Page 67 of Forged By Malice (Beasts of the Briar #3)

66

Farron

S omehow, we find our way to my chambers, a trail of clothes in our wake. Everything else is lost to feverish kisses, hands in hair, and the drum of my heart against my ribs.

Dayton slams my door shut with his foot, his fingers busy on my face, then my neck, then my ribs. My chamber is lit with orange glowing orbs that hover in the corners, casting dusky light throughout the room. The true fading sunlight is concealed by heavy curtains.

We’ve both lost all our clothes by this point. I run my hand over his sun-kissed skin, marveling at the patchwork of scars over his chest, how they only make him more beautiful.

The bed is too far, so we collapse on my large chaise, the one right beside the bookshelf. Rosie and I have spent several nights cuddled up on it together, forgetting the world.

And that’s what I want to do now.

Forget all the things that tear at my mind, that steal the joy and replace it with fear.

I won’t let that happen to me tonight. Dayton won’t let it.

He collapses on the chaise, arms spread over the back and legs far apart. He grins up at me like a king. His cock bobs triumphantly.

A growl rushes up my throat, and I slam my body against his, pressing our cocks together. His salty sweet skin is as addictive as a drug, and my teeth nip at his throat.

He laughs and pulls me back by my hair to steal a kiss from my lips. “Tell me what you want, Pup,” he murmurs when we finally pull away.

“I want to take you in a way no one else has,” I breathe.

His eyes shine. “I want to give you that.”

Elation surges through my chest, and a genuine smile appears on my face. This … This is safety. This is home.

“Let’s take it slow, yeah?” Dayton says. “I want to enjoy every piece of you tonight.”

We fall back together on the chaise, me on his chest, and we take it slow. Kisses long and languishing. Hands feeling skin as if for the first time. His hard length presses against my stomach, and bursts of nervous anticipation bubble through me, even though it’s Dayton. My Day.

We spin so we’re both lying on the chaise, arms wrapped tight together. Needing to be closer, I press my leg over his hip. I can see it all in my mind’s eye as we kiss: the sand and sea, long days spent in the Summer Realm, that cocky grin that turned so serious when I showed him too much of my heart. I knew it, I think. We’ve always been that special time between the turn of summer to fall when the leaves change as bright as the beaming sun that hasn’t yet been chased away.

How’d we end up here? A cursed castle, our realms in disarray, a demon lurking at our doorstep.

And yet … Would I trade it? It brought him to me. Brought me Rose.

“Doesn’t it matter to you?” he says slowly.

I turn to look at him, his blue eyes shimmering like a sea before a storm. So much emotion bubbling beneath the surface. I graze his jaw with the back of my knuckles. “What matters, Day?”

“That Rosie and I aren’t mates. She was… disappointed, I think. But you haven’t said anything.”

“Who says you’re not mates?”

He gives a humorless chuckle. “If there was a bond there, it would have awoken already with how much we’ve been through. With how much I—” His voice cracks. “With how much I love her.”

I sit back and stare at the man below me. A year ago, would I think this man a stranger? Physically, he’s the same, long golden hair splayed around his chiseled face, the cord of muscles in his chest, those plush lips. But the vulnerability etched into his features, the words of love so easily offered on his lips… That is all new.

No, I decide. I would know him anywhere. I always knew this version Dayton lived within him though he only showed me fractured glimpses of it through all the long years.

“No, Daytonales, it doesn’t matter to me.”

He shakes his head. “Why not?”

“Because this is something I can actually prove. When we make love, when we made love with Rosie, when Rosie speaks of being with you—it’s different than anything I’ve experienced before. It’s magic. It’s enchanted. It’s golden.”

Dayton doesn’t say anything, but shimmering tears pool in his eyes.

“You’ve always been mine. Mine to chase. Mine to love. Mine to lose.” I kiss him softly. “And I’m not going to let that happen. I’m never going to lose you.”

