Page 18 of Monster’s Consort (Blackthorn Academy for Supernaturals #18)

Bane

It had been nearly a week since Desmond had arrived at the castle, and nearly a week since we’d all made the trip into town and spent our afternoon and evening at Cheeky’s.

Violet and myself had been busy with our courses, between meals, and had not been able to steal as much time as we’d wished. It seemed the only time we were able to steal away was after breakfast and dinner with our friends.

Which wouldn’t have been so terrible in itself if I could have spent my courses alone, but...

It appeared that Amaranth and the O’Neil’s thought Desmond should spend more time with me.

My excitement was short-lived. Sure, it was a good indication perhaps I would be confirmed.

I didn’t think the queen or her frienemies would be sage enough to order Desmond in my presence if they did not think the alliance was beneficial in some way, and if there truly was a treaty, what better PR was there than to form some sort of friendship with the man?

But Desmond was annoying at best. He’d been subjected to learning the things I was, and it was clear he was already well-versed. Which made him cocky. He constantly tried to step in and tell me, or teach me, and I did not wish to learn from him. I barely wanted to learn from Fergy.

“You do know how to swim, right?” he asked as we sauntered down the hall.

Today was especially hot, and as such, the queen had relented and ordered a respite for us while she and Violet spent the afternoon together.

We hadn’t spoken of Desmond’s confession, though I was curious.

An incubus’s heat was tantamount to their development.

I’d never met another incubus who hadn’t gone through one, and I was fascinated at the thought.

I remembered how maddening my heat was and the months leading up to it.

Did Desmond suffer the prevalent wet dreams?

Was his knot bordering on painful damn near all the time?

If so, how could the man walk with a straight face?

How was he not sequestered in his room, coming multiple times a day?

How could he walk around like everything was fine?

“Of course, I can swim,” I said. “I just don’t like the water.”

“What don’t you like?” he asked casually.

Though the man annoyed me most of the time, when he wasn’t trying to tell me all the things I was doing wrong, I didn’t dislike our casual conversations.

“For starters, there are deadly things in the water,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “Sharks. Poisonous fish.”

“Sirens?” Desmond said, flashing his bright purple peepers at me.

In many ways, he seemed younger than twenty. But in other ways, he seemed older than the rest of us. I rationed growing up with parents who famously pushed out their neighboring kingdom would do that to a person.

“Yes, the deadly siren will be present today, won’t she?” I drawled.

Desmond chuckled. “What, uh, happened between you two?”

I didn’t give much thought to my situationship with Wanda. It happened. She used me, the same way everyone else did and at the time, I’d felt slighted, but only because I wanted more than to be appreciated for what wasn’t even a skill, but just who I was as a monster.

I didn’t want more with her, I just…

Wanted to be enough for someone. And then Anne came into my life, and that ended terribly, and then she died, and...

“Wanda decided she preferred pussy to my knot.” I shrugged. “I didn’t really care. I knew when we started messing around it wasn’t going to last. I knew her reputation.”

The air was tense, thick with awkwardness as we rounded the stairs toward the back.

“What...” Desmond cleared his throat. “What was it... like?” he asked carefully.

“What was what like? You’re going to have to be a little more specific, Dezzy.”

He scowled at me, but did not correct me. It was the one attack I had that irritated the piss out of him, but now that everyone had taken to calling him Dezzy, he was less obliged to argue with any of us. Secretly, I think he liked it.

“Sex. With a siren?” He blinked. “Or rather... sex... period?”

The way he asked was almost clinical. Like he truly didn’t know how things worked, or how it was supposed to work. But I guessed that was par for the course. He hadn’t experienced heat, so he hadn’t been driven by the madness to fuck until he couldn’t see straight yet.

“With Wanda? It was... okay, I guess. I mean, creatures with lust magic, it’s just part of the package, you know? It’s wild at first, when you go into heat, but the more you do it, it just kind of loses its spark.”

“You grow bored?” he asked.

“Not bored, just... it’s like eating the same meal every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It fills you, but eventually, the taste is just expected, and there’s no excitement in it. But it does its purpose. It sates you enough that you can live.”

“So, I am not missing much, then.” His shoulders slumped.

“Oh no, you’re missing out,” I said, and he scowled. “But you’ll get there. Some day. Your heat will come.”

“I’m not so certain it will, but I appreciate your trying to make me feel better.”

