Page 26 of His Dark Delights

Ren

My good girl. Such a good girl for me. Just as I knew she would be.

Sitting perfectly still, so pretty, so demure, in my lap.

Letting me pet and stroke her, letting me pleasure her.

Gods, all I wanted was her pleasure. Her breathless sighs and the flutters of her tight, wet cunt were addictive, drugging, utterly intoxicating.

The subtle floral scents of her skin, the silky curls of her coppery pink hair, the smooth skin of her neck begging for my mouth—

Lilly wove her web in my mind, stringing nothing but thoughts of her from one side of my skull to the next. She’d so wholly ensnared me there would be no escaping my obsession with her. Like a garden taking root in my chest and weaving her vines through my ribcage. I would rot without her .

As Rhydan and I left the dining hall, I could still taste her on my tongue. A quick fix to smooth the serrated edges of my addiction. Her honeysuckle flavor coated the inside of my mouth, and I rolled my tongue against my teeth, starving for another bite.

The echo of the night’s conversation and the clink and scrape of utensils faded behind us, dampened by the thuds of our boots on marble floors.

Cecily’s reproachful words rang in my ears, her disapproval as potent as ever.

Rhydan’s presence at my side steadied me, distracting me from the whirling thoughts relentlessly drawing me back to Lilliana.

“New intel reports the Fae Wild might be hidden somewhere southwest of the Angfern Mountains,” Rhydan was saying, his voice occasionally slipping through my chaotic thoughts. “I think that’s why the fae prince ambushed you in the Mistwood. It was too close to home for their comfort.”

His words washed over me as cold as a winter downpour. The heart of my thoughts remained anchored to the memory of Lilly coming on my lap, my fingers, at diner, but my friend’s words breached through like the clap of distant thunder.

“The spies I sent scouting heard a rumor from locals that there might be an entrance into the Fae Wild in the valley beneath the Angferns. But we need more than rumors and local legends to go on, Ren.”

I absently nodded, recalling Lilly’s hips in that dress.

She looked like a real noble lady. The natural elegance and grace she had exuded on the farm translated perfectly into palace life.

And her presence at dinner had been a balm on my frustrations of the day.

She sat so pretty and perfect, like a doll for me to use and tease and please.

“Soren, are you even listening to me?”

Jerked from my musing, I cleared my throat and blinked at my closest friend. “Of course. And you’re right. We need more than whispers to find their nest of debauchery. Strike the heart of the fae, kill their leader, and the hive will fall apart.”

“You said that about Oberyn,” he teased.

“Well, how was I supposed to know their bloody queen would take up his mantle in his place? The prince, now that I expected. But this nymph queen is clever. Better with strategy than Oberyn ever was.”

Rhydan chuckled, a conspiratorial sound as he glanced around the empty hall. “You know, I’ve heard that nymphs have otherworldly beauty—”

I scoffed. “That’s part of their allure to lull you into a sense of complacency. Enhanced beauty meant to manipulate poor fools.”

“Oh, don’t apply tactics and morality to sex, my friend.” Rhydan slapped me on the shoulder, and I rolled my eyes. “Nymphs have indomitably strong sexualities. More than any other type of fae. Their hyper sexuality is the stuff of legends.”

I chuckled, the sound almost hollow. “Do you want to fuck the fairy queen? I’d consider it treason.”

“Gods, no, could you imagine?” Rhydan swallowed, gaze darting back to the marble beneath our feet as we descended the stairs to the lower levels. “Anyway, I heard that flower nymphs’ bodily fluids had aphrodisiac effects.”

“Is that so?” An interesting concept. Though I cringed to think of how many mortal men fell for that biological trick over the centuries .

“Creatures of pure seductive magnetism, my friend.” Then his voice became carefully neutral. “Speaking of seduction—” I groaned, “—I saw what you did to the girl. Not exactly a gentleman’s finest.”

