Page 11 of A Fate of Wings (Autumn Court #1)

Chapter ten

Rozronuuk

Cossgarth

I hadn’t meant to make her pass out, but I’d been unable to hold back the power in my demon seed during our first union. I suppose it was to do with claiming my fated mate that I hadn’t kept the surge inside. Thea sagged in my embrace as I carried her across the uneven landscape to the hot springs. It was a shame she’d passed out, too. I would have liked to take her back into the skies and drop us again.

There would always be the time to do it when she awoke.

I dropped an affectionate kiss on her forehead since it was probably the only time she’d allow me such pleasures. I wasn’t a total asshole. Surprising, I know, but I was what I was. Rage Demons had to fight to be seen, to be understood, as anything other than a hot mess of rage. It was where we got our names from, after all. Still, I’d tamped down my rage. I’d battled that many centuries ago and won. I always won. Just like I’d won Thea.

I strode into one of many thermal springs in Cossgarth. The steam wafted up around our heads. Little beads of water formed on her closed lashes. My mate was a stunner with her long blonde hair, and slender body with enough curves to make me drool. I stroked a finger over her brow. I recalled the day I’d seen her at the Emporium in the Spring Court many moons ago. She’d purchased the staff she’d wielded today, a staff I’d made. She’d stroked the gold so adoringly, I’d experienced the connection between us even from the distance. It was as though I’d made the staff for my fated mate and hadn’t realized it.

Yet, there she’d stood with her sister and their handmaidens. Her gaze had flickered my way, but I’d stepped behind a goods cart, too filled with the potent rage of my kind to be any good to a queen. Her crown had blazed with rubies in the twinkling daylight, almost as fierce as her eyes. I’d struggled against the urge to throw her to the ground and claim her right there and then. To let the beast inside me rule would have been my demise. I wouldn’t bring shame to our family name or my brother, the king of the Demons. It was fitting I’d now be a king, too. All thanks to the fiery creature who was my mate.

She stirred in my arms. All sensual, supple limbs, soft feathers, and silky hair. My cock twitched as though she’d stroked the length with her hand. I scrubbed a palm over my face. She made the beast rage against the shackles I’d placed around him. I stroked my knuckles over her cheek. Her eyes snapped open, dreamy, and soft for a solid beat of my heart until tiny flecks of hardness flickered in their depths. She only ignited my hunger for her more.

“She wakes.”

“Why are we in a spring?” She shoved herself out of my arms. “I despise having wet feathers.”

She was even more beautiful with her body slicked with water. I picked her up by the waist and sat her on the ledge of the heated spring. Watching the beads of water drip from her hair down her body, I let a shimmer of rage go and blew a gust of hot air her way. Her hair flew backward, and her wings fluttered against the force. With one last surge of power, I dropped the wind, leaving her sitting dry and warm while I stood in the heated water.

“Thank you, I guess.” She preened her feathers and then drew her wings back into her body.

I planted a hand on my chest. “A thank you from my little queen?”

She jerked to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. “Stop calling me little.”

Even with her standing on the ledge of the spring, I towered over her. I climbed out of the spring beside her.

“You’re little compared to me.”

Her gaze dragged over my chest and lower, watching the water beads trail down my skin. Her delicate pink tongue darted out as though she aimed to capture the droplets. I’d be more than pleased to let her.

“How tall are you?” She jerked her chin up.

I shrugged. “Seven foot something. You’re a puny five foot.”

“Five foot two.” She straightened her crown.

“See, little.”

“Oh, for the love of the song, you’re impossible and infuriating.”

“Woman, you would know.”

She huffed an exasperated breath that I bore to the very core of me. Her perky breasts jutted out as though tempting me to feast on them.

“I’ve changed my mind.” She folded her arms. “I won’t pick you as my chosen mate. Now, send me back to the Autumn Court so I can choose a more suitable mate.”

I sighed. “This back and forth is getting tiresome. I’m your mate. Accept the fact right now.”

“Or what?” She tapped her foot.

“Or you’ll force me to take you back to the Winter Court and chain you to my bed until you see reason.”

Her eyes narrowed, but her breath hitched. Her nipples pebbled into hard peaks.

“You like the sound of chains.” I stepped closer. “Don’t worry, I’ll chain you to your bed as soon as we return to the Autumn Court.”

“Maybe I’ll chain you.” She chewed her bottom lip.

“No chains will hold me but say the word and I’ll pretend just for you.” I cupped her nape and drew her closer. “What else do you want to do with me?”

“I want to whip you into submission.” Her hands slid up my arms, over my shoulders, and clung onto my solid flesh. “I’m the queen, damn it.”

“Whip me all you like.” I inched my mouth closer to hers. “I’ll enjoy it.”

Surprise flitted over her face a second before I kissed her. She moaned into my mouth. Her hard nipples brushed against my stomach muscles. Her fingernails dug into the flesh of my shoulders. I snapped my wings closed and drew them back into my body, lifting my head and gazing into her flushed face.

“Would you like me to summon whips and chains here, or shall we return to your castle?”

Her face flushed a deep crimson.

“We should return now. I shouldn’t leave the Autumn Court for long.”

“Trouble in the kingdom?” I couldn’t help asking after everything I’d noticed during the trials.

Her hand absentmindedly shifted to her crown. “You witnessed the attempt on my life.”

“From an outsider. Which should be a non-issue now the trials are over.” I frowned. “But you sense something coming from your people?”

She ducked her chin, not quite meeting my eyes. “I sense a threat looming over my head. I can’t shake the feeling.”

My talons and fangs popped out. Her eyes widened, then heated.

“Hence your need for a strong mate and these trials.”

“Yes. I need someone to watch my back. I can destroy what is coming for me, but I don’t know where it’s coming from.” She shrugged.

I frowned. Thea wasn’t telling me everything she knew about this threat. Understandable since we’d just met. She had yet to learn to trust me. She would. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my mate. No matter how atrocious the task she set me, I’d do it. There was more to being a Rage Demon than the rage. We were cold. Calculated. Ruthless.

Yet, we loved with a fierce passion.

Thea would be my love. She’d already sparked my interest. Ignited my passion and flamed my protectiveness.

“Come.” I held out one hand while creating a whirring vortex portal of aquamarine with the other hand. “The Autumn Court awaits her queen.”