Page 49

I met Alestro’s dark gaze, hunting the shadows within his eyes for some sense of him.

We were practically strangers. We’d spent little more than a fortnight courting before he’d been sent out to spy on Stormfell and even then we hadn’t managed to gain much time to really get to know one another.

In the years which had passed since the arrangement of our union, we could have become so many things and as I stood in that too-small chamber with him now, murmuring words which lashed my soul to his for all of time, that fact began to sink in.

What had he seen in the land of Air? What had he done?

He found time to spend in the bed of a Succubus .

I blinked hard, forcing that thought aside just as I had done every time it had come calling for me in the middle of the night.

Had I expected him to guard his virtue for me the way I had for him?

Yes. But had he ever actually vowed to do so or asked the same of me?

My parents had made it clear that my virginity was a gift I should offer only to the man I gave myself to in marriage and I had done precisely that - despite knowing that many Fae chose a very different path and promiscuity ran riot all around the castle and beyond.

But I wasn’t just any Fae and we needed this match, the prestige of Alestro’s reputation, all of it.

So it had been my choice and I had no right to feel betrayed by him, but I still did.

He had been betrothed to me when he had taken her to his bed.

Did that not occur to him? Had there really been no other way for him to get close to her without making use of his cock in the process and-

“Lady Septa?” Earl Tarlord prompted and I jolted, realising I had been expected to speak and now all three of them were staring at me in expectation.

“I give my vow,” I breathed because that was the only thing I had to say during this ceremony so it had to be what they were waiting for.

“I give my vow,” Alestro echoed and the Reaper clapped her hands together between us, the noise so loud and sudden in the tiny space that I flinched, stepping backwards and knocking into Earl Tarlord.

I gasped as his rough hands came up to steady me, grazing over the bare skin of my back, making my blood rush to the surface of my flesh in the brief contact before he stole them away again just as fast.

“And may the stars curse any who try to cast the union asunder. Praise to the stars!” the reaper cried.

“Praise to those who tread their destined path,” I echoed along with Alestro and Earl Tarlord.

And that was it. Done. I was Lady Sharbone now, or at least I would be once-

Alestro caught my hand and tugged me towards him. I closed my eyes, expecting a kiss as I heard often happened at this moment of union but instead I ended up stumbling over my own feet as he tugged me towards a door I hadn’t noticed behind him.

Panic reared its head as I realised what must have awaited us beyond that door, the consummation chamber where we were to make our union official while the Reaper and our Earl awaited us here.

I allowed Alestro to guide me into the room which was thankfully bigger than the marriage chamber though it was almost entirely taken up by the plush bed in its centre.

I turned to close the door behind us, my heart racing as I met the dark gaze of my Earl, his strong jaw locked tight with some simmering emotion which I had no time to try and decipher before the door closed between us.

I looked back to Alestro who was smirking at me while he backed up towards the bed, his eyes roaming over my body and making my pulse spike.

I’d been wanting this, aching for this moment for so long, so curious about the pleasures of the flesh which the servants talked about with such enthusiasm and the Fae of the court bragged about so excitedly.

But I was in over my head at the same time, uncertain of how to chase such pleasure or indeed how to offer it.

“My mind has been full of the thought of this,” Alestro said, beckoning me to him and I went willingly, biting down on my bottom lip as I let my eyes skim down his body.

“I…don’t know how,” I admitted and his smile only widened.

“I’m a good teacher. Besides, I’ve had nothing but filthy Skyforger cunt for years. I’m aching to bury myself in the purity of your pretty earth-born pussy, wife. You’re the prize I get to claim for all the shit I’ve lived through these endless years.”

I blinked at his words, his tone like honey wrapping around them and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were a compliment or if I should have been offended by them.

Alestro took my hand and tugged me to him and my breath caught in my lungs as he pressed his mouth to mine, stealing all thoughts as he gave me the first kiss I had ever claimed.

My eyes closed a beat too late, the heat of his mouth against mine stealing all thought as my body responded and my brain tried to catch up to the fact that this was truly happening.

It ended as quickly as it had begun, Alestro drawing back and bobbing his chin towards the bed in command.