“Fare,” he says, “we can’t control the fate of the stars.”

“Who says we can’t?” A growl ripples through my words. “I know in my heart, in everything I am, that you belong with Rosie and me. And damn, I hope the stars are watching because I’m going to show them how much.”

He pulls me into a devastating kiss. “Finally, something I know how to do.”

He grabs for my cock, running a firm thumb from base to tip, then sits up, dragging me with him.

I suck in a deep inhale and emulate his stance from before, arms out, legs spread. He sinks to his knees before me. I’m reminded of the legend of sirens peering up from the ocean, ready to ensnare sailors.

I would gladly sink to the bottom of his sea.

“Oh Day,” I say, a rough edge to my voice that sounds foreign to even me.

Dayton never takes his eyes off me as he engulfs me entirely. I groan, hands grasping for purchase on the chaise. Ecstasy ripples up my core.

He pulls back, and I expect to see that self-satisfied look on his face. But there’s something else.

Devotion.

So slowly, he laps the head of my cock, his teal gaze shining. His tongue runs over my pearling tip, and he groans. I close my eyes, the sight too fucking beautiful to bear.

“Deeper,” I grunt. I feel his mouth curve into a smile. “Good boy.”

Fire shoots through my body as he sucks me into his throat. I grip his hair and rock my hips. His mouth is so fucking good, it would be easy to lose myself here.

“Hold on.” I push on his forehead, so I don’t accidentally fill his entire mouth.

Now, that arrogant grin is back. He cups my balls and gives them a playful tug. “Are the lips of the Summer Prince too much for you?”

I grab his chin and pull him up to eye level. “Yes. And I’m saving every last drop of cum for your ass.”

A flush colors Dayton’s cheeks. “Yes, sir,” he purrs.

“Go get the oil. You know where it is.”

I stroke my cock slowly as Dayton gets up and walks to the end table. The view of his round ass is positively exquisite.

When he returns, I kneel down at the end of the chaise. “Lie down before me,” I order. I’m not sure where this person came from who freely orders the Prince of Summer around, but I like him.

And so does Dayton. He bites his lower lip and cups his balls up toward his huge cock, then lies before me, facing up. He’s like a slab of marble, and I can’t wait to start carving.

I dip two fingers into the vial of oil then gently spread Dayton’s legs, revealing his glorious cock and entrance.

“We’ll take this easy. You’ll lead the way—if it gets too much, say the word and we stop,” I tell him.

Dayton raises an eyebrow. “I’m a gladiator of the Sun Colosseum. I can take anything you give me, Pup.”

“We’ll see.” I grin back at him. My slick fingers rub circles around his entrance, and he groans. His hips buck upward as he pushes against my hand, asking for more.

“Slow down,” I chide. “We’re taking things slow, remember?”

His smile is like the sun. “I’ve never had any control around you, Fare.”

I smile back, but it’s not the truth. He’s had lots of control around me: every night he left to sleep alone, all the times he kept his feelings hidden.

But now, he’s fully giving me his trust.

My fingers slowly begin to dip in and out of him. “You feel so good, Day.”

He only moans, arching his back and vigorously pumping his cock a few times. The sight makes my own length twitch with need.

I slip one finger in deeper now, getting him used to the feeling of fullness. “How is that?”

“More,” he groans. “I want more of you.”

I suck in a breath and inch my other finger in. Fuck, he’s so gorgeous, this gladiator with my fingers curled in his ass, holding him at my mercy. His eyes shine with a taunt. I begin to pump my hand in and out, in and out.

“Fuck, yes, Fare. Fuck.”

I grip his length with my other hand, simultaneously pumping cock and ass.

“Does this feel good?” I ask, my voice a raspy breath.

He pushes hard against me. “You have no idea.”

“I do, actually.” I laugh.

Then he sits up on his elbows. “I need you now, Fare. Fuck me.” Then he smiles. “No … Make love to me.”

