A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales – B&tB Book 2)

“Seriously, stop with the tongue,” I ground out as the tip of the dragon’s tongue prodded my knee. The dulled tips of his teeth bit into my side, highly unpleasant when I wasn’t afraid for my life.

Fuchsia streaked the sky. Muted yellows and oranges highlighted the horizon. Dawn was just around the corner, and I was now officially moving into my new home for the foreseeable future. The only way I’d get to leave was if the curse was broken (and war was afoot, since the demon king would be able to kill Nyfain as soon as we were freed) or if I made a deal with the demon king to grant myself a ticket out of here. My fate was not looking so great.

He’s just messing with you, my animal said, chuckling. It wouldn’t be our knee he licked if he were serious.

“Gross. Why can’t I just ride on his back like normal people?”

What normal people?

“Well, me for a start.”

At the edge of the wood, he didn’t cross the threshold toward the castle. He veered left instead, putting on a burst of speed and rushing through the trees. We crested a large knoll, and then he climbed a rockface about seven feet high. The land leveled out on top, the trees not growing on such rocky terrain. There he changed, dropping me from the sky. I fell with my eyes closed and hands tucked in, trusting he’d catch me.

Strong arms enveloped me, and Nyfain’s familiar smell gave me a little thrill. He held me for a moment, walking toward a little bench at the edge of the rise. Finally, he put me down and took a seat on the bench, just high enough to give us a clear view of the horizon.

I lowered beside him, inhaling the fresh, chilled air.

We sat for a moment in silence as shoots of canary yellow cut through the blues and violets in the sky.

“I often come here after a night of battling,” he said, his voice subdued to match the hush of the dawn. “When I’m not hurt too badly.”

“Speaking of.” I stood and walked around to his back. The four slashes from the attack that nearly killed him had all but faded, leaving nothing but jagged pink lines through his flesh. They looked similar to my arm and legs. “These won’t scar if you keep using the healing ointment I gave you. I can make some more, too, if you’ve run out.”

“I’ve had to have Hadriel or Lena apply it. I wonder if you would do them the favor of taking over…”

He let the words trail off, as though he wasn’t sure I’d say yes.

“Of course I will.” I slid my hands over his shoulders, giving in to the urge to touch his heated skin, always warm despite the chill.

“You mentioned making more of that nulling elixir. I was able to replicate it—I had to; I didn’t want to be thought dense—but it is time-consuming, and time is my most important resource. I wouldn’t trust any of the staff with it.” He paused. “Truth be told, until they stop fornicating with the demons, I don’t want any of them to know about it. I want to keep this from the demons for as long as possible. The demon king would not look favorably on losing one of his torture devices.”

“I’ll have nothing but time, and after all these years of hustling, I’m incredibly proficient at it. I can make loads. What about the crowded nulling elixir? What can we do about that?”

“Let’s distribute the regular stuff first, so the villagers can see how it works. They are not quick to trust. After that, we can sneak you into various areas in the village to see the sickest patients.”

I didn’t mean to make an ugh sound.

He glanced back with an arched eyebrow.

“I’m not a big fan of nursing,” I explained, kneading his tense shoulders.

“You nursed me quite thoroughly.” His tone held innuendo, and I knew he was thinking about the morning after he took the crowded elixir, plus our encounter in the washing shed that afternoon…

Heat wormed through me. I slid my hands across his shoulders again, stopping one where his shoulder met his neck and continuing to explore with the other, sliding up the front of his throat and applying a little pressure. I made him lean back against my legs, his head just under my breasts. Now I pushed my first hand down and across his delicious pecs, feeling his scars, lingering on a nipple.

“That was different,” I murmured.

“How?” he whispered, allowing me to maintain the firm hold on his throat with one hand as I glided a thumb over his nipple before rubbing in a circle.

My core tightened, and I leaned over to run the edge of my tongue along the shell of his ear. Goosebumps covered his flesh and a shiver ran through his body.

