looks up at me with doe eyes. She kneels on the edge of the bed, naked and spectacular. I can't stop focusing on her perky breasts, the way her waist draws in, the small thatch of light hair between her legs. I need more. So much more.
"Lay on your back, kitten," I order, and she slips down onto her side, untucking her legs and laying back. "Show me everything again, wider so I can see those glistening lips."
Her breaths quicken and she lifts her legs, widening her bent knees. “I love when you talk like this to me,” she purrs.
