Princess of Shadows: A Dark Fae Fantasy Romance Read online

  He was still sick. I knew that. But he was stronger. I thought about the dream that he’d brought me into. A fantasy. He’d made me feel things that I hadn’t understood. Now it was time to feel the real thing.

  I moved to walk beside him, and he held my hand as we walked. When we got to the hut, I stopped him. “Sebastian, will you show me what it’s like to be with a man?”

  He smiled at me and said, “I’m not a man, but I’ll show you what it’s like to be with an incubus. I’ve heard that it’s the preferred option.”

  Chapter 24

  Rose

  I was ready for this. Ready for him. I was. I was sure of it. Maybe I wasn’t, though. Maybe I just wanted to be ready for it.

  As soon as Sebastian stepped through the doorway, he pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the dirt floor. I couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. Completely misty. Gray. Just like when he’d been in the dream.

  They pulled me into them, a swirling cloud of need. Of hunger. I could feel him when I stared into those eyes. I reached out and put my hand to his chest, feeling the smooth skin and hard muscles underneath. I ran my fingers down his chest, feeling his muscles ripple at my touch.

  “That feels good, Rose,” he whispered. My eyes didn’t watch my hand. They were locked in his gaze. Long black hair fell around his face, breaking his confident smile.

  His hand reached up to touch my cheek. He felt like he was on fire. The warmth that flowed through his fingers brought a heat to my skin that hadn’t been there even in the dream.

  “I think I like this better than the dream. You feel different.”

  His hand moved down my neck, his fingers slipping to the back, and he pulled me to him with a sudden burst of strength. His lips fell on mine, hard and urgent. Passionate. Fire exploded inside me as he trapped me in the kiss. Trapped was a terrible word for it though, because there was nowhere that I’d rather be.

  His need flowed through me like a drug. This couldn’t be normal. I should have been feeling all the physical sensations, not his hunger. His hand holding my neck just a little too tight. His lips pressing too harshly against mine. His teeth coming down to chew my lip.

  Instead, I stared into those eyes and felt the things that he kept behind the mists. The longing for a true companion. The hope that he’d found one. The hunger. Always the hunger. The desperate need to keep me from pushing him away.

  And over all of it, his pure bliss at having found someone who was stronger than him. Someone who could handle him at his worst. Someone who he could be weak around.

  I pulled back from his kiss. His eyebrows furrowed as he questioned if he’d made a mistake. I smiled at him and said, “Take off your pants.” Without thinking about what I was doing, I pulled my shirt off, leaving my chest bare.

  I should have been terrified by this, but something flowed through me that knew that this, of all the things in the world, was right. Sebastian moved faster than I’d expected him to, and I looked down at his maleness. Hard and ready for me.

  Then he stepped up to me as I was about to tell him to lay down and whispered to me, “No, Rose. Not this time. You can command me every time after, but tonight, you’ll let go. Tonight, you’ll allow me to show you what this is all about.”

  He didn’t give me a chance to argue as he wrapped his hands around me and picked me up. My wings fluttered, trying to give me balance as he carried me to the bed. As he held me, I looked him in the eye and got lost in those mists again. I barely noticed as he lay me down except the strange sensation of my wings sinking through the mattress, still there, yet immaterial.

  His lips pressed against mine, but then they moved down to my neck. I closed my eyes, getting lost in the sensations of his lips and teeth on my body. Down my neck, he left a trail of kisses. His hand roamed over my waist and then up to my breast, squeezing it tightly while his lips found the other.

  Teeth sank into my flesh, and they should have sent shooting pain through my body. Instead, my body felt only the passion that flowed from Sebastian into me.

  And it drove me higher.

  I let out a moan and put my hands in that jet-black hair as my body began to pulse with an energy that I’d never experienced. Even in the dreamscape, I’d never felt like this.

  He released my breasts and moved lower, kissing my stomach and somehow drawing that throbbing from between my legs and pushing it through my body. His hands moved to my waistband, and he slowly pulled the leggings down.

