I wasn’t beneath such things. I’d convince her however I had to, but I wouldn’t do it without her consent. Threatening the ones she cared about had nearly destroyed my body and mind.
As a Nether, I couldn’t lie, but I could choose not to say anything at all, and that had been one such moment. I could’ve chosen differently, but my fear got the better of me. The acidic punishment in my chest hadn’t abated since I exploited her fear for the ones she loved and struck a contract between us to keep her close.
I was hardly someone befitting the word kind or considerate. I’d been a ruthless ruler. I made it my mission to ensure what happened to our clan never happened to anyone else’s. Sometimes that meant destroying those who could bring about that sort of future before they were powerful enough to try.
But this bond with V was different. I couldn’t take what she didn’t freely give. I couldn’t demand our future if she didn’t want it.
It was maddening to know what was at stake if she didn’t choose me. What Hera was likely to do to my little hybrid and everyone she cared about, to her realm of the humans she was so determined to protect, the minute the Mother of Shadows regained control over this realm.
I might not have the same advantages in our bond as V clearly did, but she wouldn’t believe me if I told her everything without a fight. She wouldn’t believe I couldn’t lie to her no matter what it did to me. No matter what I lost by doing so. My mate was too well-trained for that. She needed to discover the truth on her own, so I made a deal with her.
I made it so she could.
Gritting my teeth, I fought the desire to drag her into my arms and devour her lips. My eyes had been practically fused to her mouth all day. I’d argued with myself every minute that I didn’t need to taste it by force, that I’d only make her angry and hurt my chances if I did. She’d come to me eventually.
A bond with a Nether Fae, let alone one as powerful as I was, didn’t happen by accident. It didn’t matter what Rayis said; she was meant to be mine, and no one would take her from me.
My little hybrid settled, blowing out a soft breath against my side. Unable to stop myself, I weaved my fingers through her gorgeous red hair. It was as soft as it looked. Not as soft as her skin, but soft enough to make it nearly impossible to stop touching it.
Another moan escaped her mouth, her lips brushing my side in an electric second. My throat bobbed, the sensation invasive and widespread despite the potion’s sense-dulling effect.
I’d never fought the Season a single time in thousands of yearly cycles. I’d satisfied it as any Fae would, though I’d never thought of it as anything more than what I did because I had to. Now, it felt as if those years of frivolous frotting had been wasted. As if the countless Fae I’d slept with couldn’t hold a candle to what I could get from my tiny mate.
A mere brush of her mouth against my skin was more pleasurable than any mouth on my cock had been. More blissful than a wet cunt swallowing my shaft. More satisfying than a string of bedroom partners. Humans would call anything she did heaven.
I bit back a groan as the tiny Hunter threw a leg around my thick thigh and rubbed herself on me in her fretful sleep. My nostrils flared and jaw clenched as her wet slick moved up and down my skin.
It was everything I could do to not bring that perfect little cunt directly to my mouth for a taste. Instead, I stayed stone-stiff and hoped I survived the moment with my sanity still intact.
I didn’t notice her eyes open until she was lifting her head, chin just below my pec. “I want it so bad, but I…I can’t. I shouldn’t.” Her voice was a soft murmur, barely audible. With my senses dulled, I nearly missed it. But I hadn’t. Perhaps it would’ve been better for both of us if I had.
Sliding a hand down my face, I cursed the sweet voice making me feel as if I were truly the villain. “Maseche,” I muttered in the old tongue.
Her hips rocked back and forth, and it’d take a goddamn fortress not to be rock-hard under these conditions. Dulled senses or no, I could smell the pheromones my mate produced, and it was an absolute assault on everything I vowed.
I wanted her, but not if she’d come to regret it. Not if it made those beautiful eyes of hers beam in betrayal the minute she woke the next day. I couldn’t sustain that sort of punishment from the woman meant to be my eternity.
As if knowing just how to ruin my concentration, her eyes took a little path down my torso before her tiny hand took the shape of my cock. It was a positively unhinged sound that left my throat. She stroked the length and tightened her grip, making it impossible to stay silent.
It was as the humans liked to say: I wasn’t a bleeding saint.
“Little mate,” I growled, my voice just as feral and wild as the look I gave her. “I’m not your enemy, but you’re about to make me one if you keep touching me like that.”
Her lips drifted across the side of my chest, peppering kisses everywhere they went. I sucked in a sharp, needy breath. Even those whispers of her hot mouth were intoxicating. Any longer, and I’d be consumed with greed to have more.
“Guess we’re both about to become something we’re not.” Every word was raspy and made with great effort. No doubt, she’d reached her limit and the Season had warped her mind. “But it’s so fucking painful.” Her fangs gleamed in the low light I kept in the room to read. “Please…just make it stop. It hurts so much, Aram.”
It was the first time she’d said my name. The first time she pleaded with me. A beg that sweet couldn’t be denied by anyone with a heart. And despite what they said about me, I did have a heart. One that was presently thundering for a little hybrid who held our future in her tiny hands.
Her little whimper was an attack on both body and mind. I warred with myself, but as her mate, I couldn’t leave her in distress. I couldn’t be the reason she was in pain or left begging. I couldn’t deny her anything she asked. I was weak to her in a way I’d never been with anyone since the day Hera killed our clan. If anything, I was weaker.
I was about to bugger everything up.
“Peschit,vol es miu,” I hissed in the Nether tongue.
It was a saying closest to what the humans did when they begged the heavens for mercy. Because that was the only thing I could do before pinning my tiny mate under me, sure that the morning would bring nothing but regret.
Chapter 29
