Shadow Play_A Dark Fantasy Novel

by Jill Ramsower

  “Oh, hey. What are you doing here? Did you get my text?”

  Somewhat uncharacteristically, his lips curved up in an odd smile as he pulled away from the wall. “I wanted to check on you and ask if you've seen Ronan.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Better than okay.” He raised an eyebrow and his lips spread to a full-fledged grin.

  “You're freaking me out, stop smiling,” I told him as I took a step back. “I ran into Ronan this morning and he's super pissed. You were right, there's something not right about him. He scared me.”

  “You survived.”

  “Thanks for the support. Look, I have to get back to work.”

  He sauntered toward the elevator and after pressing the call button, he turned back to meet my eyes. “I’ll see you later.” His teeth still bared bizarrely in what I thought was supposed to be a smile. On him it looked about as natural as a smile on a hungry lion and I had to physically shake off the uneasiness that the conversation had brought over me.

  The afternoon passed smoothly, and by the time I left work, I was optimistic about taking control of my life and excited to text Ashley about removing the necklace.

  When I walked in my apartment, I found Lochlan sitting on the stairs, elbows resting on his knees. “What are you doing here?” I set down my bags, closed the front door, and when I turned back in his direction I found myself toe-to-toe with him.

  My eyes slowly rose to meet his and my breath hitched at the raw hunger in his eyes. His mouth slammed down on mine as his hands came around behind me, one pulling me close and the other gripping my hair firmly to pull my head back. I opened to him, relishing his lips on mine.

  His hand left my back and snaked around to firmly knead my breast, just hard enough not to hurt. I had no doubt he would be a dominant lover, and I was ready to take whatever he dished out. He lifted me in his arms, my legs wrapping around his waist, before heading upstairs to the bedroom. Neither of us spoke, no words were needed.

  While he was busy walking us upstairs, I kissed and sucked on his neck, my sex-crazed brain briefly noting that his usual woodsy scent had been covered with cologne. I liked the scent he had chosen, but I preferred the way he smelled normally.

  We had been building toward this moment since the day we met. Every time we were in a room together, the air thickened and was almost electric with the intensity of our chemistry. I had only slept with men that I was in a relationship with, and while he wasn’t a nameless one-night-stand, there was also no defined relationship either. However, the stress of the prior weeks, my relief at getting the necklace off, and my own pent up sexual frustrations had whittled away any self-control. I was ready to feel him move inside me, above me, all around me.

  When we reached my room, Lochlan unceremoniously dropped me on top of the bed. “Strip,” he commanded as he stood, arms crossed.

  I wasn’t modest, and I certainly wasn’t innocent, so I had no problem giving him a bit of a show while undressing. I slipped off my heels and slowly slid out of my pants, revealing my black lace panties and toned legs. Reaching for the hem of my blouse, I lifted it over my head, giving him a sly smile, and lay back on the bed in my bra and underwear.

  His hungry eyes roved over my body and without blinking, his clothes disappeared, and he was left standing naked and hard before me. My mouth fell open on an exhale of air as I took in his magnificent form. He was solid perfection, from his broad shoulders to his rippling abs, narrow hips and muscular thighs. He lowered himself onto the bed, prowling in my direction.

  “When I say strip, I mean everything.” His hands came to my hips and he slowly pulled the lace down my legs and threw them onto the floor. I reached behind me and unclasped my bra, releasing my heavy breasts.

  His head lowered and he took one of my hard peaks into his warm mouth, rolling his tongue around and around the pebbled nipple until I was arching in pleasure.

  “I’ve been dying to have you since the first moment I saw you.” His guttural tone resonated in my core and my hips flexed, helplessly trying to soothe the ache.

  “Touch me, please.” His wolfish grin returned, and he lowered himself down my body and buried his face in my pussy, lapping at my clit.

  I screamed out in pleasure, the sensations overwhelming me each time his rough tongue licked across my swollen flesh. My head fell back, eyes closed, as my hand buried in his thick curly hair. It had been so long since I had been with a man that I was quickly nearing release. Sensing my quivering, he stopped and pulled himself up over me, his hard body pressing mine into the bed. His mouth descended on mine and I could taste myself on his lips and feel his enormous erection pressed up against my belly. He pulled his hips back and my legs fell open in invitation.

  “Is this what you want? You want my cock, little whore?”

  Say what?

  He slammed into me, and upon the sudden intrusion, my mind abandoned all thought and focused on the almost painful sensation of fullness as my body attempted to accommodate his size. Starting with slow movement, he pulled out almost all the way before slamming back inside, burying himself all the way to my womb. A moan escaped my throat as he rocked faster and faster into my body, his hand snaking around to rub my clit in rhythmic circles.

  “Oh God, Lochlan, it feels so good.”

  His pace picked up even more to an almost punishing rhythm and his head lowered to my neck where he licked and sucked. My muscles started to contract and just as my body exploded in orgasm, his teeth clenched the base of my neck as he too thrust his release deep inside of me. The pain of his bite added to the pleasure and I rode wave after wave of bliss as he languidly slowed his pace.

