Page 81 of The Surrender

“You mother-fucking Fae!” Merikh roars and upends the table.

I flinch and curl against Mayce, who folds his arms around me and strokes the back of my head. More heat pulses through my veins. More desire gushes to my core from the scent of him. And all I want is for him to wrap me in his arms and carry me away.

Mayce dabs his mouth with one hand, smiles down at me, then turns to the vampire. “Honestly, Merikh, you shouldn’t be so surprised. Everyone knows your court is no place for our girl growing the little one in her belly. And you are not prepared, nor equipped to care for her in such a state, are you, bloodsucker? I’d say she needs all her blood properly stored in her lovely body.”

“I’m…” A yawn escapes my mouth, interrupting my words as fatigue weighs down my lashes. “What’s going on?” I press my cheek against his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

On our right, Drago chuckles darkly and deeply. “Well done, mate.”

Merikh growls at the High King, but it’s Kyan who stands and surges a fresh current to breeze around the room. It stops his partner in his tracks, and the King of the Court of Air approaches the vampire.

I rub my face against Mayce’s chest, a longing ache growing in my own chest, but I’m still paying enough attention to notice that Kyan doesn’t touch his partner when he addresses him. Every vampiric nerve is strung too tight.

“Merikh, he’s right.”

“Shut the fuck up about what I already know, Kyan,” Merikh barks, his eyes centering on mine, dark and brooding.

“Of course I am. I am always right.” Mayce nods and lifts his goblet to the two of them. “Moreover, for all your complaints and woes about it being your turn, I am the only one who hasn’t had the pleasure of filling any of our sweet baby girl’s tight little orifices.” His fingers tread suggestively along my thigh and then under where he cups my bottom.

I giggle again and wiggle against him, only to yelp when Mayce pinches my backside. “None of that, my little Tess.” He brushes his lips across my brow before lifting my chin. “While I am not the ruffian my brothers are, you will find I am much more unyielding in other ways. And consequences for disobedience will be far greater than those you’ve experienced…simply in different ways, little rosebud. Yes, rosebud, I believe that will do.”

He touches his lips to mine, and I bow beneath his mouth, opening and yielding to his masterwork of a kiss. He wraps his dominance and masculinity within a trained seduction. One ingrained within his foundation. One he’s honed throughout his life.

“You will be my little rosebud.” He taps my nose, then combs his fingers through my hair, rubbing my scalp as if petting me. It sends tingles to sweep all along my skin, competing with the heat in my blood and the hazy film over my eyes. “I am the master gardener who will bring you to full bloom, my child. And your training will begin immediately.”

A final low growl rumbles from Merikh before he storms off, slamming the dining hall door behind him. Hard enough to rip it from its hinges and rattle the walls. Kyan pursues him.

I’m so relaxed, I hardly notice how he’s turned me around, peeled the back of my leotard to one side, and injects a new plug into my ass. At first, my tight ring of muscles squeezes in protest. Until Mayce swats my backside, triggering a yelp.

“Relax, rosebud. Open for me. That’s a good girl.”

His praise heats my cheek and kindles my desire as he pops the plug deep inside and pushes it in and out a little before securing it. An approving pat on my ass follows. He replaces my leotard, which only adds more pressure. It’s uncomfortable. Awkward. But not unbearable. Most uncomfortable is how my pussy gets slick and hot from the action.

“There, there, rosebud,” he purrs warm breath along my brow and tightens his grip on me. “Soon, we will travel to my Court of Thorns. My people will be so thrilled to meet their new queen.”

I shiver from the thrill leaping through me and lighting up my curiosity. What sort of court will this be?

Raising me up, the Fae god sweeps me into his arms with my legs wrapped around his midsection and my arms around his neck. My cheek bows upon his chest as a heavy slumber folds all around me.

“Yes, rest your sweet head, little Quintessa,” he urges me to sleep, his voice deepening and surrounding me like a warm nest on a summer’s day. “Daddy Mayce will take care of you now.”

He hums an unearthly lullaby, and I soon drift off to sleep.

Epilogue

QORA/NERAYA

Somehow, I remember to breathe.

Whenever he strides into the bedroom suite, my heartbeat falters, and my lungs slam together.

My one act of defiance earned me a month of chains. Sometimes, Kronos keeps me shackled to the bed with my legs and arms spread. Mouth gagged. Eyes blindfolded. Ears stuffed. Full sensory deprivation all day at times. Now, I understand what it feels like whenever Quinn went hungry.

Those times are the worst because I don’t know when he will come. No way to prepare before he penetrates me deep and hard and shakes the bed while freeing me of the blindfold and bonds. A way to remind me he is my creator and my liberator. He holds the true chains of my soul.

It doesn’t matter how I’ve remained subservient ever since.

Kronos has allowed anyone to use my flesh from lords to nobles so he may secure whatever alliances or treaties he desires. Or courtiers, both male and female, to play with me alongside him.

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