A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 3)

“Others will not see past my deformity.” He clutched me, the pain overwhelming him in that moment.

I held him tightly. “It’s not a deformity unless you see it as one. It is a badge of pride that you didn’t give up. It is proof of your strength.”

We sat quietly for a moment as I continued to stroke down his scar, tempering the pain with pleasure.

“I love you despite your best efforts to push me away,” I said softly. “And I’ll continue loving you forever. So take as much time as you need to be comfortable with who you are and who you’ve become. I’ll be waiting right beside you. I’ve chosen my place. It wasn’t our dragons’ bond, and it wasn’t the curse—I chose you. And I’ll continue choosing you. Forever.”

He pulled back, looking at me with glossy eyes filled with incredulity. He shook his head and kissed me, love and longing filling our bond.

“You have zero sense,” he finally said.

“Hannon has mentioned that a time or two. Now. You promised me a first.” I pulled my hair over my shoulder and turned, showing him the two lines of scales down my back. “I want it, please.”

Instead he ran a finger down a line in the middle of my back, and I knew he was tracing one of my scars.

“Someday soon, I will hear every detail of your time away from me.” He traced another scar. “And before I die, I will make Dolion pay in a way no one has ever paid in the history of the world.”

“I think you’ll have to get in line. He took shifters from all over for his dungeons. Faeries too. They will want their own vengeance. He’s even pissing off his own kind enough to rise against him.”

“I spoke to Tamara and the others. I was shocked to see them. Though…I probably shouldn’t have been. It makes sense he’d covet their power. We’ll talk about that later, though. We’ll talk about all of it later.”

He clearly knew he wouldn’t like the details he’d receive.

His lips touched down on my nape before his hands landed on my shoulders. He turned me and gently pushed me forward.

“Grab a pillow,” he murmured, getting me to crawl a bit to grab one and then putting it under my hips so that my butt was raised in the air a little.

A hand on each thigh, he spread them wider before running a finger down the seam of my pussy. The bed moved as I lay on my stomach, and then I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes as he followed his finger with his tongue.

“I’d prefer it if you’d not take the tea, and obviously our dragons agree.” His voice was low and husky, and a furious shiver crawled up my spine and spun around in my stomach. He was fine with the idea of getting me with child. Welcomed it.

My heart sped up a little, and my dragon purred in delight.

“Okay,” I said in a breathy whisper.

“I should warn you, though.” He pushed apart my thighs a little more so that he could wiggle his tongue across my clit before sucking it in and pulsing for a moment. “Imprinting often sets off a dragon’s heat. If I can get out of my own way and imprint with you, which I don’t think will be a problem anymore, then it might set you off. You’ll want to be bred. Not fucked, not made love to—hardcore bred.” A smile entered his voice. “I know how much it weirds you out, using that kind of language.”

But it didn’t feel weird at the moment. I wanted it. So bad. I wanted his cock deep inside my cunt. The prospect sent a crazy sort of thrill through me. It felt right. All of this felt so right. We’d fought to get here. We’d earned our happy ending, goddammit.

“Nyfain,” I begged as he licked up my pussy. He put two fingers inside of me and started to pump them in and out.

“You’ll want me to ravage you,” he said, bending his fingers in the perfect way. I clutched the mattress, moaning, on the verge of begging for his cock. “The feeling will be so intense that you won’t have much reason under its sway. Neither will I. This is just what I’ve heard, but everyone seems to agree. Our dragons will be insane. I will be insane, I think. A child usually results from it. If you aren’t ready…then now is not a good time to stop that tea.”

He let the comment linger, and I took a deep breath before answering. “I’m ready. Probably. I don’t know, but—”

You’re fucking ready, my dragon butted in. You’re past fucking ready. Let’s get this imprint going and get fucked and ruined and destroyed or whatever the fuck this dragon has promised us. Let’s get it all.