Page 66 of The Jester

Pressed against the cold stone wall, my back sighs with relief. “You took them so well,” he whispers.

All I can do is nod, and hook my legs around his waist as he lifts me onto his cock.

He thrusts upwards. I grip his shoulders, then release my wings. As they push through my sore skin, I cry out but then I beat them gently, using them to keep me suspended in the air so he can fuck me while I kiss him and stroke him and moan into his mouth.

When he comes, he grabs my ass and I let his orgasm wash over me, coaxing mine through the haze of pain and pleasure to swell in the deepest crevices of my body.

For a long time, we remain suspended in the middle of the room. Slowly, my wings calm, and Finn lifts me down. I lean against his chest, shaking. And when he tucks his finger beneath my chin and turns my face up towards him, I hear myself whisper, “I love you, Finn.”

He stares down at me. His beautiful features are emphasised by the glow of the candles. “I love you too.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ALANA

When I finally leave Finn and go to Eldrion, I find him stalking back and forth like a caged animal. His usually perfect hair is tousled, his muscles tight, and there is an almost-empty bottle of whisky on the mantlepiece above the fire.

He looks at me and daggers nestle between my ribs and my stomach. He might have trusted me once, but not anymore. Now, all I see when I look at him is pure, molten, hatred.

Hatred and the sting of Finn’s lashings on my back.

I take my eyes away from him, staring down at my bare feet. In my mind, I hear those sounds again. The tearing of Kayan’s wings, the scream, the thud. I see Finn, and the way he looked when Eldrion humiliated him.

“You are late.” He flexes his fingers.

He pours himself another drink and sighs as if he is in physical pain. When I look up, he is rubbing his temples.

“I will not be discussing anything else with you.” I sit down in his armchair, cross one leg over the other, and fold my arms in front of my stomach. It is taking every ounce of strength in my body not to crumble, sob, run. But I will not let him see I am scared of him. “You can keep making me come here, but from now on I have nothing to say to you.”

I am trying to breathe slowly, trying to trick my nervous system into believing everything is okay, when he strides across the room to stand in front of me. His enormous frame casts a dark shadow over my face. I keep my gaze trained on my intertwined fingers.

But then his hand is on my chin and he is jerking my face up towards his.

I jolt back in the chair. I see him grabbing Kayan, lifting him into the air with one hand. Nausea surges at the back of my throat. I stand, pushing past him, and vomit onto the floor beneath the window.

Eldrion simply watches me.

I brace my hand on the window, letting the cool glass soothe my palm, and breathe heavily. Then I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and straighten myself.

Eldrion assesses me for a moment, then hands me the whisky.

I take it and drink it down in one, wincing as it burns on its way down my throat.

“You took away their pain,” he says slowly. He’s talking about the cells.

I open my mouth to talk, then stop myself. I vowed not to speak, and I won’t.

“It was magnificent.” His eyes change. Something in them softens, but then he seems to notice it and quickly corrects himself. Looking down at the remnants of my breakfast, which now stain his floor, he takes my wrist and jerks me away from them.

He is so strong, his grip so powerful, I could not refuse him even if I tried. He drags me over to the fireplace, then pours me another drink. The last of his whisky.

“You are very powerful,” he says.

I shudder because it feels more like an insult than a compliment.

“But you have no idea how dangerous your powers are.”

My grip tightens on my glass, nails scratching the smooth surface. “Dangerous to you?” Damn it, if he wants to talk, then we’ll talk. But I am not going to be the one giving answers today; he is.

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