Page 30 of Fated or Knot (UnseelieVerse: The Omega Masquerade #1)

30

LARK

I stood behind a dining room chair, watching a younger version of the Kauz I knew sit and listen attentively as a tutor explained the setup of the numerous cups, plates, and cutlery set out in front of him. His too-large wings were bound at the top and middle by taut bands of cloth. Next to him, Eletha hid a book under the table and turned the pages ever so slowly so she didn’t attract unwanted attention.

They had piping hot bowls of soup and pieces of bread in front of them. The tutor was explaining the etiquette of passing butter when Kauz shifted to look back at me. The sound of the instructions faded out.

“This is complicated enough that I review it regularly,” he explained in a high voice that matched the age he resembled.

I wasn’t sure if he knew I was here or not. It seemed so, but I had to be sure. “Kauz, it’s me, Lark. You’re dreaming right now.”

“Oh, I know,” he said serenely. “You took your time coming to visit. I’ve been making do with memories of your voice.”

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it. Aww . If I knew how to do the same thing, I probably would. The way he spoke always calmed me. “Could you change to be yourself? I want to kiss you, but you look like a child…”

“Ah. You shouldn’t change dreams formed of Ever. Let’s go somewhere else.” He stood and offered his hands, palms up. I placed my fingers in his and felt the tug of us leaving the memory-created dream behind. Colors dissolved to darkness, replaced swiftly by a place I recognized.

This was once my dream, when I’d thought of the omega store in Ilysnor and created a nest of everything inside of it. There was nothing here but Kauz and I and the epic dream nest, already constructed and plumped up invitingly. He was his adult self now, his short white hair grown out a bit like it was in reality, with the ends starting to curl.

I reached up to run my fingers through the texture of it and kissed him. A tremor passed through my wings when he met me halfway with all the bottled-up passion of the days we’d been apart. His mouth tasted of Always, of the ecstasy of promises fulfilled and love meant to be. It lingered on my tongue even as it faded in a fleeting tease.

He laid me down on the nest and burrowed his forearms under my top wings to brace his weight above me. His lips traveled to my neck, and I nearly arched into him from the press of his teeth against my skin. “I missed you,” I murmured.

“I missed you,” he echoed.

“Kauz…”

His tongue brushed the hollow of my throat, and I lost all my coherent thoughts. He replied with a teasing hum.

“I was going to tell you something…” Oh, right. I wanted to confess my feelings, but he didn’t seem all that interested in talking. Still, he humored me, leaning up and fixing me with his gaze. I gasped, “Your eyes!”

He fluttered his snowy lashes in surprise. The sheen of stars and magic was gone, revealing the whites of his eyes and the silvery irises that must’ve been hiding underneath. They were still beautiful, just not the purple-threaded nebulae I expected. After a moment, he said, “Just a sign of depletion. My body doesn’t have spare essence right now.”

Right. The same depletion he’d tangled with to see me through my worst forgotten memories. Something he absolutely hadn’t had to do. He was the kind of mate I’d dreamed of having for so long, and here he was and… “I love you,” I blurted before I could lose my nerve again.

He flashed his knowing smile. Of course he already knew. But I was glad I finally got to tell him. “I love you too. I have for some time,” he said.

I lit up, framing my mouth with loose fists in absolute delight. This was probably the best dream of my life. And even though a tiny part of me feared that it was just a dream, the crispness of the details that formed Kauz made it impossible to deny that it was him above me, taking in my reaction with a soft groan.

“No one warned me that my mate would be the sweetest thing I’d steal away to Serian,” he said. My wings fluttered in reaction. There wasn’t another place I’d rather be but here with him, in the palace he and his brothers “stole” me away to. Those silver eyes searched my face. “Are you still untouched?”

“Um, yeah…”

His laugh was a disbelieving huff. “That’s a miracle. Wait, Mother immediately accepted you as her heir, didn’t she?”

“Oh, yes,” I said quickly.