I did as he wanted, moving to sit on it then leaning back on my elbows, instantly regretting the move as pain shot through my shoulders but he was already moving to stand by my knees, pushing them apart none too gently.

“Show me,” Alestro growled, his thumbs painting circles on the insides of my knees.

My eyes flicked to the closed door which was all that separated us from the Reaper and Earl Tarlord but this was how it went, they weren’t going anywhere until we reappeared, having consummated our union.

I hesitated a moment longer, nerves digging into me at the thought of exposing myself to this man who was almost a stranger.

But he was the destiny I had been awaiting for so long that I forced those hesitations aside and placed my fingers against my hips instead, letting myself fall back to lay on the bed before him.

Magic coiled in my fingertips, latching onto the vines which secured the perfectly aligned rows of flowers to one another until I was able to draw them apart.

As my dress slid from my body, I couldn’t hold Alestro’s eyes and dropped my focus to the suit he had fashioned out of leaves. It was simple, a solid green colouring throughout, the edges a little messy as if he had done it in a hurry.

A twist of disappointment filled me as I realised he hadn’t taken anywhere near as much care or time to fashion his clothing for this moment as I had.

Of course I knew that he wouldn’t have been able to spend the time practicing the creation of his clothing for this day the way I had but perhaps he could have spent a little more time on the colour or the cut…

“Well aren’t you just perfection?” Alestro purred and I blushed as I raised my eyes to his and found him scrutinising every inch of my bare body. “One hundred percent earth born and a Virgo too, aren’t you?”

I nodded, my nerves having stolen my voice from me.

“You’re exactly what I’ve been aching for. A pure stone-bred woman to help me regrow my roots in my homeland where they belong.”

I smiled as his words bolstered my confidence, loosening my tongue.

“I would feel better about being naked if you were too,” I said, my blush burning brightly on my cheeks at the audacity of my words but this was it, what I’d been missing in the dark of the night, the pleasure I’d been so long awaiting.

Alestro hesitated, seeming a shade self-conscious and I wondered if perhaps he was just as nervous as I was.

Everything in his life had been a lie for so long, I might be the first Fae he would be able to truly be himself with in a very long time and the thought of that awakened a spark of hope inside me.

“The curse,” he said slowly, his fingers brushing against his collar.

“We’ll find a way to break it,” I swore to him. “And we can start…here.” I brushed my hand down the centre of my body, brazenly dropping it between my thighs for a moment before removing it again.

“Part your legs,” Alestro commanded and though I was still blushing profusely, I did as he asked.

Alestro’s eyes fell to my pussy, his fist clenching and unclenching at his side before he screwed his eyes up tightly.

“This is what I want,” he muttered to himself, his fist smacking into his thigh.

“Is everything alright?” I asked uncertainly and he forced his eyes open again, looking to my hair.

“Red,” he said and I nodded but I didn’t know what he meant by it.

Alestro pushed his hands into his hair then banished the earth-made clothes from his body with a snap of his fingers, leaves tumbling to the ground all around him.

I gasped before I could stop myself, biting down on my lip to cut the sound short while he grunted irritably.

“I warned you,” he said as I took in the blisters and boils which covered his chest, arms and thighs. His skin looked sore and oozed in places, strange markings coiling around some of the most painful looking wounds.

“Are those…runes?” I breathed.

“The Sky Witch is adept at blood magic,” he snarled but my focus was stolen by the way his cock jumped and swelled with his words.

I had seen men in the bath houses while their cocks were flaccid and knew in theory what one looked like when aroused but the sight of it still stole all of my attention.

“At last,” Alestro growled, wrapping his fist around his cock and pumping it roughly. “Come on, now, while it’s still up.”

“What?” I asked but he was already climbing onto the bed, his weight moving between my thighs and I realised that it was going to happen right now.

I was ready. I wanted it. But the sight of the damage the curse had done to his flesh and the suddenness with which he lunged on top of me made me nervous again.

“I’ve never-”

“I know,” he snapped. “Just let me get it in and then you’ll realise how lucky you were to bag me as your- fuck -” he cursed aggressively just as what felt like a damp sausage crashed up against my entrance then folded over onto itself.