  I kept my eyes closed even as he lifted my legs to remove the last bit of clothing from my body, leaving me bare. I knew the need he felt now. I may not have been an incubus, but I was desperately in need of what I knew was to come.

  It was a hunger that had never been satisfied. A hunger I’d never known until I’d met Sebastian.

  He began kissing my stomach again, and he spread my legs. At one point, I’d have been scared to be this vulnerable especially around a man like Sebastian. A man that knew how to twist my body to his whims. Not anymore. Never again.

  Not with him.

  His lips moved even lower, and his hands moved to my waist, holding me still as his tongue touched my most vulnerable spot and sent lightning bolts of pleasure through my body.

  I bit my lower lip, but the low moan still came out. I’d never felt anything like this. Not even in that dream. Sebastian may not have had enough power to work his incubus magic, but this was magic just the same. There was nothing in the world so exquisite as his tongue between my legs.

  I could sense the hunger in Sebastian being sated. His body no longer ached. His powers would return soon.

  I let out another moan as he found my entrance, making soft circles. My entire body pulsed with my heartbeat, a drum that resounded through my entire being.

  A pressure was building inside me that I’d known only once before. Once, in a dreamscape. A pressure that I knew would sate the hunger building inside me. In this singular moment, I wanted nothing except for him to continue doing this. His tongue and lips on me were the only things in the world that I craved.

  And then they were gone. My eyes snapped open for the first time since the beginning as the pleasure began to fade. The desperate pressure inside me needed more. Why had he stopped?

  I felt my wings flicker in anger, and a dark power flowed over my body, close to the skin. But when my eyes opened, they saw Sebastian’s face over mine as he pressed his body over mine. Flesh to flesh, he surrounded me.

  His own dark power flowed over his skin. I could feel it as clearly as my wings. It melded with mine as I felt him press against my opening as he looked down at me. His misty eyes less gray and more blue.

  “Don’t turn away,” he murmured in a whisper that I couldn’t have missed. Pressure began to build at my opening, and a sharp stinging sensation made me wince, but then it was gone.

  Sebastian’s hands ran underneath me as he filled me for the first time. I pulled him closer, my nails pressing into his back as he forced a pleasure I couldn’t have imagined through my body.

  That desperate pressure that had been building inside me poured out in a wave as I moaned and dug my nails in harder. Sebastian didn’t seem to notice the pain as his hands never stopped moving over my body, pulling and pushing that power over me, and making all the sensations even more intense.

  Wave after wave of bliss flowed through my body, and Sebastian gasped, his eyes turning an even darker blue as he stared down at me. His touch became more insistent, his nails digging into my back as well.

  He began to thrust into me, and my back arched as he forced my body to take even more pleasure. The world seemed to disappear as I lost track of everything except the sensations. Only the sound of his body against mine, his hunger and mine finally being fed.

  And his eyes staring into mine.

  I could see him. All of him. In this moment, I felt everything that he was. The strength. The pain. The struggle. The loss. The power. The love.

  He bent down and kissed me. The ca
utious softness was gone. There was no exploring, no wooing. He pressed against me so hard that it hurt. His thrusts were desperate now, and the kiss was no different.

  I felt that pressure building inside me again, different yet the same. Mists began to flow around me, caressing me in a way that hands could never do. Soft kisses all over my body. A cacophony of sensations.

  The mists flowed under me, slowly lifting me off the bed, becoming a soft cushion underneath me and letting me float an inch off the bed. Sebastian’s hand went to my throat. His lips found the crook my neck, and as he kissed me, his teeth bit down.

  It was all too much. The sensations. The feelings that flowed from him to me. The pressure inside exploded outward in a scream, and my body shook, my legs tightening around him. Wave after wave of pleasure raced through my shaking body. I’d never felt anything so intense.

