by L. P. Dover
They weren’t bad men at all, except for their utter lack of control when being around women they could seduce. One thing about being one of the powerful Four was that I couldn’t be seduced by them … unless I wanted to. They weren’t allowed inside the court grounds, so when they visited it had to be right outside the gate. When Bastian began to show more of an interest in me, he was warned by my sister that I could never be his. I think the appeal was that he could actually be around me and I wouldn’t fall victim to his charms. He could have something real; he could have true love.
Kalen and Meliantha marched off, leaving only Brayden and me with Ryder and Calista. Ryder pulled Brayden to the side and they began discussing what they were going to do while Calista stayed beside me so she could talk to me alone. I couldn’t keep my gaze off of Brayden, and deep in my heart I wondered how I was ever going to find the courage to leave him and break his heart.
“I can feel the weariness in you, Ariella,” Calista whispered. “Care to talk to me about it?”
I really wanted to tell her how angry it made me that she deliberately kept me in the dark about things. It made me furious to be treated like I couldn’t handle it, but being the person that Calista was I knew all she wanted was to protect me. I would probably do the same thing if I was in her position.
Sighing, I finally met her gaze and shrugged a shoulder saying, “I’m just ready for it all to be over. How are we going to get close enough to the sorcerer to kill him with the dagger? Not to mention one of us has to do it,” I mentioned curiously, trying to see if she’d confide in me. I tried to keep my tone indifferent, but being that I was talking to Calista nothing ever seemed to get past her.
She started to speak, but stopped and narrowed her eyes at me, studying me. Pursing my lips, I stood there with my arms crossed, waiting and wondering what she was going to say now. Was she going to be honest or tell more lies? Cursing quietly, she groaned and closed her eyes. “Who told you? Was it Sorcha?”
“Now what would Sorcha have told me?” I asked sarcastically. “Is there something I should know?”
All she did was lift a brow and stare at me with that look on her face that said, ‘Don’t mess with me.’
Rolling my eyes, I answered, “Fine, I’ll tell you and no, it wasn’t Sorcha. I’ve known this whole time that it was I who had to kill the sorcerer. Although, Sorcha does know that I am aware of the situation. She came to me in a dream and I told her because I said I wasn’t going to bond with Brayden. I didn’t want him to suffer with my loss if I wasn’t going to survive.”
Her eyes misted with unshed tears, but the fierceness in her gaze was anything except sad. She grabbed me by the shoulders and leaned in close. “You listen to me, Ariella. I know how you are and so help me if you do something stupid I’m going to come after you and kill you myself, do you understand? We didn’t come all this way and endure all of our losses for it to end this way. This whole mess started out with us, and it’s going to end with us.”
“Is everything okay?” Ryder asked, coming to Calista’s side with a furrowed brow. Calista nodded quickly and smiled, but then turned her serious gaze to me.
“Yes, everything is fine,” she assured him. “I just wanted to wish the best for my little sister on what will be one of the most magical nights of her life.”
“Is that what you tell everyone ours was like?” Ryder teased, kissing her on the cheek.
“Of course,” she agreed. “It was the most magical night of my life, and one I will never forget.” Flinging her arms around my neck, she squeezed me tight and whispered in my ear, “You’re going to make a wonderful queen, Ariella. I love you so much even though you are hard headed.”
I laughed and squeezed her harder. “I get it from my oldest sister.”
After we all said our good-byes, Brayden draped his arm protectively around my waist and held me close as we made our way back to his dwelling. I was curious as to why he needed my sister’s help so I decided to ask. “Are you going to tell me what you and my sister were doing this whole time?”
With a gleam in his eye, he winked and grinned down at me. “No, but I am going to show you as soon as you get ready … that is, if you still want to do this after everything that just happened. I don’t want us finishing this because we need to. I want to do this because we want to.”
Sighing, I stopped him at the door before we could enter and whispered his name, “Brayden … nothing in this realm is going to stop us from being together tonight. I want you and need you more than the air I breathe, or even the heart that beats in my chest.” My lips quivered when I kissed him on the lips. “I love you.”
He smiled and cupped my cheek in his hand. “And I love you, angel. Now go and get ready so I can show you how much. You’re probably going to be tired of me after the night is over.” He opened the door and ushered me inside.
Grabbing the dress that I left draped over the chair, I rushed past him and up the steps to our room. “There is no way that is ever going to happen,” I said through our bond.
“You say that now, angel, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep my hands off of you tonight.”
That was definitely not a bad thing. The thought of his hands all over me all night made my insides clench and tighten with need. He wasn’t the only one who was going to have a problem keeping their hands to themselves. I wanted desperately to feel him inside me and making love to me. Through the bond, I could feel his desire. It heightened when I opened up my own desire in his mind so he could feel how much I wanted him.
“If you plan on seducing me through our bond then you need to hurry up, my love. You have no idea what it’s doing to me down here,” Brayden teased. “I am two seconds away from coming up there and taking you now.”
