The Midnight Realm, page 16
Amell’s blue eyes darken to the color of denim and red pulses within his pupils. He sets the goblet down and reaches out to finger a lock of my hair. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’d like to taste you.” He doesn’t need more explanation than that.
“Fuck,” he growls, his hand sliding to the back of my neck. “Words like that will land you in bed where we’ll stay for the entire day.”
“You make that sound like it’s a bad thing,” I say with a slight smile, a renewed ache pulsing between my legs.
“It’s not a bad thing at all.” He releases me and takes a cooling step back. “But let’s go handle your friend first. I don’t want him on your mind at all when you’re… tasting me.”
“Um, okay.” I’m slightly confused because, well… he knows I’m offering a blow job, right?
“One thing first,” Amell says just before leaning in to kiss me. More than a brush of his mouth against mine, but not a toe-curler either.
My lips tingle, though, in an unnatural way. “What was that?”
“A bit of protection,” he says, taking my hand in his and walking us to the door. “Insurance if you’re in harm’s way again.”
“Why would I be?”
“You shouldn’t, but I never say never. This way I’ll always know where you are.”
I find his statement odd since he said I’m always to be with him, but I don’t question it.
Amell leads me through the castle, holding my hand the entire time. I believe this is calculated on his part, and everyone notices. While I don’t garner much attention when I walk these same halls, everyone looks at the king with his tall frame and luscious wings trailing behind him. More than one pair of eyes drops to where our hands intertwine, and I see confusion and even hatred.
I don’t see one smile or indication that anyone finds it sweet.
In the kitchens, Amell releases me to find Rhynda, and I spot Will still shelling peas. I rush over to him, and he nearly spills the bowl when I touch his shoulder.
“You scared the crap out of me,” Will says grumpily, and then his eyes widen as he sees Amell talking to Rhynda.
“It’s time, Will. You’re going home.”
“Right now?” he asks, his eyes shimmering with hope.
“Right now.”
“Come, Nyssa,” Amell says, and I look over my shoulder to see him by the door. “Bring your friend.”
I offer my hand to Will. “Let’s go.”
We follow Amell out of the kitchen. I almost feel sorry for Rhynda as she looks so befuddled over Amell coming for one of her human workers.
Will’s hand is slick with sweat, and he tries to pull it away. “I don’t think he wants me touching you,” he whispers as we follow about five paces behind Amell. “There are rumors that you end up in the river if you do.”
“I think us holding hands in friendship is okay,” I murmur back and give him a squeeze of reassurance.
Amell leads us out the castle’s front double doors, so tall, they stretch almost three stories. The path leads directly out to the Bridge of Judgment.
Will tries in earnest to jerk his hand from mine, but Amell says, “Easy, human friend of Nyssa’s. I’m not tossing you into the river.”
This was done without him seeing us behind him, so he either has super hearing or eyes in the back of his head.
“It’s okay,” I reassure Will, but I drop his hand so he’s not distressed.
Amell walks out to the middle of the bridge where his throne sits. The air is warm from the river churning below.
He turns and addresses Will. “Where would you like me to return you?”
My heart aches—Will seems so lost right now. His eyes come to mine. “Where do I go? Straight to my parents, who probably assume I’m dead. What do I even tell them?”
“Yes. You go straight to the people who love you most, and you tell them whatever you think will make them feel best.”
Will nods and takes a deep breath. “Okay. Yeah. That’s good advice.”
“Very well.” Amell circles his hand from which a shining light trails, creating a large circle in the air that grows bigger and bigger. The inside glows, then turns transparent, and I can see a small farmhouse sitting at the end of a gravel driveway.
“That’s my grandparents’ house,” Will says in amazement.
“Your parents are there, having their Sunday dinner,” Amell says.
My jaw drops in awe. “How did you know that?”
Amell shrugs. “I don’t question the powers Zora gave me. I just use them. I’ll let you two say goodbye.”
And then to my surprise, Amell walks back toward the castle doors, stopping about twenty yards away.
Allowing us a moment of privacy.
I don’t waste time because Will needs to get back to his life. I grab him in a fierce hug, and he squeezes me in return. “Thank you, Nyssa. There’s no way I could ever repay you.”
I lean my head back, hands going to his shoulders. “Sure you can. Have a great life.”
“I will,” he says and kisses my cheek. Then his eyes bore into mine. “I can look up your brother if you want. See how he’s doing. Not that I can let you know anything, but if he’s struggling in any way, I’ll help him. That’s how I can pay you back.”
“You’d do that?” I ask incredulously, my heart hammering with the possibility that the worry I’ve carried for the past fourteen years might be alleviated.
“Of course, I would. I’d do anything for you.”
“It will be hard. I’m sure the adoption records are closed and—”
“I’ll figure it out, Nyssa. I’ll use every resource I can, and I won’t give up until I find him.”