  Sebastian groaned above me, and his thrusts finally stilled. The mists in his eyes receded, leaving crystal clear, deep blue eyes. Deeper than I’d ever seen them. “Thank you,” he whispered, his chest heaving as he caught his breath.

  “No Sebastian, thank you. That…” I took a deep breath, my head still swimming from all the sensations. “That was incredible. Is that how it always is?”

  He smiled down at me as the mists that had supported us began to dissipate, letting us settle onto the bed again. “No, I was very weak that time. Next time, it will be much better.”

  I couldn’t imagine it. There was no way that anything could top the sensations that I’d just felt. At least not in my mind. As I looked at Sebastian, I realized that I was almost certainly wrong. I just didn’t understand how.

  Something had changed, and as he rolled over, I didn’t cover up. Sebastian had seen all of me. He’d touched all of me. He lay on his side, hand under his head as he looked at me. His other hand ran over my skin, teasing me.

  He wasn’t shy about it either, letting his fingers trace my breasts and nipples. “Do you feel better?” I asked, and he grinned at me, his confident smile back in place.

  “Better than I can remember. I’m not up to my full power yet, but you haven’t ever known me at my full strength. I feel better than that, though. You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to feel you like that.”

  I felt the blush come over me, but his hand went to my chin, stopping me from turning away. “Don’t be ashamed, Rose. You’re beautiful in ways that no other woman has ever been.”

  I tried to pull away, but he climbed on top of me, pressing my hands to the bed. His strength covered me, making me feel even more vulnerable as he pressed his lips to mine.

  I felt him then, a joy that didn’t make sense. He wasn’t happy that he wasn’t sick anymore. He wasn’t just satisfied with me. He was happy. Like a child on Christmas morning.

  I wanted to ask him about it, but once again, I felt like he could read my mind. “You made me feel different, Rose. I felt like a man instead of an incubus for the first time in my life. I wanted to see you in ecstasy. I wanted to be the one who showed you that even in this world of cruelty and pain, there are reasons to smile.”

  “And as I felt your bliss, I felt a happiness inside me that I hadn’t felt in years. I don’t want you to turn away from me, Rose. Ever. I don’t want you to run or hide from me.”

  “Because you’re the first person I didn’t want to hide from.”

  I stared up at him, feeling every bit of his emotions as he poured out his feelings. This was not the same man that had sat at a tree and watched me being chased by a unicorn. No, that had been the cold side of Sebastian. That had been Tinkerbell.

  This was the man that was willing to fight a battle he was almost guaranteed to lose. The man who was willing to fight the most powerful woman in the world. For me.

  I smiled. “Fine. I won’t turn away from you, but that means you’re stuck dealing with me.”

  A grin crossed his face, and he rolled over onto his back, letting me up. “Perfect. Now why don’t you curl up to me like in the cottage? You slept well that night.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re bossy, and I don’t think I like it. How about you curl up to me this time. I’ve never been a spoon, but I think I’d like to try.”

  “I don’t know what that means, Rose.” I sighed and turned away from him.

  “Just curl up to me sexy fairy man.” He didn’t need any more coaching than that, and when I felt his arm wrap around me, I felt safe. After everything that had happened in the past few days, I felt safe here.

  And I felt like I was home. Finally.

  Chapter 25

  Sebastian

  I woke up next to Rose who was still softly snoring. The curve of her body sang to the male in me. Not the incubus. I wasn’t hungry for her power. Somehow, after a millennium, I’d found someone who sang to the rest of me.

  I tried to crawl out of bed to make coffee without waking her, but as soon as I stood up, Rose rubbed her eyes and looked at me with a sheepish glance. I hadn’t bothered to put on clothes after last night. Neither had she, but while I was standing, she’d pulled the covers up over herself.

  The fire had burned down low last night, and I tossed a few logs on to get it heated up again as I filled the coffee kettle from a basin. “How do you feel this morning?” she asked. I knew she was staring at me. Everyone stared at me, and normally, it annoyed me. She was different. I liked the way she was looking at me.

