Page 65

Chapter sixty-three

T he idle chatter of a thousand voices filled the courtyard. Astrid stood beside Dimitri beneath the grand archway leading into the palace grounds. The surrounding forest had been cleared into a snowy field, divided by the well-traveled road leading back to Clorea.

Astrid crossed this threshold months ago, but it felt like a lifetime had passed. So much had changed. The male she thought to kill was now her husband and the kingdom she planned to raze was now hers.

Dimitri leaned closer and his deep voice pulled her from her musings. “You’re begging to be caught wearing this gown, wife.”

Astrid smoothed her hands over the gold and platinum corset constricting her waist. Viktor had worked with Keres to create this work of art. She glanced over her shoulder at the yards of black silk and jeweled lace fanned over the snow behind her.

Ledivite nobility filled the palace courtyard behind a row of armored guards on horseback.

They leaned one way, then the other, packed shoulder to shoulder in extravagant dress.

Astrid couldn’t fathom why they were so eager to witness their queen flee their king.

Did they think Dimitri would catch her and fuck her in front of them?

Astrid turned away from the crowd. This ceremony was archaic, but the ritual meant something to her sword. She interlaced her fingers with his and stared into his golden eyes. “It’s customary to give your queen a head start.”

He lifted their hands, and his firm lips warmed the scar binding them. “I’ll give you to the count of ten, love.”

“When does my time start?”

“When you let go of my hand,” he answered.

Astrid dropped his hand and dashed to the closest guard on horseback. She tore his soul from his legs, and he fell to the ground with a startled cry. Astrid was in the saddle the next instant, charging toward the tree line.

She glanced back as her horse raced to a gallop. Her train flowed behind her, creating the illusion of a glittering strip of night against Ledivion’s snowy canvas.

Dimitri swept his hand through his dark hair, removing his crown. He handed the daggered circlet to Dobromil and spread his gray wings.

Fuck.

Astrid leaned forward, begging the mare to run faster.

Hooves pounded the ground. She was closing the distance to the pines.

Another few seconds.

She could outrun him.

Astrid reached the shade of the forest when a hard body crashed against hers. The collision knocked her off her horse and ripped the reins from her hands. Dimitri crushed her against the unyielding planes of his body. His wings snapped open, and their momentum shifted violently.

His wingtips dusted the snow and propelled them upward, cresting the pines.

“You’ll never escape me, neva,” Dimitri murmured.

Astrid laughed. They glided a few feet above the snow-covered treetops and her dark hair steamed across his shoulder. “You knocked off my crown.”

“The priests will fetch it,” Dimitri replied.

The air warmed and thickened as the flew between the billowing pillars of steam rising from the thermal spring. Dimitri began an easy descent and landed gently before setting Astrid on her feet.

Their suede box rested at the center of the tree stump near the spring. Excitement thrummed beneath her skin as she approached it.

“Did you bring my additions?” Astrid asked, taking a seat on the stump.

Dimitri grinned, strolling toward her. “I haven’t opened it.”

“Take off your clothes,” she said as she lifted the lid. The thin wooden box Keres gave her was nestled amongst their assortment of toys.

Her sword shrugged out of his topcoat and folded it before setting it beside her. He began unbuttoning his shirt and lifted his chin at their box. “What did you bring? Is that a cock ring or a sleeve you want me to fuck you with?”

“Something more permanent,” Astrid answered as she opened her kit.

A needle lay against the velvet beside a series of thin platinum bars.

She lifted the sharp instrument, examining the end. “If your shadows bite me, I’m adding another bar.”

Dimitri stripped out of his shirt and folded it before glancing over the uniformed metal. “Are you sure they’ll fit?”

“Keres made them,” Astrid began, then arched her brow. “Off the mold she has of your cock.”

“Did you expect me to fill you with another male’s cock?” he asked as he continued to strip. “You will only ever know me, wife.”

