Brimstone By Callie Hart - 37

THE BLUE BOOK sat on Saeris’s nightstand in her rooms at Ammontraíeth. I avoided looking at it as best I could, but it was no easy thing, leashing my curiosity this way. I wouldn’t open the book. I wouldn’t even touch it. But the knowledge that my mother had written the entire thing made a hole burn right through my chest where my heart should have been.

Before Malcolm’s maze, there had been days when I had felt her presence so keenly that I’d known she was there, standing by the window, or sitting by a fireplace, reading a book. I had felt her there with me, walking the halls of the estate for years, and I had chastised myself for allowing myself such childish fantasies.

I think a part of me had known somehow that she was still there with me. I’d spoken to her often, whenever I was alone and didn’t think anyone would overhear. I would have paid anything, given anything to hear her speak back. And now there was an entire book written by her sitting not fifteen feet away—a chance to hear her voice again, in a way—and I would never be able to read what she had written in those pages, because they had not been written for me.

It was okay. I still had a childhood full of memories of my mother. They were enough to temper the sting of her loss. And it was only right that Saeris have her own private connection with Edina of the Seven Towers. My mother would have wanted it that way.

But the book. Was there something in there about Ren’s whereabouts? Maybe. Maybe I was worrying over nothing, and Ren was perfectly safe and riding back to Cahlish even now. Saeris had explained my mother’s request that she not read ahead in the book, so we couldn’t use it to discover where he was. When we’d left the estate an hour ago, I had charged Iseabail with scrying for the general to see if we could locate him that way. Scrying was a notoriously unreliable means of tracking a person, though, and we wouldn’t have any answers on that front until we could speak with the witch. So that meant suffering through this ball while trying not to worry ourselves sick.

“Well, this . . . this is ridiculous .” Saeris looked deeply uncomfortable as she ran her hands down the front of her dress. The selkie seamstress who had made the dress for her had stitched her into it only moments ago. She had left, glowing with pride over the masterpiece she had created, and the second Saeris’s chamber door had closed behind her, my mate had begun trying to claw her way out of the garment.

I sat on the chaise, legs stretched out in front of me, arms extended and resting on the back of the chair, appreciating the sight of my mate looking decidedly queenly. “You’re beautiful,” I told her. Even I was aware that the register of my voice dipped whenever we were alone. The dark, predatory part of me pulled at its fetters, wishing to be free and held unaccountable for the acts of depravity it would commit without the steady hand of restraint holding it by the collar.

Mine.

She was mine . And sometimes, the urge to throw her over a table and fuck her raw in front of everyone so that they would know that was too much to fucking bear. My cock stirred in my pants just thinking about it.

Saeris cast a questioning glance over her shoulder, a knowing smile teasing the corners of her mouth. “And what’s that I smell?” she asked, in a playfully innocent tone.

“The same scent I used to catch rolling off you every second we were alone together in the Winter Palace,” I rumbled. I took my time rising from the chaise and moving toward her. I wanted to take her in. Wanted to savor that moment when her eyes dilated, her arousal tinged with a little panic.

Her face was tilted toward me, her lips slightly parted in anticipation of a kiss . . . but I positioned myself behind her and placed my hands on her hips, angling them forward.

“Face the mirror,” I commanded.

Saeris huffed, disappointed, I thought, but she did as I had instructed.

We stood together there, reflected in the glass: two pale creatures, both raven-haired, one with eyes of blue, the other green. Saeris’s arms were already covered by long silk gloves, made from the same material as her gown. Black as murder, and sin, and ink, and the void of the heavens on a midwinter night. It was the kind of dress I hadn’t seen since I was a Faeling, rustling around my mother’s skirts at one of the many balls my parents had held when I was young. I had always marveled at the finery of the folk in attendance—their long-tailed coats; the bustles; the corsets; the square-toed, buckled shoes; the scent of perfume heavy in the air.

“Look at yourself,” I told my mate. The tailor had wanted to apply makeup to her face, and Saeris had balked at that. They’d gone to war over the matter, but eventually, Saeris had allowed a touch of pink blush for her cheeks and a little mascara for her eyelashes. You could barely tell she was wearing anything at all. Her skin was flawless, cheekbones high, eyes bright and clear. And the dress . . .

Her waist was already narrow, but the corset top cinched her in tight. The décolletage was devastatingly low, cupping her breasts so that her cleavage swelled every time she breathed. The skirts were fuller than was fashionable in other Fae courts, more traditional, but they made Saeris look regal.

Over her shoulder, the black evening attire I wore complimented her dress, embellished with the same velvet trim as her dress at cuff and collar.

Black on black on black.