“I won’t explain myself to you,” I gritted out. “I need her, and she needs me. She’s mine.”

He held up his hands. “Alright, Ren. I’m not going to take her from you.

Gods. All I’m saying is that she’s frightened here.

Understandably so. You remember your first days in the palace weren’t exactly pleasant.

And if you care for her, as much as you say you do, then show her that. Don’t scare her off.”

“I don’t need advice from you. You’re a rake and a bastard as much as any other.”

He shrugged it off. “Fair enough.”

The castle halls grew darker, narrowing as we sunk into the underbelly of the palace. Flickering torchlight cast warped shadows on the stone walls that appeared more black than blue the deeper we went. My fury returned and my resolve hardened as we approached the entrance to the dungeon.

“I still can’t believe you let him hurt her,” I said, half-accusing.

Rhydan bristled. “I didn’t let him do anything. As I told you earlier, he rode up to her first. He was the closest and snatched at her before I could stop him. I took responsibility for her when she fell.”

“It shouldn’t have happened at all!”

“Tell him that.” He nodded at the heavyset door.

“I’ll stand by you, Soren. You know that.

” Rhydan was a comfort in the labyrinth of shadows.

My childhood friend, a brother in all but blood, and the only soul within those treacherous walls I implicitly trusted.

Though his expression was grim, he set his expression with the same determination that burned within me, a shared resolve to see justice done.

With a last glance at the dim lights of the hall behind us, I pushed open the dungeon door.

Each step was a thunderclap in the silence, reverberating through the narrow passageway as though the very walls bore witness to the dark purpose of my visit.

The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and despair, a miasma that clung to the skin and seeped into the soul.

My rage intensified as we sent the guards away, summoned by the memory of Lilly’s injury and what was done to her. Guilt accompanied that anger, fueling the fires within me. If I had been there, it wouldn’t have happened at all.

“Gerald is one dumb horse faced ass. We’ve dealt with worse than him before,” Rhydan said. “And he should have known better than to lay a hand on a woman.”

My stomach dropped and my teeth ground together as the image of Lilly’s bruised chin flashed behind my eyes. A storm of fury and regret morphed into a raging inferno within me. My summons, my desperation, had put her in the hand of harm I sought to protect her from. I had failed her.

“Gerald will pay for what he’s done.” And perhaps I’d find absolution by the end of the night.

The dungeon loomed ahead, a fortress of iron bars and cold stone that seemed to pulse with malevolent intent.

Darkness was absolute, a suffocating void broken only by the dim glow of torches lining the walls.

The air was frigid; the chill seeping into my bones as I stepped into the heart of the prison, a place where hope came to die.

Gerald awaited us there, shackled and alone, his arrogance stripped away by the chains that bound him.

He looked up as we entered, his eyes narrowing with a mix of defiance and fear. “Your Majesty,” he sneered, though the bravado in his voice was hollow. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

My gaze was as cold as the stone beneath my feet as I regarded him, the man who had dared to harm Lilly. “You know why I am here, Gerald,” I replied, my voice low and dangerous. “You have committed an unforgivable crime. You’ve insulted me by damaging something valuable to me.”

He spat at my feet. “You asked for the girl. I made sure she complied.”

“You took liberties that were not yours to take. She is mine!”

Gerald scoffed, his lip curling. “She’s just a farm girl. Nobody. Oh sure, a pretty one, but a hole is a hole.”

My facade of discipline shattered as my hand struck out, knuckles connecting with his jaw. The force of the blow vibrated up my arm, only providing the momentum for me to strike again.

“You will not speak of her. You will not blaspheme her!” Another punch cracked through the dungeon. “Scum like you aren’t worthy to even be in her presence.”

I struck again.

And again. And again.

Rhydan’s hand fell on my shoulder, a silent reminder to show restraint. Not even his support could not quell the tempest of fury within me.

Face black and blue, streaked with rivulets of blood, Gerald glared up with. “Some poor whore is enough for you to beat your own men?”

