The goblins beside him chitter with laughter. Normally they wouldn’t dare, but they’re emboldened by his insolence.
Drunk, is that how I look? Stars, I’d rather be drunk than feel this.
“I do not recall giving you permission to speak,” I snarl. Using the wall as leverage to stand, I push past them.
Behind me, thorns break through the stone, and I hear Aldridge’s gasp of shock. Most days I can stand his impertinent comments.
Today isn’t most days.
By the time I round the corner, his cry of pain as the thorns rip off his hand is muted. Mother won’t be pleased, but depending on her mood she may overlook it, figuring I let him live.
I pass an open veranda to where another party rages in the courtyard. The smell of sex mingles with liquor.
There are always any number of willing participants lurking around Cryptgarden ready to lie with the Prince of the Below. And though Kel may have cast me as his villain, even I won’t send any of these hapless souls to the icy wasteland that bastard has sequestered himself in.
And besides…
Stop or I’ll die.
The agony in her voice, the pain that coursed through her body, though she didn’t realize why. No, I can’t do that to her.
But I have to do something. Do something now before I go back and—
A growl rises within me, and I strike the stone wall with my fist. It leaves a solid crack, along with blood on my knuckles. I shouldn’t have gone there.
He would kill me if I lost control. He would rip me apart and tear me limb from limb. The death of his parents, the downfall of his realm, the betrayal … Keldarion let me live through all of it. But I do not suspect he would let me live through that.
Though how sweet it would be. Perhaps even worth my life.
I won’t make it to my room. I push open the next stone door I can find. Nothing but an abandoned corridor full of dusty artifacts from the Vale. A single window lets in a strip of murky gray light.
My clothes feel itchy, too heavy on my heated skin. I pull off my tunic and unbutton my breeches, stepping out of them until I’m completely naked. Running my hands down my body, a pained sound leaves my throat as my fingers grasp my aching cock.
But it’s not the touch I want.
Falling hard to my knees, my hand begins to move furiously as I curse. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I try not to think of her at all. I especially try not to think of her in moments like this.
But tonight, Rosalina has invaded every aspect of my being.
She’d been there—and yet not there—when I’d arrived in her room. Body still in sleep, but eyes moving rapidly beneath the lids. Things were happening even I couldn’t explain. A bruise forming on her neck, a ripped dress. The smell of her arousal filling the space like a toxic perfume.
She’d been with him. The desperation of her want for Keldarion sang through my blood like a familiar tune.
Until she’d returned.
“I should have kissed you,” I gasp out, slowing my strokes, watching the pre-cum drip out of my tip. “Should have kissed you and filled you.”
The words are a desperate promise that can never be. My cock aches for release, but I don’t give it to myself yet. Inside, I follow my mind’s wondering of how it would be. Pushing Rosalina’s hair back and filling that long neck with more marks until she was properly claimed.
Peeling her dress off and taking in her body. Then I’d run my mouth over every dip and curve until I got lower. My lips quirk. Kel had already taken care of her panties. Not that my princess is overly fond of those.
Her sweet nectar would be readily available. I lick my lips, groaning, cock twitching. How easy it is to imagine taking her, the sounds she’d make, her face…
What sort of expressions would she make?
The way she looks at me with a hatred that doesn’t reach her eyes. And why is that? There’s no goodness in me to see, that’s for sure. Maybe there’s a small part of her that recognizes that I would never hurt her. That I would never let anyone else hurt her.
I know one thing. I’d fill her, claim her, make her watch only me as we exploded in pleasure together.
Then I’d watch her disappear. To him.
The vision changes…
Her lying before Kel, naked and completely wrecked by me. What would he do? Take her right away, trying to establish his claim like a big, brooding alpha? He’d do it fast, with strength, powerful strokes that would wrack her whole body. And oh, she’d melt into him, every soft curve of her against his hard edges. His giant cock sliding in and out of her pussy, already filled with my seed.
The thought is enough to send me over the edge. My cry echoes off the walls as I spill into my palm, collapsing to the ground as the pleasure of it courses through me. My lashes flutter closed, and I allow myself one moment to revel in this bliss.
Well, did you feel that, lovers?
37
Ezryn
My brother’s footsteps thud in the cool stairway as we descend into the bowels of Keep Hammergarden. The sporadic torches along the walls are the only light in this place.
I want to show you something. He’d found me in the throne room this afternoon and said those words to me. For a second, I almost heard them in his small, boyish voice, the one he had when we were but children running about the mountains on our own until returning to the keep covered in dirt. Back then, he’d wanted to show me colorful frogs or crickets. How many times had I dismissed him? Now, I follow behind.
“During my servitude at the monastery, there was much time for contemplation. I dreamt of Florendel, of how we could restore peace and stability to our realm,” Kairyn says, his voice echoing off the cloistered walls.
My brother, the visionary. He has not changed in that regard. “What did these dreams entail?”
We’re taking the underground path only accessible from the keep by the hatch in the secret room behind the throne. Only the royal family and our most trusted staff know about it.
Kairyn stops before the metal doors that lead into the caves within the mountains. “Follow me.”
He yanks open the door and gestures me into the massive cave beyond. It’s lit by a large opening in the mountainside, where dusky light streams in. My breath catches as I stumble, looking up. “Kai, you made this?”
“Designed it. With help from a team. Engineers, artists, forgers. Do you want to see inside?”
A laugh erupts from my throat. “Of course I do.”
Stationed inside the cave is a vessel unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
It is a ship cast in dark wood, the sharp, pointed features giving it an ominous elegance. Atop its prow stands a mythical drake figurehead, its jagged teeth jutting forth in an eternal battle cry.
The smoky black sails unfurl from the towering masts, resembling the outstretched wings of a gargantuan bat, as if the vessel itself were a creature of the night.