  Once he stopped moving, he rolled himself onto his back and we both lay catching our breath for a moment before he left the bed and went to the bathroom.

  Okay, so no cuddling after sex. Check.

  I had just had sex with Lochlan, with a Fae. Holy shit.

  He walked back in the room and as our eyes met his lips rose in a sneer. “You're not half bad, it's a shame it has to be a one-time thing.”

  “You don't have to be an ass.” Jesus, what was his problem?

  “I thought that's what you wanted, the almighty Lochlan.” He stood with his arms outstretched to the sides, as if for my viewing pleasure.

  I stood up and started gathering my clothes, my growing irritation quickly killing my post-orgasmic chill. “I think you should go now.”

  I chided myself for making such a horrible judgment of character. Lochlan was alpha male all the way, but I never imagined he would be this callus and hurtful.

  “What's wrong, Rebecca?” His voice was mocking and it stopped me short. “I gave you what you wanted and now you can't even be grateful? You wanted Lochlan and I wanted you—I found a way for us all to be together, just like you wanted.”

  My stomach rose in my throat and chills spread down my naked body as my eyes were reluctantly drawn to him.

  With a twisted smirk on his face, the naked man in my bedroom blurred for just a second and then Ronan was standing before me, fully dressed.

  “What did you do?” A whisper was all I could manage in my horrified shock.

  “You sure didn't look disappointed ten minutes ago when my cock was making you come,” he said snidely as he riffled through my things.

  Self-righteous fury engulfed me and I threw myself at his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and squeezing with all my might. He lurched backward and attempted to pull my arms from around him, but I was a thing possessed and would not be easily dislodged.

  “I hate you.” This time my voice was a vicious hiss.

  He stumbled to a section of the room with a bare wall and flung himself backwards, ramming me into the sheetrock. Once, twice, three times. My head made impact with the wall and it dazed me enough to release my grip and I slid to the ground.

  He whipped around to glare down at me. “You should have picked me,” he growled at me, now enraged with murderous intent in hi
s eyes. “I was everything you should have wanted, I did everything right. I played the perfect boyfriend, even saved you from the red caps when that imbecile led you straight to the trap that was meant for him. I saved you! Not him!”

  He was psychotic.

  How could I not have known?

  How many times had we talked, touched—how could I not have seen that he was utterly insane?

  Still on the floor, I gawked up at him in confusion and disbelief. “Who are you?”

  His features fell blank, as if someone had pulled the plug on his emotions. One minute he was a bundle of intense feelings and the next, nothing. “Where is the necklace?”

  “My necklace? You want my necklace?”

  A small glimmer entered his eyes as he said, “It was so convenient of you to take it off, thanks for that. I doubt any of this little charade would have worked otherwise. When I noticed you had taken it off this morning, and then verified at the museum that you were worthless without it, I knew it was perfect. Not only would I get the necklace, but I also got you.” His lips curved in an evil smirk.

  Tears burned my eyes but there was no way in hell was I going to let this Fae asshole see me cry. “Looks like all you get is me, sorry to disappoint.” I was pleased to foil at least one of his plans. “The necklace is gone, you're too late.”

  He reached down and grabbed me by the neck, hefting me to my feet with my back to the wall. His eyes glittered with madness and his jaw flexed in anger. “Where is it?” he hissed, spittle flying in my face.

  “Merlin took it, it's gone.” I forced out painfully as his hand gripped my throat.

  He screamed in rage and slammed my head against the wall, making my vision narrow and cobwebs fill my head. I was vaguely aware of him frantically tearing my room apart, scouring every nook for the necklace.

  There was no way I could get to the bathroom to retrieve it. All I could do was pray that he didn't find it and that his resulting anger didn't kill me. As my head cleared, I rose to my feet and my movement caught his attention. He charged through the clothes and crap piled on the floor and back handed me across the face, sending me back to the ground.

  Terror gripped me as I realized that I wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Lochlan’s knife was in my purse downstairs, but even if I had it, I didn’t think I had enough strength to defeat Ronan. I still wore Cat’s bracelet, but it only seemed to defend against a direct assault aimed at the bracelet and I had been unable to get my hand up to use it as a shield against his blows.

  “I know it's here, where is it?”

  I had landed with my back to him, hair cascading around my face. Within my halo of hair, the little brownie appeared. I was too dazed to startle, but as he reached his hands forward and presented me with my necklace, my mind became laser-focused. I took hold of the stone pendant and the surge of power that rocketed through me was like a shot of adrenaline straight to my heart. The brownie blinked away to safety and I inhaled a lungful of air, dropping my head back as I basked in the swell of power.

  Without a care to my nudity, I stood tall and proud. The air in the room began to swirl, carrying my hair in all directions. I stared at him with menacing black eyes and focused all my wrath at him.

  “Get out.” It was only two words, but my voice was defiant and murderous and the implied threat was clear.

  His eyes widened in shock before darting around the room, assessing his options. When his eyes came back to mine and his jaw clenched in bitter defeat, I knew that I had won this round. He sneered at me one more time before he vanished before my eyes, and I was left in my room alone.