Tears prick at my eyes, and I hug him again. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Will laughs. “That makes me feel special.”
“Well, you’re the only friend I’ve ever had…”
We both laugh before I release him and push him toward the opening between dimensions.
His smile turns nostalgic and his eyes stay pinned on me as he walks backward toward it. He doesn’t release my gaze until he steps through the opening and it seals, causing Will to disappear.
I wipe my leaky eyes with my fingertips and look back toward Amell. He reaches his hand out to me, and I move to him to take it.
“Are you hungry?” he asks. “Because once we get in bed, I’m not letting you out for a very long time.”
I smile with extreme happiness for what just happened. “Maybe I’m the one who won’t let you out of bed for a very long time.”
Amell chuckles and rather than walk back through the castle, he bends distance and we flop right onto his bed.
CHAPTER 19
Amell
While my mind is mostly on Nyssa’s desire to “taste” me, I’m a little put off that she had obviously shared something very personal with Will.
He knew about her brother.
Yes, I stepped away to give her privacy to say goodbye to her friend when it was time for him to leave.
Yes, I shamelessly eavesdropped because I’m the king and I do whatever the fuck I want.
I know about Nyssa’s brother, of course, because I have her collection of life events from the crystal. I knew they were separated when he was a baby and she was only twelve, but the crystal didn’t reveal many memories involving him. There was the initial separation after their mother died, and then they went into separate foster homes.
A few instances of her asking the social worker when they’d be together again, only to be handed vague answers.
Then learning about her brother being adopted.
By then, she was in a bad situation of her own, and the fact he was adopted and she was alone changed her. She cried when she learned that, but she never cried again after, even though she had good reason to.
“Does it hurt your wings to lie on your back?” Nyssa asks, and I jolt slightly. I’d been lost in my thoughts about her past.
“What?”
“Roll onto your back,” she commands, and it’s cute that she thinks a king would do her bidding.
And yet, I roll, folding my wings in tight.
Nyssa straddles my hips and places her small hands on my chest. She looks so serious. “Thank you again for releasing, Will.”
“We had a deal,” I remind her.
“I know,” she replies with a faint smile. “Which is why what I’m about to do has nothing at all to do with Will and everything to do with me.”
I watch mesmerized as she works the laces of my leather vest. I could make it disappear with magic, but I like watching her concentrate, and I really like the tiny caresses where her fingertips touch my skin.
She peels the vest apart, exposing my entire chest, and sits back with her hands on her thighs. Nyssa lets out a huff of breath as her eyes roam my entire torso. “You’re really beautiful.”
I almost snort because it’s a weak word to describe me, but I can’t deny that her enjoyment of my physical appearance turns me on.
Her hands glide over my chest, pressing into my muscles, and her fingertips circle my nipples. My body tightens from the tingles of pleasure she leaves behind, and I’m shocked so light and innocent a touch even registers.
Nyssa scoots down to my thighs so she can access the laces of my leather pants, and my cock starts to thicken. I try to force it to behave because I want to see exactly what she will do to me in my natural state.
It’s a bit beyond my fae superstrength, though, when she bites her lower lip with every lace that comes free and she reveals a little more of me.
“Lift your hips,” she says, scooting back a bit more.
My pants are molded to my body, so if I want her to free me, I have to help. I do as she asks, and she pulls and tugs, working the material down over my hips.
When my cock is freed, it’s already half hard, and apparently Nyssa has found a true weakness within me. My body wants her with very little effort on her part.
I see no triumph on her face as she stares at it for what seems like forever. Only hunger, and fuck if that doesn’t make it thicken more.
She takes me in her hand, and I let out a long breath. Palming me gently, she glides her other fingers over the top, ever so soft. She doesn’t squeeze or stroke, but only offers butterfly touches that drive me fucking crazy. Nyssa watches in awe as my dick submits to her gentleness and becomes fully erect.
Throbbing, actually, and I grit my teeth. If she doesn’t do something soon, going to have to throw her on her back and—
Nyssa squeezes, and my hips buck at the sensation. She starts to stroke, and I go dizzy.
I’ve been jacked before and had more mouths on my dick than I can recollect, but I don’t ever recall anything feeling more pleasurable than her small hand working me.
It’s when she leans forward and her breath blows across my skin that I’m somewhat afraid of what I might feel. When her tongue touches me for the softest little taste, my hands curl into fists so tightly, I feel my bones splinter from the force and they burn as they regenerate and heal.
When she takes me into the hot depths of her mouth, I know nothing is ever going to be the same.
My control only lasts about ten strokes of her tongue before I’m going berserk with need and I’m jerking her off me. She cries out in protest, and it’s adorable as she glares with her lips all wet and puffy.