I smiled, my ardor rising. Through the bond, I could feel him reacting the same way. Not that I needed that hint. His cock was standing at attention. He was not bashful in the least about his body, something I appreciated. I was not bashful in the least about staring at it.

“I don’t know how, to be honest.” I tightened the arm that was draped down his front, curving closer to his body. I licked and kissed down his jaw line, my core so tight I could barely stand it. “I would say that I cared about you getting better, or that I worried I’d lose you, but I cared about those things with Father, and yet I couldn’t bear to be the one nursing him.”

“Maybe you could…bear it if I died, and so it didn’t matter whether you nursed me.” He tilted his head a little, his eyes closed, and I noticed his hands gripping the edge of the bench with white knuckles.

He was referring to my spelling mistake in our letters.

He was thinking about my body being bare.

A surge of warmth ran down my inner thighs, the effects of intense arousal and our earlier fucking session. His nostrils flared, and though I knew he wouldn’t mention it because of my issues with his pussy-smelling dragon, he was clearly aware of what was happening. A soft growl sounded in his throat, and he turned his head a bit more, angling his lips toward mine.

I kissed the corner of his lips, over his scar. He jerked, as though to pull away, and I tightened my hold on his throat, my fingers digging in a little. It wasn’t nearly enough to cut off the air, but it was a firm expression of what I wanted.

I let the kiss linger and then adjusted the angle so I could brush my lips against his.

“That isn’t it.” I nibbled his lips, tingles washing over me when he gently sucked in my bottom lip. The man was an expert kisser. He could read the tone and match it perfectly, taking me to a place where the only thing I knew was his taste and his touch.

“I do wish it could’ve been you and me on our first time together, going easy like you said,” I whispered, stepping back a little so he would be forced to lean more weight on me.

His words weren’t much more than a sigh. “I know. I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

I deepened our kiss, my tongue flirting with his. The muscles in his arms flared, and it reminded me of his dragon earlier, lying back and holding on to control so that my animal could play. Could do what she wanted. This time, Nyfain the man was the one holding back. He was allowing me access, but he clearly did not plan to bring things any further.

That was definitely for the best. My pussy ached with need and soreness both. I needed time to recuperate.

“How’s your dick?” I murmured against his lips.

“Not in need of more teeth, I can assure you. My balls hurt like a motherfucker.”

I chuckled and leaned back to laugh harder. “That was so weird.”

“Yeah. I can think of other signals to back a dick out of a mouth than corporal punishment.”

I kissed his cheek and moved my hand away from his throat to around his collarbone, hugging him from behind.

“Like what?” I straddled the bench facing him, pushing his arm up and around me, letting me in closer to his body.

His hand landed on the top of my butt, and his arm constricted, making me scoot closer still. I threaded a leg between his knees and angled a bit so that our sides were nearly touching. He slanted his face down to mine, his gaze on my lips.

“Like the sounds of her—”

“Me. We’re talking about me.”

“The sounds of someone…” He smiled, and my heart fluttered. “The sounds of you gagging, for a start.”

“I gagged with the blowjob in the wash shed and you didn’t seem to notice.”

He leaned down quickly and captured my lips, sucking before thrusting his tongue in. I moaned into his mouth.

“Fuck,” he breathed, backing off with tightly closed eyes. His entire body tensed, his muscle flaring. His fingertips dug into my back. “I don’t think I’m strong enough for this.”

“It’s okay.” I straightened up and reached around, hooking one arm around his neck and the other hand on his opposite cheek, pulling his face back to me. “I’m getting really sore now. I won’t be trying to swindle sex.”

Eyes still squeezed shut, body taut, he let me pull his face back to mine. “I’ll nurse you when we get back. It’s my turn. I’m going to have to jack off first, though, or I’ll explode.”

“I can do that for you.”

“Please don’t use your teeth,” he whispered, his lips tweaking into a mouth-watering smirk. “You know, it’s considered a challenge when a shifter grabs the throat of another shifter.”

“What kind of challenge?”

“A challenge to the death in most cases. If a male grabbed my throat, I’d kill him, no questions asked,” he growled. “If a female did it, I’d make sure she never thought to do it again. With you…it’s a challenge not to throw you down and fuck the sense out of you.”