  I stood for a couple minutes longer, still untrusting that he was truly gone. The magical breeze died down and my adrenaline ebbed, leaving my legs too weak to hold me any longer. I sank to the floor, firmly grasping the necklace in my hand. For the second time in two days, I cried. Sobs tore from my throat as I started to comprehend how deeply I had been violated, and how close I had come to dying.

  Pulling on random articles of clothing from the floor around me, I covered myself and wept. I cried tears of frustration over being deceived, tears of rage for my feelings of helplessness, tears of relief that I was not dead, tears of disappointment that the moment I thought I had shared with Lochlan was a sham, and maybe the most tears for the fact that I now realized that there was no running from my fate.

  Ronan's vile deception was a rude awaking to the ugly truth that I was a part of this Fae world, whether I wanted to be or not. The only thing I had accomplished by removing my necklace was making myself more vulnerable.

  I crawled onto my bed, sat with my legs crossed, and regarded the necklace that was both my savior and my curse. Lochlan and the queen had said I was part Fae, but I obviously was not Fae enough to see through a simple glamour. The necklace provided me the power and abilities to survive in this Fae world, and I would not be caught helpless again. I couldn’t dwell on whether the power in the necklace was malevolent, because there wasn’t another option. Without it, I would be dead.

  After several attempts, my shaking hands opened the necklace. I raised my hands to the back of my neck and before I even had a chance to work the clasp, the necklace closed of its own accord. A sense of calm and rightness settled over me, my thumb rubbing at the markings on the back of the stone like I had done as a child.

  Never would I allow myself to be fooled again.

  The images of him above me, of us kissing, and me stripping for him, ran on an endless loop in my head. One particular moment stood out—his head between my legs and my hand fisting in his long curls. I had been too lost in the moment to make the connection—Lochlan didn't have long curls, Ronan did. His glamour worked to an extent, but when I stopped relying on my eyes, my other senses saw through his lies despite the illusions his magic had fed me.

  I could see my thoughts turning on myself—anger that should have been directed at Ronan, was instead aimed at myself for removing the necklace and not picking up on the fact that it hadn't been Lochlan.

  Absolutely not!

  I refused to let him win by waging a war against myself.

  He was the perpetrator of the crime and he was the only one getting the blame.

  I would not blame myself, but what I would do was learn from the experience. Lying back in bed and pulling the covers up to my chin, I decided that it was time to learn to fight. Not just hand-to-hand combat skills, but I also needed to learn to use my magic. If I couldn't run from the Fae world, I would master it. No more vulnerability.

  Ronan had been plotting against the Hunt from the inside, and no one had any idea. I would not forget the lesson that enemies were everywhere. I would learn everything that I could, gain every advantage available, and I would do what I could to stop the Fae from ravaging Earth. If I got the opportunity to kill Ronan in the process, more the better. My mother may have done her best to teach me to see the good in others, but I was not her. Sometimes there was no good to be seen. Sometimes the rabid dog just had to be put down.

  I made lists and plans about what I would need to do—learning to fight, warding my home against intruders, gathering every bit of information I could about magic, the Fae, Ronan and the threat on Earth. Hiding from the problem wouldn’t make it go away so I would become part of the solution. When I came to Belfast, I was blissfully ignorant of the twisted games being played around me. Now that my eyes had been opened, I was going to start playing by my own rules.

  To be continued in Twilight Siege, the final installment of The Fae Games.

  A Note to the Reader

  Nothing loses my interest faster than a vast series of books with no ending in sight. If I'm going to read a story, I need to know that I will reach a (happy) ending, and not 27 books down the line. The only thing worse than a never-ending series is waiting a ridiculous amount of time to hear the ending of a story. Shadow Play is the first book in a duet and while the second book is not yet completed, I shall endeavor to have it published as soon as possibl
e. I hope you will follow Rebecca as she journeys through both darkness and light in her final installment, Twilight Siege.

  Acknowledgements

  Everyone needs to have at least one person in their lives that they know without fail will be by their side—whether on an impromptu road trip, holding your hair back after a night out, or helping to hide the body. I have been blessed in life to have two of those people by my side. My soul sister, Sarah, who told me I needed to write a book and then held my hand through the entire process. And my husband, Jason, who jumped on the bandwagon with a smile and helped pick up the slack when I was buried deep in creating this book. A special thank you to these two from the depths of my heart, for everything you do and all that you are.

  To my amazing parents and in-laws, you have set a beautiful example of how to live happy, fulfilling lives and I will always be grateful. Your constant support, unconditional love, and sound advice have proven invaluable to Jason and I. Thank you.

  About the Author

  Daughter of Arthur and Jane Bedrosian, Jill Ramsower is a life-long Texan having been born in Houston, raised in Austin, and currently residing in West Texas. She attended Baylor University and subsequently Baylor Law School to obtain her BA and JD degrees. She spent the next fourteen years practicing law and raising her three children until one fateful day, she strayed from the well-trod path she had been walking and sat down to write a book. An addict with a pen, she set to writing like a woman possessed and this is her happily ever after.

  Connect with Jill Online:

  Official Website: www.jillramsower.com

  Jill's Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/jillramsowerauthor

  Follow Jill on Instagram: @jillramsowerauthor