“You do that, Eliran. Just keep in mind that the fate of Faery may rest inside her womb. She is your number one patient until she delivers that child safely. I suggest you be ready for when the time comes, and be prepared for everything that could go wrong, just in case it does.”
The fucking beast inside of me wants out. He wants full control and fighting him off is getting harder with every passing moment. He wants to take Synthia, to show her what he is. Never fucking happy, he wasn’t even happy that I allowed him to show her only a sliver of his passion when she first came here. He wants more, so much more.
She’s ours, and not even that has made him happy. He wants to feed from her, to fuck her until she feels owned. She isn’t that kind of woman. She can’t be owned. Not by him, not by me. Even though I want to dominate and control her, I already know what the end result would be. She’s a warrior, and she needs to be treated as such, not as he would have me do. She’s our equal, our match—we need to tread carefully now, or risk the chance of losing her forever. That’s not something I can allow to happen.
I watch Eliran leave the room, his shoulders slump as he shakes his head. I’m an asshole, I get it. My world doesn’t exist without her in it. I’d easily give in to the beast, and become what he is asking for. I’d kill anyone who opposed me, and repeat history. She’s my fucking anchor, and no one will take her from me again, not even to save this world.
“Ryder, she’s going to be okay. I’ve seen her with the child in her arms,” Ristan says softly.
“With Adam, not me. Bring the Dark Heir here. Maybe he can bring her around.”
“How about we bring Vlad and Adrian, too? Maybe if we surround her with what she needs, she will just fall on your dick,” he quips.
“Get them, too. She likes them,” I say in amusement. “I need to figure out how to get her to adapt.”
“If you want her to adapt, you need to pull your head out of your ass and start thinking like a human, Ryder. You might be the all-powerful Horde King, but she is Syn; she is part human no matter how much she shouldn’t be. If you want her to stay, if you want her to adjust to this life, and you want her to be a part of yours…woo her.”
“What the fuck is wooing?” I snap.
“Do nice things for her, get her gifts. Find out what she likes, and woo her with them. Show her our world; make her want to be with you.”
“I’m the fucking Horde King, I don’t woo.”
“Woo her,” Ristan continues.
“I don’t woo.”
“Woo,” he repeats.
“I’m not the kind of man to woo anyone. I can make her scream my name to the rafters, isn’t that enough wooing?”
“Woo,” Ristan smirks, which only served to irritate me more.
“Woo,” I grind out on an exhale.
“Yes, woo,” he says, already turning to walk away. I watch his shoulders quake with laughter.
“Woo,” I growl.
“Woo!” He says over his shaking shoulders.
“Fuck me,” I shake my head.
“No thanks, not my type…now go woo your princess.”
Chapter Twelve
I awoke to Darynda pushing on my cheek. I gave a sound of protest, which she continued to ignore as she tormented and pestered me until my eyes popped open to level a killing glare on her. I slapped at her hand irritably as she smiled enthusiastically. I hated morning people, always had. I’d never been able to climb out of bed and welcome the day. I was more of a glare at the world, and snarl until I’d had enough coffee to appear human.
“Time to wake up, sleeping beauty!” she chimed happily.
“Go away,” I growled low, trying to focus.
“Not a chance. I brought you this crap they said you like; I even tried some of it! It tastes like fairy poop, but it does have magic in it! I feel like I can do a million things at once!” Darynda said, bobbing her head happily as she tried to pass me the cup without spilling.
“How much did you drink?” I asked, wondering if the coffee had something to do with her mouth working overtime.
“Nine cups! It’s addictive. Eliran said one cup was enough for you, but he said nothing about me, and well, I just kept putting those little cups in and pushing the button, and it continued to give me more. So of course I drank it.”
“Oh,” shit. I was corrupting the Fairy pool. Coffee today, nail polish tomorrow. I smiled as she handed me a cup. “I’m still in the room next to his…?”
“Yes, you are! Claire is still beside herself. She even went so far as to ask him to move you out of this room! He was quick to put her in her place. She deserves it, though; talking crap about you and telling us all how horrible you were. None of it is true, though. You don’t look like you could even use a sword! I mean really, you had a job. And the stuff you went through…we are lucky you are even sane!”
“Darynda, breathe,” I said, taking a sip and spitting out the straight espresso. No wonder she was on caffeine overload. “You drank it plain!?” I asked in shock. Don’t get me wrong, I loved espresso. But in order for it to be good, it had to have some added flavor.