“You are no man of mine.” I turned to Rhydan, my voice steady yet demanding. “Leave us. This is between me and him.”

Rhydan hesitated, loyalty warring with his sense of honor. But he nodded and backed off. His footsteps faded toward the stairs, leaving me alone with the heap of garbage.

The silence between us was a living thing. The dungeon breathing with dark anticipation. Inhales of frigid air and exhales of damp rot.

“I’ve spent my life in service of the crown,” Gerald barked, an edge of nervousness rising in his tone.

My hand shot out, collaring his throat and slamming him against the wall. “Then consider your service rendered.”

He glared at me, hatred burning in his eyes, but a flicker of despair betrayed the realization that his fate was sealed.

The chains rattled, metal clinked on stone, reverberating through the hostile shadows.

A sniffle clogged in his throat as I turned away to methodically remove my overcoat and meticulously rolled up my sleeves.

Gerald kicked uselessly at the ground, attempting to scamper away like a mouse cornered by a lion.

Prey and predator, confined in the damp earthen walls beneath the palace. Trapped in the dark underbelly of royal opulence and facing down the jaws of a beast. He soiled himself, making the cramped space reek further. Disgusting, weak creature. An embarrassment to the might of Elleslan’s forces.

“You think your innocent little farm girl will want you after this?” A last attempt to sway me.

“It doesn’t matter. She’s mine.”

A monster of claws and primal hunger exploded from my chest. The thing of primordial rage flowed outward, seizing hold of my willpower and thrusting me into a world of red and blood and bones. A mask slipped over my expression, stoney resolve and ice-cold determination. Darkness claimed me.

The room echoed with the crunch of bone, the splatter of blood, the whimpers of pain and the sniveling for mercy that wouldn’t come.

A baying beast of malice curled through me, twisting my insides and turning me into something unrecognizable.

Pure vitriol poured from my lips as I degraded and brutalized the man chained to the wall.

Each heavy hit from my blood-smeared knuckles signified another beacon of retribution for the wrong done to Lilly.

Lilly. Lilly. Lilly .

How dare he hurt her. He laid a hand on her. He marred something precious that didn’t belong to him. He would die and I would revel in it.

Crimson dappled the front of my shirt. Ruby droplets splashed across my face with each blow.

Perspiration coated my brows, my hair stuck to my forehead with blood and sweat.

Red dripped into my eyes and down my chin as my fist crunched and shlicked in the gruesome work of art I sculpted.

A spray of viscera accompanied a choked gurgle.

Gerald’s legs twitched, his back bowing and his muscles seizing as the life ripped from his body.

A swing and a miss. I stumbled as fatigue weighed my limbs and blood obscured my vision. On my knees, chest heaving, I stared at the butchered cadaver draped from the chains like a macabre curtain of shredded flesh and sinew.

Butchered.

That’s what the people wanted. The Butcher. I could give them that. Except this man hadn’t been a fae. He’d been a soldier within my ranks. That hadn’t mattered when it came to the safety of my Lilly— mine .

Moments, hours, passed before I dragged myself off the floor and turned away, leaving the corpse to rot in the darkness. The dungeon door banged shut behind me, and Rhydan kicked off the opposite wall. He grimaced from one look at me.

“It’s done, then?”

Words were thick on my tongue, rasping up my dry throat. Raw from hours of shouting. He accepted a swift nod as my answer.

He clapped a hand on my shoulder before snatching it back and wiping his sticky palm off. My friend handed me the handkerchief from his front pocket, and I wordlessly accepted it.

“You did what you needed to do,” he said.

I nodded again, though it hadn’t brought the satisfaction I sought.

I needed more. More than to punish the man who harmed Lilly.

I needed her. To find the solace I longed for within her embrace.

My friend and I broke apart for the night, and a mad frenzy fueled me, driving me across the imposing fortress of the palace in search of consolation.