My shadows spilled over her shoulder and up the column of her neck, caressing her, and Saeris’s breath stuttered, her skin forming goose bumps in reaction to my magic. I knew exactly what I was doing when I bent down and held her eye contact in the mirror, whispering softly into her ear.

“A lesser male would sink his teeth into you right here and now and fuck you until you screamed.”

Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips. I could see her pulse thrumming in the hollow of her throat. “A lesser female would beg you to,” she answered.

Oh, my Little Osha. She knew how to walk a dangerous line. “It wouldn’t be wise to provoke me to action, Osha. Not with you looking like this. I do love to mar a pretty thing.”

“Is that so?”

I replaced my shadows with my hand, curling my fingers lightly around her throat. “Mm-hmm.”

“And how would you mar me ?” she whispered.

I had a feeling she would ask. Running my tongue over my canines, I fisted a handful of her skirts and lifted them, hitching them up to her waist. I had to repeat the action twice more before I’d wrangled all the layers of tulle below and pinned it in my left hand. It was a shame to release her neck—I loved the sensation of her pulse flying against my palm—but I was in grave need of my other hand. Saeris watched me slide it down her body in the mirror, her pupils swallowing her irises as I stroked her exposed thighs, growling in approval when I found that she had my dagger strapped to her thigh again.

“Good girl, Saeris.”

“If you only mean . . . to see if I’m armed, then . . . I could have saved you the time and told y—Oh, gods!” Her mouth fell open. I hadn’t wasted any time. Her black silk panties were pulled aside, and I was sliding my fingers through her slick folds. She let out another breathless curse as I stroked her clit, her legs already starting to shake.

Good.

I was going to do more than make her shake.

I was going to make her fucking tremble.

I was going to make her weak for me.

The shoes she wore were beautiful, sparkling black, the heels staggering, a black silk ribbon tying at the front of each ankle. I shoved my right foot between hers and lifted her a fraction, knocking her feet out so that her stance was a little wider. I needed better access for this.

Saeris closed her eyes, turning her head, resting her cheek against my chest. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

Fuck. I needed another hand . . .

Magic would do. I was limited with what I could accomplish here. My small magics were available to me, such as they were. Minor illusions. Other trifles. But attempting to summon my shadows only led to frustration. My hands were bound, the vastness of my magic beyond reach. When I called, only diaphanous tendrils of shadow answered—tendrils that, for now, at least, would perfectly suffice.

The gods had gifted my father with his shadows so that he might do good with them. My father had passed them down to me for the same purpose. Over the course of my life, I had used them to help and protect many people . . . but right now I used them to pin Saeris’s gathered skirts to her hip so that I could take her by the chin and turn her gaze back to the mirror. Would the gods punish me for such a flagrant misuse of power? Fuck it. Let them. I would use my gifts for far more scandalous things over the course of the life I shared with Saeris, and if that meant languishing in the fires of damnation when I died, then that was a price I would just have to pay.

“A queen should never enter into a political setting feeling stressed, Osha,” I purred. “I’m helping, I promise.”

She was slick against my fingers. Hot. Wet. I stared at her in the mirror, smiling open-mouthed at her need. Before I could remark upon it, Saeris let out a groan. “Don’t tease me,” she pleaded. “I can’t help it. I . . .”

“Because you want me?” My voice was rough.

“Yes.” Her voice was a plea.

I withdrew my fingers from between her legs and held up my index and middle finger for her to see: wet, shining, coated in her arousal. “I’ll never tease you for this, Osha. This is the hottest thing in the world to me. It drives me to madness like nothing else. And I want you just as badly as you want me. Always. I walk around this hellhole with the head of my cock tucked into my waistband so that these leeches don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Fisher—”

“I would bottle this if I could,” I said. “Now stop worrying and watch.”

“Saeris?” Taladaius was at the door. I had sensed him there some moments ago, but he’d had the decency to keep his mouth shut. It appeared that he couldn’t do that any longer.

I held Saeris’s chin in place, making sure she looked straight ahead. “Don’t answer.”

“But—”

“Your body is mine for the next three minutes. Surrender. ” She didn’t want to. The command in my voice made her want to fight it, fight me, but she needed this. “Do you love me?”

“What! That . . . isn’t fair.”

“ Do you?”

“Yes! Of course I love you.”

I grinned wolfishly at her reflection. “A part of loving me is yielding sometimes.”

“You want my obedience?”

I slipped my hand back between her thighs, my fingers teasing circles over the bud of sensitive nerve endings I found there. “No, Osha. I want your trust .”

“Ah! And do I have . . . yours?”

I kissed her neck, still maintaining eye contact with her in the mirror. “Anything I ask of you, I give freely and willingly in return. Always. I promise.” Grazing my canines over the skin just below her earlobe rendered her immobile for a split second. She sagged back against me, losing control of her muscles, her eyes rolling back into her head.