I washed up quickly and slid into the silky, white dress that Queen Mab gave me and strapped the all powerful dagger to the belt around my waist. The low, plunging v-neck was stunning and it sparkled like diamonds as I moved in the light. It was beautiful. Mab said I was going to look like a real ice queen in this dress, and after tonight it was certainly going to be true. My Winter Court was going to be formed with the man I loved, and together, even if only for one day, I was going to rule by his side in our court … our Court of Ice.
WHEN I WALKED down the stairs, Brayden was nowhere in sight, but there was a beautiful midnight blue cloak draped over one of the chairs with a note attached to it.
Meet me outside, angel. I’ll be waiting.
Brayden
Wrapping the cloak around my shoulders, I pulled the hood over my head and took a deep breath. Here we go. I opened the front door to find Brayden with his back to me, tightening the straps of my saddle to Lennox’s back. Lennox whinnied when he saw me and Brayden immediately turned around, his gaze widening as he took me in.
“Ariella,” he murmured, “you are so beautiful.”
He never took his heated eyes off of me as I walked down the steps toward him. He helped me up onto my white stallion and then mounted his own horse, which happened to be an exquisite black mare. “Are we going far?” I asked.
Brayden smiled. “Not too far, but you will know where we are going very soon.”
He winked at me before setting off down the snowy path toward the woods. I breathed in the cold, winter breeze as we raced through the trees, snow billowing out like white mist around us. The farther we got, the more the feeling in my gut grew stronger, pulling me faster to my destination. Yes, I knew exactly where we were going.
Brayden slowed his mare down with a tug of the reins; Lennox obediently complied to his command and slowed down as well. The moment Lennox stepped into the snowy meadow, the magic of the land grew stronger. I gasped as soon as we crossed over to the unclaimed land that would soon be mine and Brayden’s. The power of the land was unreal.
Once the trees cleared, my breath was taken away at the vision before my eyes. The trees gave way to a small opening, and in the middle of that open meadow was a dwel
ling of sorts. It wasn’t something I had ever seen before, but what made it special was that it was made of ice. It was but a taste of what my court would be like once it was formed.
“Brayden, it’s amazing,” I breathed. “Is this why you needed Calista?”
He dismounted from his mare and clutched my waist to help me slide off of Lennox. He nodded sheepishly and replied, “Yes, I had the vision in my head but I needed her to help make it come alive.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Taking my hand, he led me to the door and followed me inside. The walls glowed and shimmered like diamonds from the fire, which cast its sensual light throughout the room. That was all the house of ice was, too. It was one huge room with windows peering out to the white abyss beyond and a crackling fireplace in the far wall with a mound of soft blankets in front of it. It reminded me so much of the vision we shared.
Brayden came up behind me and unclasped the cloak from around my shoulders and lowered the hood from my head, letting it fall to the floor. He moaned low in his throat and turned me around to face him.
“You are the one that’s beautiful, angel,” he claimed wholeheartedly. “I can’t wait to make you mine forever.” He lifted the hand with his ring adorning my finger and kissed it lightly. “Forever,” he repeated.
Silently, he led me over to the fireplace and the bed of blankets on the floor. His heated gaze made me shiver as he pulled me closer and took my face in his hands. “I love you, Ariella. I know I may not be the kind of man who can tell you how I feel all the time, but with us being bonded the way we are, you will always be able to feel it. I have never let myself feel anything other than loyalty and duty for my court, but you have shown me a different way … a way to love.”
He kissed me gently, but then deepened it by opening my lips with his tongue. I ran my hands through his hair and tugged him closer, tasting the sweet taste of Winter on his tongue and breathing in his heady scent of pure, fresh snow.
“Brayden,” I murmured silently.
He gazed at me with his sensual brown eyes, filled with love and longing, and smiled down at me. The twinge in my heart grew deeper because I knew that in the next day or so I would be leaving him. Bonding with him and the memory of it would be the only thing getting me through what I had to do. I was ready.
Smiling up at him, I decided to begin the first part of our bonding. It had to be said in the Old Fae language for it to be binding, and even though I didn’t know much of that language I still knew what I needed to say.
“Brayden, no matter where I am or what happens in our world, you will always be with me … in here,” I said, placing a hand over my heart. “I will be honored to be your mate, your queen, and … your wife. Amin mela lle ilyamemie ar’ ten’ oio. These words bond me to you, for always and forever.”
I could feel the power of those words linking me to him in a stronger connection than the guardian bond. It was like an invisible chord that weaved its way around my heart and soul and connected me to his. My life was tethered to his now whether he completed his part of the bond or not.
Brayden smiled down at me and sighed, rubbing his thumb over my swollen lips from his kisses. “You will be my mate, my queen, and my wife and there’s nothing in this realm that I want more than that. I bond myself to you, angel, and from here on out you will always be mine … forever and always. Freely and with no reservations, I give you my body, my soul, and most importantly my heart. Amin mela lle ilyamemie ar’ ten’ oio.”
The magic of our bond swirled between us like an invisible force tethering us together, bonding us. Brayden smoothed his fingers underneath the top of my dress and slowly lowered the white, silky fabric off my shoulders. He kept his gaze on mine as my dress slid down my arms, over my breasts, and the rest of the way to the floor.
