Page 83 of King of Storms and Feathers

This was death and life and everything in between. And he, Arrow, was the god who controlled me.

The king threw his head back, and a low growl rumbled in his chest, turning into a roar as he froze, then he came in hard shudders that wracked his body. With every jerk of his hips, a warm wave crested inside me. Lightning streaked throughout the room, tiny bolts of blue forking over our skin.

As our convulsions eased, the king stared, his gaze flitting between my throat and my breasts. Deep, ragged breaths moved his chest like bellows.

I gasped as I felt him harden inside me again. Vicious silver eyes glittering down at me, he drew his head back, then his lips parted, revealing long, gleaming-white fangs.

A warm hand slapped over my mouth, muffling my scream.

Gods, was he a vampire? If so, how had he hidden it from me? This must be the punishment he’d spoken of. He planned to drain every last drop of blood from my body. I tried to bite the soft webbing of his hand and to butt him with my head. But I could barely shift a muscle. Arrow was too big, too strong for me to rise against him without a weapon. Or magic.

Whatever this was, I had no choice but to lie still and endure it.

In a rush, sounds, smells, and images of the forest washed over me, transporting me from the horror of bearing witness to my own death. I closed my eyes, my heartbeat slowing, and I let the humidity of the woods, the tang of pine needles, calm my panic.

An animal snarl vibrated against my throat, then two sharp fangs pierced my skin, sliding into my flesh. “Relax,” the king whispered as his hips moved rhythmically and he drew on my vein. Soft feathers floated through the air, drifting over my skin, then landing on the bed.

“Don’t move.” A crude slurping sounded as he spoke, his voice muffled and hoarse. “Just feel me inside you. Remember what I said… I will never hurt you.”

The pain subsided, and I was shocked to feel my core heat, a wave of desire cresting through my stomach and all the way to my fingers and toes as Arrow drank.

Another feral snarl vibrated over my skin, his focus on one thing only—the fulfillment of his need, his pleasure.

He might not have planned to kill me, but it would be so easy for him to take too much. To drain me dry.

And despite the dawning possibility of my death, my inner muscles pulsed in sync with the draw of my blood, another climax building, its intensity making me cry. Tears streaked my face, and Arrow’s thumb wiped them away with the gentlest touch.

He swelled inside me, our bodies shivering then shuddering as my back arched off the bed, and his weight pressed me down again. Moaning, we came at the same time, warm wetness filling me as our breaths sawed from our lungs.

With my muscles still pulsing, I stared at the gilded-dome ceiling in shock as he licked my throat wound, then looked at me and grinned shamelessly. Stunned, I lifted my head, finding black and gold feathers scattered over my body.

“You bit me with no warning! You’re an asshole,” I said, forgetting the need to be nice and compliant so I could escape him forever as I slapped his smug face.

He laughed. “Am I? I didn’t hear any complaints when I drank from you.”

“So you’re… what? A vampire?”

“I am fae, and the most powerful fae at my court bear fangs. All the better to increase your pleasure, don’t you agree?”

“I’m not so sure.” I eyed the red welt on his cheek with a sliver of regret, wishing my default response when threatened wasn’t always instant violence. “Show them to me again.”

“Kiss me, and I might.” He flung onto his back and slid me a sheepish glance. “The fangs are connected to…” he waved his hand between our bodies. “… to fucking. I can suppress them, but in this case, I didn’t want to. When I drank, I marked you. Now no other fae of power would dare touch you.”

“You did what? And what about the fae with lesser powers? Could they touch me?”

“If they were foolish or somehow didn’t recognize my mark, then they wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.”

“To do that… to mark me—whatever that is—without warning… it was wrong.”

“I am king. I can do what I like, and it was worth your anger to ensure no other fae could claim you. I would pay the price a thousand times over.”

I rolled my eyes. “Since you’re so obsessed with paying over and above the price for things, if I never spoke to you again, would it still be worth it?”

Raising his upper body, he leaned on an elbow and laughed, trailing his fingers along the side of my face. “Yes. Now that I know what makes you sigh and moan, I could simply force you to talk to me.”

I made a scoffing sound.

“Deny it all you like, Leaf, but the next time I touch you… the proof will be in your tears of ecstasy, your words of praise. May lightning strike me dead if I lie.”

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