“It must be overwhelming to have four males to pick from to be your first.” He rolled onto his side and took me with him so I was enveloped in the circle of his wings. I relaxed against his chest with a nod of agreement. “Though, I must say, being untouched is more a state of mind than anything physical.”

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of explaining, why don’t I just show you?” he offered.

That was smooth. I had to admit something, at least to him. “Yes, please. I want it to be you.” I had feelings for his brothers, too, but this gentle male just… He had to be first.

He flashed his blunt teeth in a grin as he sat up. “As I promised you last time, we won’t be interrupted.” He gestured to our surroundings. “There’s no better place to experiment than your dreams.”

I followed his lead and sat cross-legged on the nest, hyperaware that I was dreaming and would remain physically untouched no matter what he did. Especially when he became shirtless in a blip of dream logic. His chest was a map of strength with ridges of muscle, especially in his upper chest. The tight buds of his nipples were a darker purple than the rest of him, matching the hue of his lips, which were curved in amusement as he took in my admiring reaction up and down his bare skin.

“There’s no rush. Come explore.” He beckoned with a curl of his fingers, and I shuffled closer to him. I straddled his waist and made a soft gasp when I felt his cock twitch under the fabric of his pants where we naturally pressed together. But he made no move to release it, sitting back on his hands as he watched me with half-lidded eyes.

I took his invitation and touched him. At first, tentatively. I could feel his solid strength, sheathed in the softness of his unblemished skin. “Does flying give you muscles like this?” I asked.

“I had to do a lot of training before I could fly. My father likes to joke that I have alpha-sized wings on a beta-sized body.” While he responded, I explored him again, watching the way his expression shifted when I found a place he liked. He released a soft moan when I finally touched one nipple and circled it with my thumb.

“I thought dreamlanders couldn’t be alphas,” I said.

“We can’t. But give us a few more generations to further mix with omegas and…” He shrugged. His heart thumped in a steady drumbeat under my palm as he regarded me tenderly. “Perhaps our son would be so lucky one day.”

My cheeks heated. I fought my first instinct to duck and look away. Kauz didn’t want me to hide my reactions from him, and there wasn’t much else to hide. He already knew my fears and some of the darkest corners of my mind, after all.

“I like that you’re a beta. You’re the pack’s voice of reason. Not that, I mean, any son we had would be a copy of you or anything.”

“My brothers only listen to me because they know I’ll give them nightmares if they don’t,” he said mildly. I just about choked on my next swallow.

“Is that the secret?” I asked. I moved my fingertips to exploring his wings, really feeling the leathery surface and the tattoos of stars and mist that I’d admired so openly. The lines of ink were smooth to the touch.

He extended out the wing I focused on, letting me feel its inner curve. A shudder passed through it in a shivery whisper of sound. “Not for you, sweetheart. You barely have to ask. You have all four of us wrapped around your li’l finger.”

I made a neutral hum, which was enough for him to catch my hand and thread his fingers through mine. “You doubt me?” he chuckled. His lips skimmed my knuckles, brushing a feather light kiss over each. Then he pressed my hand between us, cupping the hardness of his cock through his pants. “Don’t you know what this it?”

“An erec?—”

“Control. Four of the most powerful males in Faerie are yours by fate.” He moved our joined fingers, showing me how to hold and tease him. “You may feel small and unassuming alone, but you’re?—”

“Not alone anymore,” I said with him. It was still so reassuring to hear.

“That’s right. And there’s a reason every Unseelie generation is marked by the reign of its queen. I may have been born a prince, but I was raised to elevate and serve my fated mate. You . My Always, my brothers’ scent match.” As he spoke, the rest of his clothes disappeared. When he let me go, I had my fingers curled around his throbbing shaft. He released a shuddering breath as I stroked him, and his head tilted back. “And now that we’ve elevated you, I have never wanted to serve more.”