I stopped as I realized I did indeed feel bad for the guy. The more I got to know Desmond, the more I realized he was not anything like I had expected. His parents may have been involved in Violet’s kidnapping, and that was still uncertain, but...

Desmond was curious. Smart. Cocky. But he was also naive and clueless.

“Do you, uh...” I reached a hand behind my head, knowing what I was about to ask would be awkward as hell.

“Do you come a lot?” I asked, and his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“What?” His cheeks reddened as he let out a heavy breath. He didn’t answer me.

“Des? Do you masturbate? Like at all?”

“Of course I do!” he barked. He was clearly flustered, but the tone of his voice was high-pitched.

“How often?” I asked, stopping just underneath the awning of the exit.

“That is none of your business!” he said, crossing his arms.

I held mine up in surrender. “I’m just asking because I want to help.” The words fell out of my mouth of their own accord.

I realized I did want to help Desmond, and that itself was just as frightening as asking the guy if he jerked off regularly.

His eyebrows furrowed and he bit his lip. For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to answer me, but he did.

“Once a week, I guess.”

“You guess. You don’t know?”

He twisted his lips. “It’s not like I keep track, Bane. I’m busy. I have things to do and?—”

“Your knot inflate?” I asked.

He turned to look over the hills, toward the ocean. “I...” He sucked in a breath. “I don’t usually let it get that far.”

“Why?” I asked with the utmost shock.

“Because I don’t want to knot my hand, Bane. I want?—”

“A person,” I said softly. I cleared my throat.

And I realized all at once why Desmond hasn’t gone into heat.

He was waiting.

For the right person to ignite it.

I’d never heard of such a phenomena except in those old gancanagh tales Laughlin taught in class. But I’d always thought it was just an edit of the old stories, meant to push a safe sex agenda on the students at Blackthorn. But...

I realized then, perhaps there was truth to the stories.

An incubus who wanted one sole source of heat. One person. One mate to ignite his spark and keep the flame hot for all eternity.

It was admirable, but it was also quite insane.

“Maybe you’ll find the right person at Blackthorn,” I offered.

Desmond eased up, nodding, but he didn’t smile. “Maybe.”

When we got to the beach, Wanda and Norman were already out in the water, which wasn’t surprising in the least, what with them being creatures of the sea. I took a seat on the sand and Desmond sat beside me.

“Do you know the Ocean of Lir has magical properties?” Desmond asked carefully.

I shook my head. The air was crisp and salty, and breathing it in was a balm to my soul.

“I’m not surprised since it’s faerie territory.”

“Some say swimming in it can show you your future.” He shrugged, sinking his feet into the sand.

“Unless you’re water-touched, of course,” he said.

“You don’t believe it?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Even if I did, why would I want to see my future? I already know what it is.” He said the words with sadness.

“What is that?” I asked, feeling strangely vulnerable. “What lies in your future Desmond O’Neil?”

“To break the line,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “Well, according to my father, my destiny is to be King of course.” His words were heavy.

“No queen?” I asked curiously.

“I’d have to get married first, Bane. And in order for that to happen, I’d have to find a woman who could ignite my heat, or at the very least... tolerate my predicament. ”

“You think they’d be put off because you are a virgin?” I asked as Desmond chewed on his lip.

“I’m a virginal incubus who hasn’t gone into heat, Bane. If that is not a sorry excuse for a prince, I do not know what is.”

“Sex isn’t everything, Desmond. There is more to a relationship than?—”

“Says the incubus who has claimed a mate and is on track to being a consort. ”

He turned his gaze on me and I could see the jealousy there. His eyes glistened red for a moment and I swore I saw his monster shake beneath the surface, but he stuffed it down.

“All I’m saying is we’re more than just objects of desire.” My words were heavy between us with the weight of the truth.

I’d thought such things for years, but it wasn’t until I met Violet, that I’d truly felt that desire, that hope that someone could want me for more than my incubus charms and my cursed cock.

He shook his head. “I’d be lucky to find a consort, but unless I go into heat...”

I watched his shoulders slump.

“I need my heat to come,” he said solidly. “Without it, I will never have a consort. I will never have the chance to marry, and I will never have the chance to have an heir, and...” He slid his hand through his hair, shaking his head.

“Without your heat, you can’t be king,” I said as the truth fell out of my mouth.

“Precisely.”