Page 12 of His Dark Delights

Upon going outside to fetch him for dinner, I found Ren waiting with one of the spare quilts over his arm and a dashing smile on his face, highlighted by the pale glow of the full moon.

“What are you doing?”

“Let’s dine under the stars. Out in the flowers you love so much.” He jerked his head over his shoulder toward the unlit meadow, rippling like waves in the dusk breeze.

“Alright.” I smiled widely, moved by his consideration. Nearly floating, I joined Ren in taking everything we needed out into the flowers. He laid out the quilt near the creek and I unpacked the soup and bread.

The bubbling creek and chirping crickets made a chorus, a testament to the charm of night. Under silver winking stars in a dark blue sky, settled among the wavering wildflowers, I felt at ease with my knight and his company.

“I’m only vaguely familiar with this region,” Ren began after a few bites. “I’m assuming there’s a village nearby where you restock on supplies?”

“There is, yes.”

“Would they have any spare horses?” That one simple question unraveled my insides into a squirming puddle.

“It’s a small, simple village, but I imagine they would.” I set my bowl to the side and picked at the crust of my bread.

“You don’t sound sure. Do you go into the village often?”

“Not really. My father was always the one who went into town to trade and get supplies. I’ve gone a few times since his passing, but—” I cut myself off, eyeing a swaying blue flower.

“You prefer life on the farm? Out here alone?” he probed.

“Yes. It suits me well.” Half-lie and half-truth. I preferred the farm, not the loneliness. But it kept me safe.

Ren reached out and placed a hand tentatively on my knee. “You could have more than this if you wanted it. I see more in you. A natural elegance that begs to be admired.”

If I’d had soup in my mouth, I would have spit it out. Instead, I giggled nervously. Under his serious gaze, I snickered harder. I didn’t know why, but the laughter bubbled unrelenting past my lips.

“You see grandeur in a farm girl? You must have a head injury I missed.”

Ren shrugged, lips pulling up as if my laughter affected him. “Or just wishful thinking.”

I flopped back on the blanket, flowers circling my vision. Idly reaching out, I cradled a delicate pink bud, tracing the petals with the tip of my finger. “Yes, call me Queen Lilliana of the Farm.”

Without warning, a hard, feverish body rolled on top of mine, knocking a gasp from my chest. Ren considered the flower in my hand and shook his head. He peered down at me with a heart-rending smirk. “Hm, how about the Queen of Flowers?”

That was a bit too close to my heritage, and it sounded blasphemous to hear those words on his lips. Yet I wanted to taste the sin of that statement and poison my tongue all the same.

“And you can be my Knight of Flowers. But how will you show reverence to your queen?” My tone dipped, becoming low and sultry. Tingling heat flushed through my core where his groin pressed into me.

Ren dipped his face until we breathed the same air, and electric tension danced over our lips. He rocked his hips forward, grinding his growing hardness against my softest spot. I parted my legs, and he smoothed a hand along the outside of my leg, shoving up my dress.

His hot breath fanned my mouth, and I tipped my chin up, seeking his lips. A devious smile kicked up his mouth as he paid attention to that action. “Oh, I can think of many ways to show you fealty, My Queen. Would it please you to be the center of my adoration?”

“Yes, yes, please,” I begged and squirmed, hating the fabric of his trousers keeping us apart.

His wandering hand finished shoving my skirts around my waist, then slipped between our bodies.

His palm cupped my slick pussy, absent of underwear after he’d taken them earlier in the day.

That made it easy for his central finger to glide along my slit, teasing me and making me want to writhe out of my skin.

“Then say that you will be mine.” His voice was ragged, hopeful, and desperate.

“I… I can’t,” I whined, tears pricking at my eyes.

Ren dropped his forehead against mine, and his breath shuddered through him. “Lilly, please,” he pleaded. “I must have you.”

I turned my head, holding myself still and fighting the urge to rock myself against his hand. The first tear slipped free. “You fight in a war I am opposed to. I cannot be yours.”

That unbidden response froze Ren. He stilled, becoming as cold and unmoving as ice in the bleak midwinter. A low growl rumbled through him. “I fight a war with grand purpose.”

“There is no purpose in war. It’s only an excuse for men to engage in acts of cruelty. The fae don’t deserve what the Butcher will do to them.”