The violence in his voice, the malice, was like a delicious caress. I remembered his hard thrusts earlier, pounding into us. Telling us to fight back when it became too much. How glorious it had been when we did.

“That’s a trigger, then, touching your throat?” I let my hand slip down, firmly tracing the line over his Adam’s apple.

His chuckle was dark and promising. “Only you would be turned on by my threats.”

“That didn’t sound like a threat.”

“Only to you, princess. No woman I’ve ever bedded could or would handle me when I’m in a temper.”

“No hate-fucking, then?”

“No. No hate-fucking. Not even with scrappy whores.”

I felt my eyebrows lower dramatically. “Don’t call them that—they are working like anyone else, regardless of the profession they chose, and they should be respected. And don’t mention other women to me again.”

Fire lit in his eyes, and approval came through the bond. “As you command,” he whispered.

I snuck a kiss, then let it deepen as I moved my hand to fully cover his throat.

“I am turned on by that threat,” I whispered.

He shook his head, keeping his mouth close to mine. “My control is firmly in check right now. No rage-fucking. I’ll need to make do with the notes in the book you sent. I like this one much more than the other, by the way. I can picture you on every page.”

“But no horse rides.”

“If there were a horse ride in that book, it would be”—he brought a hand up and kissed his fingers—“perfection.”

“I’m sure you’re just being dramatic.” I let my hand trail down his chest and leaned over and licked one of his nipples. I sucked in softly as I felt the rolling surface of his abs. “Women before the curse—especially noblewomen—were softer than people are now. Reality now doesn’t allow for someone to be that affected by your anger.”

He tilted his head back and laughed.

I frowned at him and sat up, running my palm along the inside of his thigh. He slowly spread his knees, allowing me whatever access I wanted.

“What? It doesn’t,” I said. His smile softened all the harsh lines in his handsome face. “Your staff doesn’t count. They have to fear you—you’re their boss.”

“Women before the curse, especially noblewomen, were some of the most courageous shifters I have ever known. They were not the kind to back down, and yet they still recoiled from my anger.”

I rolled my eyes, very lightly touching his balls. Just a graze of my fingers, knowing they were probably as sore as my vagina. She’d put up the white flag.

“You were their prince. They wanted to please you.”

“What does that have to do with cowering from my anger, or freezing up when even a little rage soaked between the bedsheets?”

I sucked in a labored breath and closed my eyes, my body suddenly pounding to know what it was like to have rage seep into a hard fucking with Nyfain. To have that level of passion and strength slamming into me. His firm grip in my hair. His dominating touch punishing me with his anger. I’d punish him just as thoroughly until we both climaxed in a heap.

I wrapped my hand around his girth and stroked firmly, reaching the top and smearing the bead of precum over his tip. I tightened my arm around his neck and grabbed his jaw, forcing him to bend farther and kiss me hard. I angled my head the other way, stroking faster, and he moaned into the kiss, his tongue thrusting. Me sucking it in.

He pulled back a little, breathing hard, sharing my breath. “See?” he got out.

“It wouldn’t be much different than with your dragon earlier; it would just be us in control.”

He pushed forward and bruised me with a kiss as I stroked, faster and faster, wanting his cock in my mouth but wanting his kiss more. I groaned and tugged at him, making him lean closer. He tightened his arm around my back, holding me tightly.

He sucked in a breath before kissing across my jaw and down the side of my throat. I pumped his cock, my grip tight, the desire to fuck so strong it nearly took control. My animal was right near the surface, basking in the sensations. His was there as well, and I could feel him straining to get out, his power searching for my animal. His desperation to be with her again unmistakable, uncompromising.

“Oh goddess, Nyfain,” I murmured, squeezing him tightly, stroking. My animal pushed forward. My control wobbled for a brief moment, enough for her to get out, “Bite me!”

His teeth sank into my neck, and a strange thrill sang through me. Mate, it seemed to say, pooling hot in my core. Wetness dripped out of my pussy.