Dimitri stood before her, his imposing form a display of sculpted muscle and sharp shadows. Astrid appraised her sword, gliding her nails along the underside of his length.

“I’ll place it here,” she says, squeezing either side of his shaft an inch past the head. “And if you can’t control your shadows, we’ll add more.” Astrid tapped the inches down his shaft. “All the way down.”

“You are enjoying your new position far too much, neva,” Dimitri rasped.

Astrid dug her nails into his waist and pulled him closer. She parted her lips over the head of his cock and stared up at him through her lashes.

Dimitri tilted his head back and his fingers curved beneath her jaw. He rocked forward, sliding into her mouth.

Astrid let him stroke over her tongue once more before pulling away. “You will wear every mark you placed on me, my king.”

“Marks to bind us?” he asked.

Astrid smiled in answer and lifted the needle.

Dimitri tensed as she began.

“Don’t move,” Astrid whispered teasingly. “We’re almost done.”

She’d never done a piercing before, but it wasn’t unlike stabbing a prisoner or cutting a piece of them free for Foxglove.

Dimitri remained still aside from a few hisses of breath. His shadows pulsed around him but didn’t surge to her.

He healed quickly and Astrid admired her work. Astrid leaned back on her hands and pouted at him. “I was hoping to add a few more.”

Dimitri caged her throat and tugged her forward. “We can bargain for that later. Now, open your mouth.”

Astrid glanced at the sky.

“It’s customary for all the guests to stay at the palace until we return, neva. No one will come looking for us,” he assured her before adding, “and I’ll kill anyone who looks upon my wife’s naked body… after you’ve taken their eyes.”

His words quieted Astrid’s apprehension.

Dimitri caressed her throat and dragged his thumb over her mouth. “I need your lips around my cock, wife.”

Astrid parted her lips, and his hand trailed into her hair. His fingers tangled through the strands at the base of her skull and she glared at him from beneath her lashes. If he thought a piercing suddenly allowed him to fuck her mouth as hard as he pleased, she was going to cut his balls off.

“I’ll go slow, neva. Teach you to swallow my cock,” he purred.

Astrid dropped her hand and parted her lips as he stepped into her. She held the shaft as he slid the head of his cock over her tongue. Dimitri groaned as he gently ran his fingers over her scalp. The sensation sent tingles cascading over her skin.

His affection left her easy. She let him fuck her mouth with the first few inches of his cock. Dimitri groaned as he watched her. His breaths were ragged and the way his chiseled body moved ignited her imagination.

She loved watching him fuck her. The power of his body taking her, again and again. But this was different.

She surrendered to him, but there was control in it. He came undone because she allowed it.

“Can you take me deeper?” he asked, caressing her jaw and tracing the corner of her mouth.

The heat in his molten gold stare seared her and she nodded. He stroked the hollow of her cheek and pressed forward, stopping when the head reached the back of her mouth.

“I’m not going to move,” he assured her. “Take a breath and press the head into our throat, neva. It’ll cut off your air, then pull back.”

Astrid gazed up at him and remained still, testing his word.

“I won’t force it.” Dimitri ran two fingers across his throat. “On my swords.”

His oath and promise. A gesture to his god.

Astrid leaned forward. The head of his cock wedged into her throat cutting off her airways. It wasn’t unbearable. Watching his muscles strain was well worth the mild discomfort.

She pulled back to the tip and worked his length past her lips again. She stroked his shaft the way he’d taught her, taking a breath before she pressed the head into her throat. His reactions were exhilarating, and she moaned.

Dimitri tensed and lifted his chin before groaning, “Fuck.”

“You like that?” Astrid studied him as she continued stroking his length. His pulse point thrummed along the side of his throat. The hard muscles of his broad chest rose and fell with his ragged breaths. All of it hinged on what she did.

Astrid took him past her lips and she moaned again. She beamed when his breath caught. This was a battlefield he could never win.

Dimitri took her hand and instead of showing her another way he liked his cock stroked, he helped her to her feet.