  I set the water to boil and turned back around. “I feel good. The real question is how do you feel?” I put my hand out to touch her, and she seemed to pull away, curling up tighter in the covers.

  “I think I feel good?” she said, and I could feel the vulnerability. I felt the incubus inside me already ready for more, but I pushed the hunger back.

  “You’re not tired?” I asked, concerned. “Even most fairies are at least a little groggy the next day. I didn’t hold back last night.”

  She shook her head and seemed to be breathing faster than normal, and her wings were fluttering regularly. She needed some space. Not very much, but a little.

  I stood up and pulled my pants on, covering myself up and giving her some time to wake up a little before she had to confront what had happened last night. I squatted by the fire, watching the twigs breaking.

  It was hard to see it and not think of Nyx even though I knew that I should be focused on Rose. I’d wished that I could control fire like him when I was young.

  As I watched the fire, memories flooded my mind, and I bowed my head remembering. Then I felt Rose’s hand on my back. “I’m sorry that you had to fight him, Sebastian.” Her words were so soft. I looked up at her. She was wearing her clothes from yesterday.

  “How’d you know?”

  “You’ve never talked about caring about anyone except him. Now you’re watching the fire and sad. What were you thinking about?”

  “You don’t really want to know. You probably wouldn’t understand how he was.”

  “Try me, Mister. I’m a Queen, and Queens know things. Or at least I think they do.” She gave me a smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “I was thinking about the first time that Nyx hurt me. He was showing me how to fight. He was letting me use him as a target as he danced across a training ground while I shot stream after stream of mist at him. One finally caught him in the chest while he was jumping.”

  “He’d fallen hard, and I’d rushed to help him up, scared that I’d hurt him. I was young, maybe a hundred years old at the time which is extremely young for someone raised as a Fae. As soon as I was within a few feet of him, he screamed, and fire filled the air.”

  “It coated me from head to toe. I screamed as it burnt me. He didn’t try to put it out. All he did was watch me as I slowly healed from it. When I could finally see again, my eyes healing, I looked down and saw an obsidian dagger at my throat.”

  “Don’t trust me, Prince,” he said. “Don’t try to help me. I may be helping you now, but in the end, men like me only destroy thi
ngs. If you stay near me, I’ll end up destroying you too.”

  “He was right all those years ago. He’d have killed me yesterday. I cared about him, but I did kill him. When he told me that all those years ago, I didn’t believe him. I didn’t believe that he’d end up hurting me. But I did remember not to trust anyone else.”

  “It made me stay away from everyone, only coming out of the palace to feed.” I looked up at Rose. “I don’t want to be like that anymore. I want to trust you, and I want you to trust me. For the first time since my mother died, I want to trust someone again.”

  “I trust you Sebastian, and I hope that you can trust me.” She smiled down at me, and for just a moment, everything was quiet. Then the kettle began to whistle, and I picked it up as I stood.

  “I think I can,” I said, feeling the moment that we’d shared begin to fade. “What do you want to do today?”

  “I don’t know. I’m kind of lost in all of this. What am I supposed to do?”

  “You probably need to start learning about your magic. If you’re going to survive the Immortal Realm, you’re going to need to know how to defend yourself.”

  She seemed to think for a moment and then said, “I want to do more than peel potatoes.” She stood up straighter and seemed to steel herself. I gave her a confused glance and began to put coffee into the kettle.

  “I think that’s more than reasonable for a Queen in training…”

  “No, I want to be useful. All I could do last night was peel potatoes. I don’t want to be known as the Queen Who Peels or some such nonsense just because I’m worthless in every other way. I want to be a contributing member of the village.”

  I shrugged. “That seems like a good task to set yourself to.”

  “And I want to learn to fight like you.” I turned around, ignoring the coffee.

  “I don’t think you want to do that, Rose. People who fight like me end up killing people. Maybe you should surround yourself with people like me who can protect you. Then you won’t have to fight. You won’t have to kill.”