“I need to lick your cunt,” he growled, standing in a rush and yanking me with him. I had no idea if it was him or the dragon. I did not fucking care.

He tore at my pants in a frenzy. He ripped them down and over my boots. They snagged partway down, but he’d already granted himself plenty of access, so he laid me on the bench and pushed my knees wide, bending between them, licking up my center. I moaned his name and arched, straining up to his mouth. He sucked on my clit before going back to lick and suck my core.

My desire surged. I raked my fingers through his hair, rocking my hips up into his mouth. Knowing our combined releases were on my skin. Knowing he was getting off on it as much as I was. His tongue traveled through my folds, erotically filthy and delicious. His fingers put pressure on my back door. The taboo nature of it threw me into a new place. A place without limits. Without boundaries. A place that was just sex and trust and passion.

“Hmm, yes,” I breathed, arching into him.

He pulled his fingers up again and plunged them into my pussy. The ache from earlier vanished. He lapped at my pussy and then sucked on my clit again, hard.

I bucked and cried out, shattering. I pumped against his mouth and shook with my climax. I came long and hard, my whole body locked up and vibrating.

He pushed to standing and leaned over me, bracing his hand behind my head. He lifted me before feeding me his cock. I took to it eagerly, held by him and bobbing on it hungrily. He thrust into my mouth, deeper now, growling with pleasure. Another pump, and he exploded, filling my mouth and throat. I sucked it down greedily, something I’d only done with him.

He pushed back and sat down hard, panting, catching his breath.

“You’re so fucking sexy, Finley. It should be outlawed.”

I smiled, completely relaxed. “Then what fun would you have?”

He gathered me up into his arms and settled me onto his lap, my pants still stuck over my shoes and now trailing in the dirt.

“I am definitely going to need a cleanup after this,” I murmured, resting my head on his shoulder and looking up at the lightening sky.

“You’ll get it. I promise. Let’s just let the demons go to bed first. I don’t want to have to do too much acting when we get back.”

“What does that mean?”

He stroked my hair and leaned his head against the top of mine. “We need to act like you’re a captive being taken back to your tower prison. Remember when I first brought you in?”

“You were all rage and impatience and annoyance.”

“I was going for brutal and ruthless, but yes. You were…confused and frightened?”

“Confused and…wary.”

“Right, of course.” He chuckled. “You were not comfortable, we’ll put it that way. Things are different now. You know that I mean you no harm.”

“Aside from pounding into me when I’m not used to your size.”

“Within reason, right. But we need to act the part. You need to seem scared. And, while this is grotesque, probably try to act violated. I’ve bitten you. My smell is all over you. In you. Your smell is all over me. The higher-powered demons will know that we’ve had sex. It’s best to sell it like I’ve taken you. Like you mean nothing more to me than a pair of spread thighs.”

I curled up closer to him and felt better when his arms tightened around me.

“Which we both know is not true,” he whispered against my hair, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

“I played the wilting flower last time. I’m sure I can do it again.”

“I’ll put on a small show for the staff, but it can be very limited. I’ll just throw you over my shoulder and march you up to the tower.”

“Really? You’re going to lock me in the tower again?”

“No.” His voice was a low hum. “I apologized for that, and I meant it.”

“But you said—”

“I said that out of anger. I don’t have a very even temper. We were just talking about that. I don’t always mean the things I say. You’re right to kick me in the nuts when I get out of hand. I’d expect no less. The dragon is proud of it.”

“What if the demons wait outside my door, and my animal goads me into going out and trying to kill them?”

“After the display you put on with your sword earlier, I doubt she’d goad you into it. I rather think she’d tell you to hide and wait for me. If you have a dagger…” He shrugged. “I’ve seen what you can do with a dagger. Or a pocketknife. If you need to kill a demon that is harassing you, then do it. Soon they’ll get the picture.”

“I didn’t bring a dagger.”

“We have plenty.”

“Why the tower, though? Why not a normal room? I know there must be some. Even one of the rooms reserved for staff.”