“I wasn’t done playing with you,” she whispered as he bent to kiss her.

“I can scent how wet you are. I’ve been neglecting you,” he murmured at her lips. “You can swallow my cum another time.”

That didn’t sound as appealing as teasing him, but Astrid didn’t argue the point as Dimitri unlaced her gown.

Black silk and diamond-stitched lace fell to her feet. Her sword stood silent for a moment then grinned.

“You weren’t wearing anything under your dress,” he said as she stepped out of the yards of silk.

“I knew you wanted to chase me.” She glanced at him over her shoulder and sauntered around the tree stump. “We both know what you were going to do when you caught me,” she said with a shrug. “I simply saved you some trouble.”

Dimitri followed her and lowered to his knees. His fingertips trailed down the back of her thigh to her knee-high boots. “Maybe I enjoy undressing you,” he countered.

Her sword removed her boot and dragged her leg over his shoulder.

“Dimitri,” Astrid cried.

He tongued her clit and flicked her piercing. Astrid ran her fingers through his dark hair as he licked and sucked. His wings came forward, cradling her back as he lifted her off her feet.

Astrid lay against his wings as he yanked off her other boot and slung her leg over his shoulder. He thrusted into her with two fingers as he devoured her, and Astrid couldn’t think.

“Put me down before you drop me,” Astrid hissed between moans.

He lifted his head, holding her thigh to his shoulder. “I can fly for hours, neva,” he said, stretching her to accommodate a third finger. “And I am considerably heavier than you.”

Astrid squirmed against him as his shadows snaked up her body. She couldn’t close her legs, couldn’t escape him.

His mouth worked her, and she was helpless to do anything but come for him. She fisted his hair, yanking him close as she rocked her hips.

She moaned with relief when he withdrew his fingers, but her reprieve was short lived. The low hum of a vibrating plug filled the space between them.

The blunt tip pressed into her cunt and Astrid screamed as she came. He filled her with it while he sucked on her clit.

“Slower. Dimitri, please,” she cried.

He ignored her, thrusting those hard inches into her. Making her take his length in the harsh rhythm he set.

She came again and he moaned against her silken flesh. His gaze lifted, pinning her beneath the crescent of his dark lashes.

“I think you’re wet enough now,” he said before kissing her clit.

Dimitri removed the replica of his cock and brought it to her ass. He applied more pressure, and Astrid sighed a breath as the tip pressed inside.

“You like when I fuck you slow?” he asked. Astrid moaned her agreement as she rocked her hips. “Slow and deep? That’s it. Take it.”

She let the onslaught of sensations drown her. She writhed against his wings, coming apart against his mouth.

Dimitri continued fucking her ass as he pressed a second replica into her cunt.

“Please fuck me,” she begged.

“I am,” he answered, stroking them into her in unison.

She came hard and clamped her thighs on either side of his throat. Dimitri pried one of her thighs back, continuing her torment.

“I can’t come any more. Please, fuck me with your cock.”

“You can have my cock when my wings get tired,” he answered.

Astrid’s lashes fluttered closed as another orgasm crashed over her. He fucked her with one, then the other, alternating before fucking her with both again.

She was boneless when he finally laid her over a soft patch of grass where snow didn’t accumulate due to its proximity to the spring.

Dimitri withdrew their toys and held her in the cage of his arms. He thrust into her as their lips met.

She swallowed his groans, wrapping her legs around his waist. He fucked her harder and she took each stroke.

The golden stars of her soul glittered, suspended in his shadows that surrounded them. Dimitri tensed and thrusted into her a final time. He broke their kiss as he came, panting against her throat.

Astrid’s heart hammered in her chest. She stroked his hair as they calmed by degrees.

Dimitri outstretched his wings after a time.

He stood, cradling her in his arms as he stepped into the thermal spring.

Astrid moaned as the heat of the water seeped into her bones.

He cleaned her and held her in his lap. Astrid curled against him watching as the last of the sunset’s orange hues fade from the sky.