“You don’t know what reasons the king has for this war. You wouldn’t understand.” Ren scoffed before rolling off me and thumping onto the blanket at my side.

I bit back a sob and subtly pushed my dress back over my thighs. Ren didn’t seem to notice with his eyes on the sky and the pale moon. He plucked a flower and twirled the stem between his fingers.

“Do you believe all fae should die, then?” I forced the burning question from my raw throat.

“Yes,” he ground out through a tight jaw. He crushed the flower in his large hand. More tears flooded down my cheeks at the flower’s demise, like a thread severed from my soul. “Filthy, savage, magical beasts. They’ve gotten away with killing humans for too long. It’s time for mankind’s revenge.”

A soft whine vented through my lips before I could catch it and reel it back in.

Ren whipped his head around, noting my glistening cheeks under the starlight. He rolled onto his side, supporting himself with his elbow. With a nimble hand, he caught my chin, forcing me to meet his urgent stare. “Why do you weep, Lilly?”

I wanted to beg him not to kill me because I had feelings for him—burdensome, agonizing feelings I shouldn’t have. Instead, I said, “I do not revel in the death of any living creature, Ren. It’s barbarous and wrong.”

“I’m sorry, my lady.” He closed his eyes and dipped his head to mine again.

“I don’t mean to upset you with talk of war and death.

I meant for this night to be one of passion.

Let me distract you from these sorrows.” Then he was on me again, crushing his soft lips to mine as if plundering my troubles .

I didn’t stop Ren when he kissed me, when he hooked his fingers into my laces and untied my dress, or when he grabbed my hips and maneuvered me onto my hands and knees.

I became lost in the sensation of his warm palms greedily swiping over my skin and feeling every soft place on my body.

His hands smoothed over my sides to fondle my swaying breasts, then alongside my back, where he carefully traced my spine.

Every brief touch and spark of pleasure helped erase the panicked anxiety worming a hole in my chest.

I needed Ren’s hands, his lips, his heat, his smell, and his cock to drive away the bristling emotions within me. I wanted to forget what I was and what the knight might do if he knew the truth. I needed to relent to the ecstasy that we found in one another’s arms.

My heart weighed heavily on the back of my tongue, and I swallowed it down. I focused on the pulsating need between my thighs and wiggled my hips against the hardness in Ren’s trousers, desperate to be filled and find relief from my thoughts.

I breathed in the aroma of flowers and picked up the heady scent of desire threaded through the crisp night air. Tears brimmed in my eyes, and I closed them against the unwanted onslaught of emotions.

I heard the soft rustling of Ren tugging himself free of his clothing, and anticipation quivered through my sex.

He palmed my bottom, groaning with male delight at the sight of my body, prone and eager beneath him.

His thumbs fell into place over my bottom as he latched onto my hips.

“I love the dimples above your gorgeously round ass. It’s like your body is showing me exactly where to hold you. ”

“Please,” I whispered, rocking my hips back and bumping into his erection.

“Fuck,” he gritted through his teeth. Then he folded himself over me, his chest flush with my back. He hooked an arm forward and collared my throat with one large palm. It wasn’t enough to cut off my air, just enough pressure to show me he was in control.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ren bucked his hips and his cock slid across my pussy, delicately parting my lips open.

He ground his length through my sticky arousal until it coated his cock.

Then his thick, heavy length plunged into my entrance, and a sharp inhale on my lips morphed into an extended moan.

His hand on my neck caressed along my body, groping my breast, memorizing the feel of my tensing stomach, then landed between my thighs.

Two central fingers dipped low, finding my clit and strumming it.

My heart shuddered through my chest and pulsed through my core.

He belted his other arm around my ribs, right under my breasts as he pounded into me. With each snap of his flesh against mine, I relished his storm of passion and lust-driven need. The erotic sounds of sex filled the meadow, joined with his low groans and my broken gasps.

The entire time Ren thrusted into me, tears streamed down my face and my hands fisted in the blanket.

My pathetic noises flit between cries of ecstasy and something like a stuttered sob.

But I forgot why I wept, swept up in the tornado of thrilling sensations in my body.

His cock stretched me out, pummeling into me, and his skilled hands made quick work of my clit.

“Ren, ah, I’m… Ren, I’m going to—”

His chest heaved against my back and his breath blew hot and furious against my neck. “Fuck, are you coming already, Lilly?”