Page 19 of Queen of Ever (Curse of Fate and Fae #2)

Chapter 19

Imogen

T he following morning was surprisingly warm, and after a restless night, the prospect of some sunshine to clear the fog from my mind enticed me outdoors to a small, circular courtyard close to the Seelie quarters. It was about as well kept as the rest of the castle with crumbling pavers and chunks of fallen stone where a wall had slumped completely to the floor, but there was a fountain in the centre and wildflowers pushing through the cracked stone.

The fountain was large, with tarnished gold veins and chipped carvings that were so faded with age they were impossible to make out, and it had a wide rim that made a perfect seat in the sun. I was glad to find it quiet. The Seelie courtiers had started to whisper about me, and they weren’t exactly subtle. When I entered a room, they would stop talking or tilt their heads a little closer together and drop their voices, but their eyes followed me still. Maybe it was because of my murky relationship with Solas. I was sure I’d been seen attempting to slap him at the feast, so maybe they were all just trying to figure out whether we really were engaged after all. It would have been a relief if any of them would have just asked me outright so I could at least have the chance to deny it.

Or maybe Tarian and I hadn’t been as discreet as we thought. I flicked at the water in the bowl of the fountain, watching the sun catch the spray of droplets. I just wanted this conclave to be over.

‘Why are you sitting out here all alone?’

I turned my head to see Solas standing nearby, watching me. Who knew how long he’d been there. I’d been so lost in my own thoughts I hadn’t even heard him approach. Given our last exchange, I expected him to be angry, but instead he seemed perfectly calm, even offering me a smile. But it didn’t reach his eyes. It already had me feeling like he had calculated his next three moves and as usual, I was left wondering what game we were playing and hoping I could keep up.

‘Marietta had something to do,’ I said. She hadn’t told me what that was, exactly, but I’d wanted some time to myself, so I hadn’t pressed her about it. She’d been gone an unusually long time, though. But I withheld that detail. Solas certainly didn’t need to know.

‘You’re not making friends with the other courtiers?’

From the tone of his voice, I gathered he wanted me to. No doubt the more ties I had to the Seelie Kingdom, the better for him. But on the whole, the courtiers at this conclave were not people I wanted to get to know. Political machinations seemed to be a favourite pastime of the fae courts, which was something I had no interest in.

‘Did you really come to ask about my anti-social behaviour?’

‘There’s no need to be so curt with me.’

‘You mean no need other than the whole sham engagement thing?’

‘I’m trying to apologise for that,’ he said. ‘I’ve even brought you a gift.’ Holding out his hand, he dangled a stunning gold necklace from one finger, intricate in its design of a sunburst hung with strands of gold that looped back up to entwine with the main chain, glittering with tiny diamonds. But what captured my attention most was the gentle hum of magic around it.

I looked up at him, not so much as twitching a finger to take it. ‘What does it do?’

‘What do you mean? It’s a necklace, you wear it,’ he said smoothly. Did he expect I couldn’t sense the magic on it, or did he expect I would doubt myself enough to just ignore the feeling and take it anyway?

‘Why do you keep pursuing me?’ I asked, still not willing to touch the necklace.

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ he said. A clear evasion. I was getting better at recognising that now.

‘I need to hear you say it.’

‘You expect me to be open with you, even knowing what I do?’ he demanded, his temper beginning to slip.

Again, his words were ambiguous at best. Knowing what, exactly? That I didn’t feel the same? That I wouldn’t accept him anyway? Or that I knew he was just playing a game?

Either way, the fact that he couldn’t give me a concrete answer told me everything I needed to know.

‘I can’t accept that, Solas,’ I said instead. ‘You can’t buy my forgiveness, it has to be earned.’ A fact which wasn’t applicable to this situation, since I was sure that he wasn’t trying to buy my forgiveness at all. Whatever magic was on that necklace, it did something he didn’t want me to know about, otherwise he’d have told me what it did.

‘Is it that you think I’m trying to bribe you or that you’d feel guilty?’ he asked, his voice turning hard as his mood soured.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Do you think I don’t know that you snuck out with him last night?’ Solas spat.

So much for secret. Anger surged, heating my skin, muddling with the sense of exposure I suddenly felt. He was calling me out on something private and mine and nothing to do with him, and the fact that I’d ever felt like I needed to conceal it from anyone suddenly felt insane. I got to my feet, closing some of the distance between us. ‘That’s none of your business.’