“Saeris! It’s time!”

Her eyes snapped open again. “I need three minutes , Tal!”

I chuckled darkly under my breath. “Good girl, Osha.”

Tal hissed on the other side of the door. “You know I can hear you in there. Sinners, I’ll be waiting at the end of the hall.”

Saeris whimpered, pushing back against me, rubbing her ass against my increasingly painful erection. I let her do it, ignoring the way my own desire burned brighter, and the way my cock was begging for attention. This was about her , not me. There would be plenty of other opportunities where the roles might be reversed, but for now . . .

Saeris was starting to shake.

I plunged my fingers up inside her, snarling with satisfaction at the low moan she let out. “I’m going to make you come now. And for the rest of the night, anyone who comes within five feet of you will scent the orgasm I’m about to give to you.”

Yes, it was primal.

Yes, it was petty.

No, it was not very progressive of me to want to mark her in this way.

I didn’t fucking care.

This female, who shone brighter than the suns of her home and mine combined, was my mate, and every single member of this court would be reminded of that fact.

“Oh my gods,” Saeris panted.

“Good?”

She nodded.

I turned into her, pressing my mouth right up against the shell of her ear. “Watch my hand,” I breathed. “Watch me fucking you with my fingers. See how pretty your pussy looks like this, cupped in my palm. Do you see?”

My hand shielded most of her, but there it was, every few seconds: a glimpse of delicate coral pink.

Saeris moaned, her fingers digging into the rustling fabric of her skirts. “Yes,” she gasped. “Yes!”

Trembling became shaking. Shaking became full-body convulsions.

She was close.

“Now look at me,” I demanded. “Don’t close your eyes. Listen. I want to feel you clenching around my fingers, Saeris Fane. I want to feel that burst of sweet, wet heat in my hand when you come apart. Do it for me. That’s it. Do it now.”

She clenched, her jaw locking, nostrils flaring . . . and she came.

As she did so, threads of black swirled down my arm and spread from my skin to hers. Not magic, but ink. Another tattoo. Beautiful roses bloomed across the tops of her thighs as she moaned—an entire bouquet’s worth, shaded with delicate dot work yet still stark against the pale, creamy perfection of her thighs.

The untamed beast inside me roared as she released a wordless, desperate cry, clinging to my arm, grinding herself into my hand, and rolling her hips.

“That’s it. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.”

She let go of another cry. The sound was unrestrained and beautiful, fucking music to my ears, so guttural and free, and then she was done.

“Holy fucking hell . . . I . . . I . . .” She tried to support her own weight, leaning forward, but she tottered on her heels, nearly losing her balance.

“Steady, Osha.” I caged her loosely in my arms, supporting her as if she was drunk.

“Whoa.” She blinked quickly, as if she was having trouble seeing properly. “Those are . . . huge,” she gasped, eyeing the inkwork over the tops of her legs. “But . . . beautiful .”

Grinning wickedly over her shoulder, I slowly slid my fingers into my mouth. I sucked them clean, winking at her in the mirror. “Don’t say I never give you flowers, Osha.”

“Gods alive . . .” She shook her head, trembling a little. “How am I supposed to go out there now? I can’t even stand .”

So hyperbolic. “You’re fine,” I chided her playfully, laughing a little as I helped her find her feet. Once it didn’t look like her legs were going to quit on her anymore, I dropped to my knees in front of her and carefully undid the magic I had used to keep her skirts lifted while I teased her. Moving slowly, I fixed her underskirts layer by layer, making sure that none of the tulle was rucked up or sticking out anywhere. Once that was done, I settled the heavier fabric of her skirt back down, smoothing it out until she looked just as put together as she had when the tailor had left.

Her eyes still looked a little unfocused when I looked up at her and winked. “Feeling less stressed?” I inquired.

My mate blew out her cheeks, shaking her head slowly from side to side. “My ears are ringing so hard, I’m not going to be able to hear any of these petitions, Fisher.”

I got to my feet and placed a quick, chaste kiss against her lips. “You’re welcome. Come on. If we keep Tal waiting another minute, his head might actually implode.”

“Okay. Yeah, let’s—oh, wait, no! I need to . . .” Saeris hurried across her chambers and picked up the book that was still sitting on his nightstand. “I nearly forgot. I need to read the next page in your mother’s journal.”

She flipped through the front half of the book and paused, her eyes sliding from one side of the page to the other, fast, like a metronome. The post-orgasm haze left her face as she took in whatever secret lay before her and tried to wrap her head around it. When she looked up from the page, she gave a small nod and set the book down on the end of the bed, a strange look of determination on her face.

“All right, then. Now I’m ready. Let’s go.”