Page 129 of A Deal with the Shadow King

“You’re cheating,” I say.

With a chuckle, he picks me up and guides my thighs around his waist. I curl around him like a vine and rake my fingers along his skull, just the way he likes.

“Now, if you keep on like this, I might forget to be discreet.” He deposits me on the librarian’s desk and snaps off the rubber band holding my hair up.

Mortal love wanes, but Fae love cuts to the bone.

Damian might have lost the bet he made with my father, but in the end, he owns my soul. Flesh, blood, and bones—as they say here in Faerie. I struggle to breathe when he’s not around, the magic inside me yearning for its king, and if it’s a bit too much, I take solace in the knowledge that our love saved the entire kingdom from Morrigan.

I don’t feel guilty for the depths of my obsession for him. I’m a mere mortal in love with the most beautiful and stubborn royal Fae in existence. I’m allowed to lose my head. He pulls his shirt over his head, the beauty of him laid bare for my pleasure.

Fresh scratches from his latest hunt decorate his ribs, and the sight fills me with fire.

“Are you ready for me, pet?” he asks, his thumb sliding over the roundness of my breast.

The click of his belt hitting the ground stokes the flames in my belly, and I let out a ragged whine, his impatience more than contagious. “Yes.”

He enters me, and my heart beats in my throat, the tight fit made tighter by the tension in my belly, my legs hooked around him.

A groan escapes him as he starts to move, and I shift my ass on the desk, searching for the sweetest angle. The most delicious pressure. The naughtiest friction. Before long, I’m breathless and furious, the hollowness in my chest about to burst at the pressure of his slow, controlled thrusts.

“Harder,” I cry out, ready to punish him for teasing me so.

His dark chuckle goes directly to that secret place inside me, pushing me closer to the brink. He tests my patience some more until I bite his shoulder.

The scorched and dark taste of him fills my senses, and he draws back, clearly surprised. “Playing rough, my kitten?”

I defy him with a long, baring stare. “Me—ow.”

A laugh rumbles through us both, and I groan as he finally, finally gives me what I want. He grips the roots of my hair and tugs, the pressure of his cock threatening to erase what’s left of my rational brain.

The more we have sex, the more I burn for him, becoming more demanding and possessive each time we do this.

An open-mouthed kiss on my temple sends me over the edge, and I come apart in his arms. The ecstasy erases the whole word and leaves me in pieces.

The sweet ache of desire gives way to a powerful, drugging sense of peace as he empties himself inside me, and we catch our breath together. My dark king shudders in my arms with nothing but words of love and worship on his breath, and it’s ethereal to see him like this.

So undoubtedly mine.

He lays over me like a naughty, muscular blanket and runs a hand down my throat. “The Spring Court is expecting me in less than an hour… If I could, I’d spend all day inside you, kitten…”

“Ugh. I hate Morheim.” I push his shoulder to move him off me and bend down to grab my discarded clothes, but Damian clasps my hand.

“Wait.”

The soft tremble of his voice gives me pause.

“Next year, you’ll come with me. As my queen.” The Shadow King bends to one knee in front of me, his eyes full of devotion and hope…

A fierce blush colors my cheeks. “Eek. We’re naked.”

“You saved me, kitten. You made mirrors of your eyes, and inside them I saw someone I didn’t loathe. You’re strong and kind and fearless, and I love you. Forever.” He clicks open a velvet case, the onyx and gold ring within it burning like a flame in the darkness. “Marry me.”

I bring a hand to my mouth to cover a hiccup. “Next year?”

Damian shakes his head like I’ve lost my mind. “I just meant that we’d never spend Morheim apart again. But I can’t wait that long. Can you?”

“No!”

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