Slowly, I unbuttoned each single button of his black shirt, exposing the smooth plains of his chest one inch at a time. He closed his eyes and groaned as I trailed my fingers teasingly over his pale, muscled skin. He grabbed my hand, stopping me, and brought my palm up to his lips. “I think we’ve had enough foreplay over the last few days to last us a lifetime, don’t you think, angel?” he murmured huskily.
“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy it?” I retorted.
Chuckling, he grabbed my hips and pressed me firmly against the hardness between his legs. “Oh, I have enjoyed every second of it, but I’m ready to make love to you. I’ve needed you too much to take things slow.”
With hooded eyes, I lifted up on my toes and traced my tongue across his lips and whispered, “Then what are you waiting for?”
He didn’t need to be told twice because in the next second we were both unclothed and wrapped in each other’s arms on the soft bed of blankets on the floor. Brayden’s face glowed in the firelight as he pushed my legs apart with his knee and brought his hands up to my breasts. He massaged them gently before lowering his lips to tease my nipples with his tongue.
I wrapped my legs around his waist and squeezed, bringing my hips up higher to his groin. Reaching my hand down between our legs, I stroked him gently at first, earning a strangled moan from his lips. He moved his hips along with my strokes, and the harder he sucked on my nipples the harder I squeezed along his cock.
“I thought you didn’t want foreplay?” I teased in his mind.
He licked my nipple one last time and smirked down at me. Taking the hand that was wrapped around his erection, he pinned it above my head and replied gruffly, “You’re right, I don’t.”
He teased me for a few more seconds by rubbing his hardness back and forth between my legs, and then entered me gently, thrusting in small strokes so I could get used to his fullness inside of me. I moaned and raked my fingernails down his back as he pushed in deep, as far as he could go. I could feel the magic of our bond growing and swirling around us as we made love, fueling our never ending need for each other. It reminded me of silver glitter the way it sparkled and shimmered in the room.
Taking my face in his hands, Brayden thrust harder between my legs and crushed his lips against mine, teasing and tasting greedily. I could feel my core tighten around him as my orgasm slowly began to build and build. With my breath coming out in pants, I dug my nails harder in his back and squeezed my legs tighter around his waist.
“Brayden,” I cried out.
“Let it go, angel,” he commanded. His brown eyes bore into mine, and I could tell he too was on the verge of losing control.
The harder and faster he pumped, the quicker my body let go. Closing my eyes, I shouted his name again, except he muffled those cries by closing his lips over mine as he released. He rocked his hips slowly as his cock pulsated and spilled every single drop of his seed inside me. The warmth of our love spread throughout my belly, and for the first time in my life I felt whole. Breathing hard, we both lay there silently, listening to the sounds of our hearts beating in tune to each other.
“Are you all right?” Brayden asked, wiping away the hair on my forehead.
I opened my eyes, and when I looked up at his face, I gasped. Now that our bond had been completed the changes in our bodies had taken place as well. What used to be just ordinary pale skin now shimmered with a silver glittery sheen. I gazed down at my own hand and it was the same. It was almost like Meliantha’s skin where hers glittered with a golden hue, but ours glittered with a silver one. It was fascinating.
I nodded at him and replied, “Yes, I feel wonderful. This is all amazing.”
The land beneath us began to shift and I knew it was changing into our court, into our land that would make the Land of the Fae stronger than any other force imaginable. I couldn’t wait to see it. Brayden slowly pulled out of me and helped wrap a blanket around my body before wrapping one around his waist. He held out his hand and helped me to my feet.
“I think it is time we gaze upon our new court. How does that sound, my queen?” Brayden asked with a smile on his face.
“I think you just read my mind.”
I didn’t know how I was going to feel when I looked upon my court, but I knew it was going to take my breath away. As far as I could see past the trees, the land was smoothed over with ice, and as the snow flittered down from the sky to the ground it never showed up on the ice. It was like it disappeared before it touched the ground.
I could tell Brayden was as in awe with our court as I was when I looked up at him and saw him gazing out at our land. “I wonder how everyone is going to walk around on the ice without falling,” I joked. Brayden chuckled by my ear, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me up against his thickening cock.
“I’m sure they will get along just fine, but right now there are other things we need to worry about,” he said, unwrapping the blanket from around my body.
“Like what?”
He cupped both of my bare breasts in his palms, rolling my nipples with his fingers, and answered, “Like going back to bed and letting me make love to you for the rest of the night. I promised that was what we were going to do and I have to live up to that promise.”
His hand trailed down my stomach and I shivered when he rubbed his thumb across my clit and gently pushed a finger inside me. I moaned and leaned against him as his fingers worked their own magic on my body. “How can I say no to that?” I remarked breathlessly. “I can’t let you go back on your word.”
“No, you can’t.” He lifted me up in his arms and carried me back over to the fireplace where he laid me down gently on the thick, soft blankets. “Tonight is ours, angel, and nothing else should matter except me and you. Right now, nothing else exists except me and you. Put everything out of your mind and let’s love each other like we will for the rest of our lives. Can you do that?”