I can barely breathe, my heart near beating out of my chest. I pull my fingers free and lean over him, capturing his mouth in a kiss. Then I position my hardness at his entrance. “Ready?”

“So ready,” he says, and it seems to mean so much more than just this moment.

Inch by precious inch, I drive into Dayton’s ass. His body feels made for my cock, hugging me so tight, each movement has me shuddering with ecstasy.

Dayton grabs my hips and guides me further, deeper. My name is a helpless moan on his lips.

When I’m fully sheathed inside him, we blink at each other. “Well?” I whisper.

“I told you,” he says. “I’m yours.”

And so, I take him. Our bodies move like a single entity, rocking together as if we’ve done this a thousand times before. And yet my heart sings in a way that celebrates this as the first time. Something Dayton has gifted me alone.

“How are you doing?” I manage among my pants and groans.

“You’ve got the cock of a god,” he growls. “I love being stuffed full of this godly cock.”

His praise makes me fuck him harder. I lift his leg over my shoulder, revealing a glimpse of his plump ass cheek. I smack it. Dayton half-growls, half-laughs, then grabs my hips and plunges me deeper into him. We both cry out.

Then with a roar, he flips us over so I’m on my back. He positions himself on top. With a hungry gaze, he drives his ass down on to my shaft, plunging me deeper in him than I’ve ever been. My mind turns to haze, clouds of lust and elation falling over me.

“This is your ass,” Dayton says, voice gravelly. “I’m giving it to you. Watch your cock fill me up.”

He pops himself right to the tip of my shining head, then slowly inches himself down. His scorching tunnel engulfs my entire length, all the way to my balls, and I can hardly keep my eyes from rolling back into my head.

Dayton grips his base, squeezing. “You’re too much, Fare. I can’t take this much longer.”

I run a hand down his chest, voice pleading. “Come with me.”

“Where?”

“All over me,” I breathe.

A feral glint possesses his gaze. “Are you ready to fill my ass, Pup? I want your cum dripping out of me. Hold nothing back.”

“It’s all for you.”

He closes his eyes and smiles. And then he moves like a man driven to madness: his ass bounces up and down on my hardness as if getting my cum is his only mission in this world.

And maybe for this moment, it is.

His warm sheath tugging against my head is enough to send me spiraling. I cry out, “Come with me!” Before entirely losing myself. My release spurts out of me as my cock contracts. Dayton’s ass tightens around me, and he groans. Cum gushes from his cock, painting my chest.

My orgasm roils through me a moment more; faults in the earth, cracking before settling anew. Dayton collapses on the chaise beside me, arm thrown over my belly.

“We should have done that ages ago,” he murmurs.

I play with a strand of his hair. “You weren’t ready.”

Our gaze meets, and he offers me a smile. “I’m ready now.”

Again, it feels like so much more.

We take our time cleaning up. As I emerge from my ensuite bath, now dressed in a fluffy robe, a part of me wonders if Dayton will still be here.

But he’s waiting for me on the bed, hair wet, and that same smile on his face. Not the arrogant one, but the other one. The devoted one.

And I realize … I’m not surprised he’s still here.

I knew.

“It’s almost night,” he says.

I drop my robe, and feel for that reserve of magic, that one that now has a permanent spot within me. The one that guides and protects. My body shifts until I’m on all fours, now in the shape of the Autumn wolf. “I know.”

Dayton stands. His body shimmers. Those blue eyes stay, but the rest changes into the golden wolf of Summer.

I trot over to him and nuzzle against his snout. “Are you going to leave?”

“No.” He lies down, but his gaze stays trained on me. “I met a couple people who taught me to stop running away from everything.”

I nestle beside him. “They must be really great.”

“Yeah.” His voice grows low and sleepy. “They’re pretty much the best people I know.”

And as Dayton drifts off to sleep, I hope he knows: I think the same about him.