I lift my chin in defiance. "And why, in all hells, would I help you?"
King Lucien doesn’t sigh. He doesn’t pinch the bridge of his nose. He laughs with a delighted clap, like I’ve perford a trick just for his entertainnt. "There it is. The bite. I was beginning to wonder if you’d grown dull."
My grip on the books tightens until the leather creaks. "If I do this, I risk fracturing my own mind. Seeing things that could scar for the rest of my life. And for what? Because you’re King? Because you expect the world to bow and bleed just because you exist? Because you’ll boil alive in a cauldron of oil and feed my guts to ?"
He runs his tongue over his fangs and nods in agreent. "Yes."
A chuckle curls low in my stomach. "You won’t kill . You won’t kill my mother, either. She’s the leash you keep around my neck. You need . If you want to tear my sanity apart for you, give a reason."
The temperature in the chamber drops and invisible frost kisses my skin. The air stirs and I feel the whisper of a hand on my throat before he fully materialises a breath away from . "A reason," he purrs, his voice echoing through the walls of my mind.
I jolt at the featherlight caress against the mark on my neck as he closes in, his body a living conduit of heat. The books slip from my grasp, thudding to the floor. I stumble back, only to be caught by his grip, iron tight on my nape. His claws graze the base of my skull, and with a sharp tug, he forces my head back until my mouth parts for him, whether I will it or not.
"Every ti you bare your teeth," he murmurs, eyes glowing like wildfire, "You forget they belong to ."
A thumb drags across my lip, pressing until I gasp. Then he pushes his finger past, sliding into my mouth.
Rage flares hot in my blood and I bring my teeth down with vehence, jaw locking with as much fury as I can muster. But he only laughs, eyes brightening with depraved excitent as he pulls his finger free, bloodied and possibly broken.
His blood floods my tongue. tallic. Sweet. Wrong. Sothing rattles in my chest and gods, I despise him, but my body acts ahead of my brain, his hold on far stronger than I could’ve fathom.
My tongue darts out and licks his blood from my lips, my gums aching to sink my teeth into his neck. To hear him grunt, cry, even moan, while I inflict on him what he has on .
His nostrils flare, eyes flashing with dangerous emotion.
"You’ll help for the sa reason you stayed last night. Because you’re curious. You want to see where this leads you. You want to know what happens when you get too close to the fla, because like , you have a reckless streak of shitting in the face of order. Rules." He leans in, lowering his frighteningly tall fra so that he can whisper against the curve of my ear, "You’ll help , because last night was the first ti you learned what it ant to burn. And now you crave more. And who better to give it to you than ?"
"I don’t--"
Claws slice into my nape and we both gasp. My head snaps up and the chandelier above fades into darkness.
*****
His mouth finds mine, and I whisper his na. It unravels him. I feel it in the tremor of his hands, the shudder of his breath. My chest aches with how much I love him. How much I need him. My Prince.
The scenery shifts.
The ground is trembling beneath hooves, the wind ripping my hair from its braids. He rides hard, desperate, terrified. My pulse beats with his, our bond choking with his fear. The forest is a blur, and I know before he does that he will be too late.
Blood. So much blood. It soaks into the soil, warm beneath my cheek. I hear him screaming my na, raw and feral, but I cannot answer. My lips will not move. I’m exhausted. Why did he leave us? He promised.
The current takes back and forth in ti. One foot in and out of two places. One that promises pleasure. The other grief. I can’t tell if it’s him I feel, or her, or . All I know is the grief tastes the sa as the pleasure. It burns, it shreds, it consus.
My hands are twisted in the sheets, my back arched in the air. His body presses behind , hands gripping my throat, holding in place as his hips slam into mine. Every kiss a vow, every touch reverent, yet vile. My claws split on the wood as I scream his na, wanting him deeper, closer, always.
"I am yours," I vow, and the way he shakes tells he is mine too. "In this lifeti and the next."
Forward--
I see him fall from his horse, stumble, crawl through the dirt, through my blood. His hands cradle , shaking, breaking, his mouth on mine as if he can breathe back into life. His tears are hot on my face. Begging the gods to take him instead. His heart is breaking inside my chest, and I cannot hold it together for him.
Back--
I ride him like he is my whole world, and he is. My Prince. My King. He would burn the stars from the sky to keep . I would burn with him. My chest is too full. My soul too bright. I cannot imagine a world without this mont, without him.
I look in the mirror as we move in synch. Red hair. Green eyes. Blood red lips. Breasts slick with sweat and cum. I grin, head tipping back as his claws tear into my skin, his long, light lashes fluttering while he begs. Because he will only ever beg for , pray to .
Forward--
Silence. Cold. Darkness swallowing the light from his eyes as he realizes I am gone. The bond tears, a scream echoing in both our souls--
*****
When I rip free of the vision, I am gasping, trembling, my entire body locked against King Lucien’s. His claws still dig into my nape, my fist clenched tight in his robe, our breaths tangled.
For a heartbeat, neither of us moves. The weight of what I saw, what I felt, claws at , refusing to let go, and I clutch him tighter, harder.
His eyes are dazed, his breaths ragged. "Get out," he says, but there is no bite to it. "Get. Out," he repeats, but he doesn’t stop holding .
Instead, his head lowers, mine rising helplessly to et him. Bewitching eyes lock on mine, widening as he realizes in the sa mont that I do that we’re still back there, in that bedroom. Still bound. Still burning. My mouth dries, a deep well of hunger unfurling in my stomach as the mark on my skin burns to hell.
I might as well have set my clothes on fire.
His silver brows furrow in confusion, "This... can’t..." His breath ghosts my mouth. His fingers tremble as they guide my face closer. His nose brushes mine, a soft, aching contradiction to the claws still at my throat. "I--"
The door crashes open. "Lucy-bear!"
We tear apart like thieves caught mid-heist. My knees slam into sothing solid, tripping . I hit the ground hard, breathless, staring up at King Lucien as he whirls toward the intruder, ears burning beet red though his face has already settled back into its cruel mask.
Nothing left of the man who had been about to...
Well, now. It’s less surprising that he’d try to kiss . He’s been trying to get into my pants long before ever eting , like he can’t seem to decide if he wants to touch or dismber .
The intruder is a woman no taller than I am. Swatted in pink silk and gossar, she stands by the door, hands braced on the billowing skirts of her dress. Her black hair is braided into a crown at the top of her head, teardrops glittering from the piercings on her ears. All ten of them.
Her eerie blue eyes flick from the King to where I sit on the floor and her mouth forms an ’O’. "Shall I return later, cousin? Or may join in?" She grins with mischief at . "This is him? I suppose I expected taller, but gods, he looks delicious."
Is there not one normal person in this entire castle?
Dragging my ass off the floor, I retrieve my books hurriedly, quite sure I left two or three behind, and I don’t wait for his command or his dismissal before fleeing from his chambers.
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