He took a deep breath. “Two reasons. One, because past rulers built in extensive secret passageways to either spy or bring their lovers to them without being detected. Or, in my father’s case, get drunk and accost the staff.”

“Ugh,” I said.

“Yes, exactly. There were many reasons why I tried to leave, and that is one of them. It didn’t happen often, but…” He squeezed me tightly, anger coming through the bond. “The castle has many dark secrets, from my father’s reign on back. Power corrupts, even for a species as noble as mine.”

“Don’t sell yourself short or anything,” I mumbled with a smile.

“Anyway, most of the rooms in the castle also have multiple sets of keys. One is held by the room owner, another by the cleaners, and yet another by the head house staff to look in on the underlings…on and on. The only room in that castle that only has two keys and no secret passages is that tower. It is the absolute safest place for you to call home.”

I took his hand and threaded my fingers in his. He’d been looking out for me even when he seemed to not care about me.

“And the other reason?”

“I spent a lot of time in it as a child, and then used it as my sanctuary when I got older. I could hide up there for days, and my friends wouldn’t know to look for me. It was a prison turned refuge.”

“And you hoped my prison would turn into a refuge within the castle?”

His breath fanned over my hair. “Something like that. I’m not sure, Finley. I don’t really know what I’m doing anymore. I feel like I’m blundering around in darkness. This half-life has gone on so long. I’ve latched on to my immediate duty, and anything else…”

He shook his head, and it sounded like he’d cut himself off. I wondered if it was the magical gag.

I let it drop.

“The tower it is. Will I still be able to work that garden? Will that offend you, given it was your mother’s?”

He pulled one of his hands from around me and placed it on his chest. “It would honor me. I will tell you what I remember of it, and if you could do something even remotely similar, I’d be forever grateful.”

“That’s settled, then. I’m going to make that the best garden in the magical kingdom, regardless of whether anyone else sees it or not.”

He rubbed my back without comment, acceptance that no one probably ever would. The touch filled me with sadness. He didn’t think he’d ever see any kind of salvation. He expected to die in this role without the curse ever being broken. He expected me to try to flee to save myself.

Frustration and anger filled me, but I pushed it away. I wouldn’t dwell on any of that right now. I wouldn’t let his misguided thoughts on the future affect me. Clearly he needed rescuing. I’d just have to add that to my list of things to do.

He must’ve felt my turbulent emotions through the bond, because he said softly, “So fierce. You will fight your way to freedom, I know it. It’s what your kind does.”

“My kind?” I asked, taken aback. “Do you know what my animal is?”

When he shook his head, my stomach sank in disappointment.

“No one will know your animal until you shift and she shows herself to the world,” he replied. “Not even she knows what she will become. Right now she is just an essence, waiting to take shape. Waiting to embody her own space without having to fight you for control.”

“Do you ever fight your dragon for control when in the dragon form?”

“I did once.” His smile was fond. “I wanted to fly. I caused us to fall out of the sky and into a lake. Thankfully, he took over again before we drowned. That was the first and last time. And usually he doesn’t step into my skin. It’s just… Well, he is not overly fond of how I am handling things with you.”

“Because you’re a terrible lover, that’s why.”

“Obviously, yes. You’ve hit it on the nose.”

I laughed, not bothering to look at the changing sky, as beautiful as it was, nearly full morning now. I traced his chin instead, finding a little scar hidden in the dark reddish-brown stubble.

“I didn’t feel it before,” I said.

“Feel what?” he asked

“The bond. I didn’t feel your dragon’s touch inside of us. Me.”

“It was only half realized. Only when both parties agree and establish the bond does it manifest. It’s then you feel each other intimately through it. After that, if there is intense love and devotion, the couple imprints, solidifying their bond for life.”

“But my animal said she accepted the bond last time.”

“But you didn’t. I didn’t.”

“And now?”

He gave me a long look. “You feel it, don’t you?”

“Was it you just now, or did he take over again?” I asked.

“Me.”

I let my eyes close, and a smile budded on my lips. “My animal pushed me out of the way to ask you to bite me.”