‘While you’re under my care, it is.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ I snapped. ‘We are on neutral ground, and we’ve broken none of your ridiculous rules. It’s my choice who I spend my time with. You may be the Seelie King, but that doesn’t give you the right to dictate my life.’

‘Careful, rabbit, lest you say something you regret.’

I held his gaze, even as it turned cold, even as it sent a chill down my spine. I would not let him scare me, despite the clear threat in his words. I didn’t know what he would do if I wouldn’t bend to his will, but the more he pushed, the more I knew that pushing back was dangerous.

But I was damn tired of tiptoeing around him.

Finally, he moved. He stuffed the necklace into his pocket. ‘You’re acting very human today. Keep it up and you’ll start being treated like one.’ With that final warning, he stalked away.

‘And you’re acting like an asshole,’ I muttered angrily under my breath. I wanted to show him that he couldn’t control me, that he had no power over me. Whatever shitty game he was trying to play with me, I was done playing it.

‘As much as I enjoy seeing you direct your rage at Solas, I’d rather you look at me,’ a familiar voice said.

I spun around. ‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, my voice dropping in volume despite the fact that we were alone. Though, it seemed ridiculous to worry about secrecy now.

I was tired of worrying about what other people would think or say or do anyway. The only reason we were keeping the secret was because of my own caution. ‘Hang on a minute, how long have you been watching?’ ‘Why? Do you have something to hide?’

‘Only you,’ I said. ‘Though you are making it difficult.’

He shrugged. ‘It was your idea to keep this secret,’ he said, as if he’d read my mind.

‘I know.’ I was always denying myself, my own wants and desires, and for what? Because I was too worried about the consequences. But damn the consequences. Damn the Seelie King and the Unseelie Queen and the courts and their damn rules. Why shouldn’t I have what I wanted?

And what I wanted right now was Tarian.

‘Come on,’ I said, taking his hand and leading him out of the courtyard.

‘Afraid to be seen with me?’ he asked, but he didn’t resist.

‘Not exactly,’ I said. Maybe he read some of my mood, my intention, because he didn’t press me further, following me silently up a flight of stairs, down a corridor, passing by an open door where two Seelie ladies caught sight of us and I still didn’t relinquish his hand. I led him brazenly to the door of my room, and I didn’t even glance to see if anyone was watching as I opened that door and pulled him through it.

He watched me closely as I closed the door behind us, and suddenly I had doubts about what I was doing. I had never been bold like this, and maybe I still wasn’t.

‘Taking me into a private room alone, a man might get ideas,’ he said. But I knew he didn’t mean it, knew he would expect me to have another reason for bringing him here. Perhaps he’d mistake the blush in my cheeks for embarrassment over giving the wrong impression.

But it wasn’t wrong.

‘What kind of ideas?’ I asked, my voice soft, portraying my nerves. There were so many reasons not to do this, not to give in to temptation, but the only reason that mattered now was the one for throwing caution to the wind.

I loved Tarian. I chose Tarian.

His eyes darkened, though he didn’t move, his expression didn’t change. The only hint I had to his emotions lay in the way he held my gaze, as if he wasn’t sure what he should do in this situation. I had been the one to put the restrictions on our relationship, to insist on the secrecy, and yet, here I was, breaking those rules.

‘Is this because of Solas?’

‘Yes. And no,’ I said. Tarian remained very still, clearly not wanting to reveal any of the thoughts running through his head. ‘He made me realise I’m tired of putting what I want on hold because of other people.’ I stepped forward, closing the distance between us, butterflies in my stomach. My tongue darted across my lips, wetting them, and his eyes followed the movement, making my blush deepen.

He took my chin between his fingers, leaning in close. I could feel his breath on my lips and my breath quickened as my chest tightened with anticipation, with wanting. But he didn’t move any further, didn’t give me what I wanted, a hint of mischief in his eyes as they held mine. ‘And what is it that you want, Imogen?’ he asked, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through me, tempting me ever closer to the edge I was dangerously close to leaping off.

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ I asked, embarrassment warring with the need growing inside me at the nearness of him, the scent of him enveloping me, making the world fade away around us.

A whisper of a smirk brushed his lips. ‘Say it.’

I swallowed hard, my cheeks growing warm again. I wanted to look away, it would make it easier to say the words that way, but he held my chin firm making escape impossible. ‘You’re enjoying this way too much,’ I complained.

‘Say it.’