Well, he had me convinced when the evidence was in my hand. His cock was as heavy as I remembered and darkened by a couple thick veins. I caught the bead of liquid weeping from the slit at its tip and tasted it. Salt and musk burst on my tongue, and even though it wasn’t full of the pheromones of an alpha, I liked it anyway. I stroked him again, this time reaching for the sack hanging just underneath his cock.

“Careful. No nixie claws there,” he teased, taking my fingers in his again to show me how to play with his balls. He watched me with lusty eyes darkened to a stormy gray. “Are you ready for me to return the favor?”

I didn’t think I could be shy while I was fondling him. After I nodded, he rid me of my clothes from the waist up with a flick of his fingers. My breasts rolled free, and he caught them, plucking and twisting their peaks just right to wring a breathy moan from me.

I released his sensitive sack before my nixie claws could do it any harm, bracing my hands on his chest when he pulled me to sit astride him again. “I’ve wanted to play with these for a while,” he murmured. His fingertips found my wings and traced the sensitive outline of them.

He pinched the side of one, and I jolted, biting down on a cry. His gaze swung to my face, and he released my wing before inspecting the dust that he rubbed between his thumb and forefinger. “You’re designed for pleasure, sweetheart. I want to hear it when I do something you like.”

“Sorry. Habit,” I said.

“A bad one I’ll break you of eventually.” His tongue darted out to taste the dust, and he hummed in approval. “As sweet as you are. They’re going to be the target of many love bites.”

My wings fluttered at the thought. “Also, don’t be surprised if I wear your dust like war paint. You’re starting to put off a lot of it,” he teased.

I didn’t think I needed to apologize for that when he was rubbing the planes of them, coaxing a quiver through my body, especially while he touched the more sensitive undersides. His thumbs caressed the inside of the second, smaller pair, before he cupped my ass and kneaded.

His mouth found the sensitive patch of skin just under my jaw, then trailed to my new gills. He licked them with a soft, possessive growl, giving my Unseelie side some attention too.

Everything he did with his mouth felt so much more intense. I should’ve tried exploring his body with my lips and tongue to see what kind of sounds he made. Darn it. Well, there was plenty more time to do that. Kauz had handled this how I’d expected him to, accommodating for my inexperience.

He sucked harder on my neck, and my answering moan was much closer to his sharp ears. His wings shifted, making that shivery sound. It seemed like he enjoyed hearing me nearly as much as his own pleasure.

“You’re ready,” he said. Air hit my slick-soaked pussy a moment later as he left me without a stitch on in a split second of dream logic. He gave my hip a squeeze as he ran the thumb of his opposite hand through my wet folds, then sank it into me to the root and pressed down.

He’d found and tugged on a part of my pussy I didn’t have a name for, giving it a testing stretch. It felt incredible but woke an ache straight to my core. I flapped in place like a pinned butterfly, crying out his name.

“You’d take a knot right here,” he murmured in my ear. “I don’t have one, but this is my dream, so I could .”

It was only when he eased the pressure that I realized he was offering, and I shook my head. “I want you as you come. Standard Kauz.” After all this, I was flush with need for this male.

“As you desire. I have plenty of fun things to show you later.” He nudged me onto my back, climbing on top like how we’d started this part of our dream.

This time, I didn’t distract him by trying to talk. I busied my mouth by kissing up his jaw and giving one of his forward-facing ears a testing lick from the lobe to its sharp point. His gasp and the shiver through his wings had me feeling victorious. I thought they’d be extra sensitive, considering how strong his hearing seemed to be.

He nudged my thighs further apart. The heat of his cock dragged through my slick, teasing the swollen petals of my sex without actually penetrating. I whined when he did it again, making a whistling sound of need.

He caught my jaw between his thumb and forefinger, having me meet his gaze. A hint of his magic was there, glittering amongst the intensity of what I saw in his eyes. Love, tenderness, and devotion all mixed together, emphasized by the slow brush of his fingertips up my cheek.

I hoped he saw the same emotions looking back, or maybe my moment of discovery as my breath caught. My heart just about burst. I understood now. This wasn’t just about feeling good. We were building something, entwining feelings just as much as our bodies. Once he took me, we would truly be mates, intimate partners as fate intended.