“Hmm.”

I couldn’t tell what that meant, but passion washed through the link.

“Biting is a shifter thing, huh?” I asked.

“Biting is marking, and yes, marking is a shifter thing. She asked me to bite you because marking you where the shoulder meets the neck is traditionally a shifter way of claiming a…person.”

Butterflies filled my stomach. It almost sounded like he’d been about to say “mate.” Which was the exact feeling that had come over me when he bit me on the middle part of my neck—that he was marking me as his. I knew it wasn’t an actual claim, but I had felt the sentiment.

I went ahead and filled in the blank. “A mate?”

“Yes,” he said softly.

“So if you claim someone, you are basically mating?”

“If a shifter claims someone, that person usually becomes their mate. The reason is because it usually happens in moments of strong feeling and blind love, and the couple then needs to figure out what to do about it. The effects of claiming are forever. A person can be claimed by multiple parties, but the scent of each is always there. However, mating itself doesn’t require love, like imprinting does. It really just needs the agreement of both parties. If the claiming didn’t happen before the mating, then it will traditionally happen after to further establish their agreement.”

“If I were claimed by five people—” He stiffened and dipped his head, running his teeth along my neck. I shivered but continued, “I’d smell like all five?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s it?” I asked. “You just bite me on the shoulder, and I’m claimed?”

“No. With my dragon’s help, I…secrete sounds bad, but… I secrete a pheromone that will soak into your skin. It’ll ensure my scent weaves in with yours. Other shifters will know you’ve been claimed. That you are mine, and if they flirt or touch you or…whatever, it is a challenge against me.”

“And you’ll…”

“Kill them,” he growled. “Swiftly. With pleasure.”

I bit my lip. That admission shouldn’t have been so hot. “And then, what, you just get to flirt your way through the castle?”

“You would mark me, too, if you wanted to lay a claim on me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He adjusted his position uncomfortably. “A mate’s mark isn’t always welcomed.”

“People lay it on others against their will?”

“No. That is forbidden. The punishment is death. But with arranged matings, a couple might mark each other without sharing a true connection. Sometimes the male will mark the female to claim her, trying to ensure she doesn’t bed anyone but him, and she does not desire to return the mark.”

“Your mother didn’t mark your father,” I guessed.

“Correct, and it was a source of great contention because it showed the world that she did not want him. That she was there out of duty and nothing else. He tried to beat her into doing it, and she would not.”

“He beat her?”

His expression turned hard and rage lit his eyes. “Yes. Another dark secret. She tried to hide the bruises, but I have excellent eyesight. I could see her bruised face in the garden when I was locked in the tower. She did not bend, though. I respected her more for it. I just wished I could’ve helped her.”

“Did you try? Not that I’m judging you, I’m just wondering—”

“I was only a teen then. Late teens, but… I asked her how I could help. She told me to leave. To find someone I loved, without the weight of a kingdom on my shoulders, and be happy.”

“But then…” I pulled away so I could see his face. Sorrow shone in his eyes, and guilt ate through the bond. “But why would you think you killed her if she told you to go?”

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Because I left her here with a monster.” His eyes glossed over as he stared out into nothing for a moment.

I stroked down his face, my heart aching for him.

His eyes fluttered, and then his gaze zipped down to me. All at once, his expression hardened. His body tensed. Anger rushed through the bond to cover the softer emotions. He was trying to erect walls to keep his pain inside.

“Get off,” he barked. “It’s time to go. We’ve dallied long enough. Your lady’s maid can clean you up.”

He pushed me off him and walked to the edge of the rockface, clearly waiting for me to put on my pants.

I sighed, still aching inside, but not because of his rough treatment. His words and actions didn’t affect me as much now that I understood more of his pain. His turmoil. His behavior was a symptom of a greater problem, and while I wouldn’t let him go overboard with it, I would tolerate these little outbursts. It was human, this side of him. I welcomed that.

“Yeah, okay.” I worked my pants back on and felt my face sour. “Gross.”

He glanced back, saw that I was ready, and changed into his beast.

Back to reality.