My body begged me to say the words, to give in to his demand and claim my prize, but my mouth refused to work as that blush deepened in my cheeks. I could refuse. If I did, would he turn me away? Somehow, I doubted it. Perhaps he’d find a more creative way to punish me, perhaps I’d like it. But as his smirk widened, I realised he was expecting that, expecting me to be unable to say the words he’d asked of me. Defiance rose up to join the emotions warring in me, quashing any embarrassment I’d been feeling.

‘I want you.’

His eyes widened in surprise for a second, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it because his lips claimed mine, hungry and urgent, as if he’d been holding himself back for too long. His tongue swept my mouth, brushing along mine, as one hand began tugging at the laces on my dress, my heart pounding with every new inch of skin he exposed to the air. My hands moved from his neck, sliding down his chest, down to where his shirt was tucked into his pants. I gripped the fabric, tugging it out, desperate to feel the heat of his skin. It seemed to spur him on, he pulled my sleeves down, forcing me to remove my arms if I wanted to finish my task. When my hands were freed, they went back to his loose shirt, sliding beneath the fabric, tracing the muscles there as if it was a reward.

Tarian pushed my dress down, over my hips, exposing even more skin, sending goosebumps scattering across my flesh and my nipples hardening as the cool air hit them. The cold was soon chased away as his warm hand cupped my breast, kneading, thumb flicking across the nipple, coaxing an unexpected moan from me that vibrated along our lips. There was far too much fabric between us. With my body exposed, it only made me crave him more, and I was in no position to deny it.

I didn’t want to.

I broke the kiss, pulling away as he chased my lips, pulled his shirt over his head. With his torso revealed, my hands moved back to his body as if drawn by a magnet, goosebumps chasing my fingers across his skin. I could feel him watching me, feel the heat of his gaze like a physical touch. My hand drifted lower, dipping towards his pants, his breath becoming shallower the closer I got, as if he was afraid to breathe too hard and startle me from my path. I slid below the fabric, taking him in hand, enjoying the way he pulsed in my grip as I moved my hand along his length.

All too soon, his hand snapped around my wrist and he pulled my hand back. I looked up at him then, wondering why he’d stopped me, and what I saw took my breath away, sending lust through me like a drug. The look in his eyes was almost feral. I drew a shaky breath, taking a step back from him. It was as if something in me knew moving away would only intensify his hunger. He stalked forward, matching me step for step across the room, as if we were in some kind of dance.

The back of my legs hit the bed and he pushed me onto it. I’d barely hit the mattress before he was running his hands down my thighs. He stood up, and I was drawn to his hands as he removed his pants, slowly, as if he enjoyed watching me watch him. But the moment they were off, all slowness was gone, replaced with that grasping urgency. He pushed my thighs apart, kneeling between them, the head of his cock teasingly brushing against me as his hands slid up my thighs, gripping my hips.

‘Tell me what you want.’

I could barely think, pleasure and anticipation coiling together in my core. His lips brushed my collarbone, my chest, my breast. ‘Tell me,’ he repeated before taking a taut nipple into his mouth. I cried out as he sucked sharply, a reminder, a warning, to answer him.

‘I want you,’ I said, my voice breathy, distracted. My hips moved as if of their own accord but he held me fast, digging his fingers into my flesh and my teeth sank into my lower lip as I tried to hold back the moan that threatened to burst from me. ‘Please.’

He released my nipple, the air feeling colder on the now wet skin, and a light shiver ran through my body. His lips pulled into a devilish smile and just when I thought he was going to tease me until I lost my mind, he pulled me to him by my hips, plunging himself inside me.

I cried out, fingers digging into his biceps as he thrust his hips against me, moving himself inside me, sending my mind blank as my body was flooded with an all-consuming pleasure. His lips captured mine, our panting breaths tangled together as our tongues danced. My teeth sank into his lip and he thrust harder, his fingers digging in harder, my legs tightened around him, holding him to me as my body demanded more, a tightness building in my core, coiling tighter with every stroke of his cock until it snapped, shattering me. I cried out as the climax rocked through me, as he rode the waves of my pleasure, seeking his own until he joined me, a guttural groan leaving his throat as he pulsed inside me, his movements slowing until we collapsed together, limbs tangled together, the only sound filling the room that of our laboured breathing.

My body felt limp and I wasn’t sure I would be able to move. Didn’t care if I couldn’t. I let myself float in the gentle bliss that encased me body and soul as I lay in his arms.