I tilted my head more into his touch, showing my submission with a peek at my throat. He already had my wings pinned under his weight, his own blocking out our surroundings. I was enveloped in him, but I ached to be filled by him too and mewled with that need.

It seemed he felt the same way. He took himself in hand and ran the crown of his cock through my slick one last time before pressing the wet tip where I needed him most. My pussy stretched as he sheathed himself in me one slow inch at a time. The pleasure was edged in a little pain from the size of him, yet oddly, that only made it feel more incredible.

He watched my reaction with a trembling breath. My expression become slack, lips parted on a gasp and then another needy noise when he paused, throbbing within me. With one last touch on my cheek, he guided my leg up and around his hip, and I mirrored with the other.

He withdrew, just to thrust back in at a slightly deeper angle. For a perfect moment, I was filled by him perfectly, just enough to satisfy my greedy pussy. I looped my arms around his shoulders, holding on to him as we rocked together in the dream nest.

He didn’t pound me into the blankets with his full strength, and I appreciated it. This was making love, sliding skin to skin for the rush of being in one another’s arms. We tried an open-mouthed kiss, panting, tongues dueling at the pace of his hips greeting mine.

The kiss was short-lived when little sounds fought to escape my lips from every change in sensation. He buried his face in my neck, soaking in my sounds with his ears cocked. He moaned and gasped too, but his reactions were understated compared to the symphony that spilled from me.

“That’s right, sweetheart. Let me hear you,” he said breathlessly.

When I moaned his name, it drew a shiver out to his wings. I cracked my eyes open, feeling a whole new surge of playful wickedness. I wanted to figure out everything he liked, to really press my thumbs into those spots to get him to come so hard he saw his own stars. Being vocal, not hiding my pleasure, and screaming his name felt like a good step one.

But I knew my inexperience when he played with my body like a fine instrument, touching me everywhere I needed him to. He licked my neck and pinched the skin there between his blunt teeth. My back began to arch, only bending more when he pressed my clit between two of his fingers. I came in a sudden blast, my eyes rolling back as my breath emerged in a choked gasp. “K-Kauz!”

He groaned and spilled his seed, grinding his hips against mine as it emerged in heated pulses deep in my pussy. I didn’t realize how much I’d love the sensation and how it prolonged my bliss to feel him come too. When he sagged with a satisfied sigh, his weight overtop me wasn’t too much, because I felt the same way. Boneless, blissed out, gratified.

No longer untouched. I didn’t think I’d ever look at my males the same way, knowing this was the kind of pleasure they’d wanted to share while we endured being pent up in a train together.

Kauz eventually shifted off me, lying back so I was on top of him instead. He played with a lock of my hair, his knowing smile having a new, intimate angle as I recovered in a daze of bliss.

Sensations that didn’t have anything to do with this dream returned—the softness of a pillow on my cheek and fabric bunched up against my chest. “I’m waking up,” I murmured, whimpering in denial.

“I didn’t realize this was just a nap. I almost lost you when you came,” he said in a light tease.

I soaked in the open affection in his gaze. If only this were my real nest, where we could continue to spend a leisurely afternoon in one another’s arms. He still had days of recovery sleep ahead of him. “I’ll come back tonight,” I promised.

“Please do. There’s so much more I have yet to show you. And remember…”

He switched to speaking Serian, saying his words in a devoted, lyrical hush. “Fate has bound us, forever in the depths of time. You are my Always, and I will return to you in due time.”

My eyes pricked, and I pressed my lips to his. That had to be the saying he’d drawn to go with the metalark, the mysterious detail he’d included with such care. Thinly disguised words of love that I hadn’t been ready to hear until this moment, after he’d set me free.

I faded out while kissing him and woke up with my lips firmly pressed into one of my pillows in some half-aware attempt to continue making out with my mate. I slumped into the divan with a mewl of denial. As incredible an experience as it was…it was still just a dream.