A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 2)

I screamed with the violent release of it, convulsing within his grasp, half trying to get away. He held me tightly, his hands gripping my hair and my throat, his teeth cutting into my skin. He kept me there, pumping into me, as a strange sensation settled over me. It tingled and then comforted, pulsing hot before seeping down into my being.

His mark. His claim.

He shuddered again, emptying himself inside of me, groaning. He pulled his teeth away, still shaking. His tongue glided over his bite, and I was coming again, that spot so incredibly sensitive and deliciously erotic.

He chuckled darkly.

“Mine,” he said with a growl.

I knew from the shifter books that this mark would be permanent. Like a scar, only it would never heal. His teeth would appear in my skin for the rest of my days unless another mate re-marked me. His scent would be forever, though.

We settled down into the bed, and he gathered me up close.

“What about me marking you?” I asked as my lids drooped.

He trailed his fingertips across my shoulder. “I won’t risk us imprinting. It’ll be hard enough for you with an alpha’s mark.”

“That’s probably less embarrassing for me, since I don’t actually know how to do it.”

“With the strength of your will, I doubt it would take you long to figure it out. But it’s for the best you don’t. There’s no need for worry. You’re the only one I’ve been with since the curse. The only one I have ever loved in my life. There will never be another, even though I’d be tempted to try just to drag you back here so you can re-stake your claim.”

Tears filled my eyes at his admission. A lump lodged in my throat as I pushed away so I could look into his eyes.

He’d just said he loved me!

He smiled and kissed me softly.

I opened my mouth to say it back, but he leaned down and ran his tongue over his fresh mark. A rush of pleasure turned the words into a moan. He rolled on top of me and slid inside, covering my mouth with his, and then I understood. Hearing it back would be too painful. He was letting me go—it would probably be easier for him to pretend I didn’t want to stay.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried as he made love to me again, sweet and sensual. I had until tomorrow. I needed to make the most of him tonight.

Twenty-Seven

The journey was a miserable one. I was carried over the bony shoulder of the demon king himself, moved via teleportation. Jedrek yelled and hollered behind me, carried in a similar way by a powerful demon.

He’d essentially sold himself to the demon king in order to mate me. Our marriage bed would be in the dungeon—not that we’d ever marry if Nyfain had it right. Either way, Dolion had made it very clear I would hate my existence down there, bereft of the finery he’d thought I’d grown accustomed to.

I could survive that, no problem. I didn’t know if I could survive leaving Nyfain, though. It felt like my heart had cracked in half. I only had half a heartbeat.

My animal had lost the feeling of the only other animal she’d ever known.

And me… I hadn’t even gotten to tell Nyfain that I loved him.

Finally, we boarded a large boat, traveling across murky waters in the dead of night. I had no idea where we were. I only knew we were going to the demon kingdom.

Jedrek sat beside me, his face mottled with purple and blues. He hadn’t spoken since we’d been thrown down into the bottom of the boat. He’d gone hoarse from screaming.

I pulled a folded-up piece of parchment out of my pocket. My hands shook as I looked down at it.

In the time I’d been granted before we’d left, I’d given some very teary goodbyes to my family, and hugged Leala within an inch of her life (something she reminded me wasn’t proper as she cried). Hadriel…

Well, he hadn’t taken it so well. He knew I had to go—he’d helped plan it, after all—and he knew he couldn’t go with me, even with his maid costume, but he didn’t want to accept it. I reminded him that he had the most important job of all, which was to watch over Nyfain and make sure he kept up with his duty. Make sure he wasn’t lost to the darkness.

Hadriel was not enthused about the very real possibility of shitting himself sometime in the near future.

Every other remaining second I spent with Nyfain. Demons had needed to pry me out of his hands in the end. I’d had to keep him at bay with my will.

I only had two things to remember him by—besides his old clothes, of course, which I was wearing.