I will all of our clothing away, roll her to her back, and plunge into her. She’s so fucking wet.
Nyssa gasps, and I feel her body ripple around me as she adjusts to the invasion. I pump into her hard, my wings spreading to stretch and ease some of the tension within me.
My mouth slams onto hers, and I quiet her moans with my tongue. With my hands, I force her legs around my hips and when she locks tight, I use my great wing span to lift us off the bed.
Long, lazy strokes propel us gently upward. I keep my mouth on Nyssa’s and my arms wrapped around her back, while my hips drive my cock into her.
I fly us up, the ceiling soaring far above us still, and turn toward the wall.
When her back touches the cool stone, she gasps and wrenches away from the kiss. I hold still inside her as she looks at the ground thirty feet below, and her arms and legs tighten around me.
I grin as her eyes come back to me, my wings flapping in slow movements to keep us hovering with her pressed into the wall.
My hips move, resuming a steady thrust, and Nyssa’s eyes flutter. I angle my wings, using their strength and lift to slam harder into her.
Push her solidly against the wall so I have leverage to fuck her deeper.
“Amell,” she groans, her nails sinking into my shoulders just above my wings. “I can’t…”
“You can,” I assure her. “You’re strong.”
Her head falls forward to my chest and I curl around her, hips thrusting as I have one palm under her ass, the other pressed against the back of her head. My wings push against the air holding us above the bed, but as my orgasm builds, I don’t know that I can concentrate enough to keep us aloft.
“Gods, Nyssa… why do you feel so fucking good?” I groan.
Translation… why do you make me feel so much?
Her only response is her body going tight as she throws her head back, screaming out her release, bucking against my hold. The strength of her orgasm startles me so much, I get no more than a half a thrust into her before I’m coming.
My entire body locks as the orgasm utterly fucking destroys me, which includes my wings freezing as pleasure ripples down their lengths.
Nyssa and I plummet downward. With one arm locked around her, I use my other hand to grip her hair and force her mouth to mine. I kiss her as we free-fall, both of us shuddering with pulsing pleasure and without another care in the world.
Except I am aware of gravity, and before we hit the bed, I pull a quick bending of distance that allows us to land gently on the mattress—me on my back with my wings folded underneath, and Nyssa on top of me.
“Oh wow,” she whispers, sucking in oxygen as if she’s been deprived forever. “That was…”
She shudders again, her muscles rippling around my cock, which is still hard and could physically go for another round, but I’m not sure I’m mentally up for it.
That sex was so impossibly amazing, I feel weak.
During that fall, I could almost imagine what it might feel like to be human. Where all the sensations were so overwhelming, I didn’t think I could handle it and would easily perish.
There’s never been anything daunting in my immortal life, and yet the feelings Nyssa provokes scare the shit out of me.
I’m the king of the fucking Underworld. I rule all Dark Fae and judge souls. I can’t afford to be brought to my knees by a human.
Nyssa collapses on my chest, but then immediately pushes up to stare down at me with wide eyes. She looks confused, possibly even frightened.
She starts to pull away, but my hands go to her hips and I pin her in place, my cock still lodged deep inside her. But I’m not thinking about sex right now.
“Are you afraid of me?” I ask, dreading that she might say yes.
She shakes her head. “No. Just what you make me feel.”
Relief nearly makes my head spin, but I push it aside because her admission is monumental. Nyssa is an enigma. She gives nothing away for free.
I know I’m definitely different after that… encounter. Maybe she is too.
“What do I make you feel?”
Again, she tries to push away but I hold her tight. “Tell me, Nyssa. You have nothing to lose and nothing here can hurt you.”
Pain washes over her face, probably a hundred memories hitting her all at once. I’m not privy to what she’s thinking right now, but she had another thousand I saw through the crystal.
“You just… make me feel, and I’ve spent a good chunk of my life learning how to be numb. And when I was numb, I was invincible. Nothing could hurt me. It feels very dangerous to let that protection go.”
“Why did you want to feel numb?” I ask, then hold my breath, waiting to see if she’s ready to let me in and reveal all the things I already know.
She shakes her head but doesn’t try to pull away. “It’s not important.”
“It is to me.”
Her eyes lock with mine, and she seems to be searching to see if I’m lying.
I’m not.
Nyssa’s gaze falls to my chest. “I did a lot of bad things in my life, and—”
“Stop.” Her head snaps up. “I’m not interested in what you did. You’re in Hell already, so it doesn’t matter. I’d like to hear what happened to you that made you think it was better not to feel anything at all.”
“It’s not important.”
“You said that once already, but given that I’m asking again should clue you in that it is important.”
“Why?” she asks, exasperated. “I’m a lowly human who’s not even really alive. Just a plaything—”
I jackknife upward, my arms banding around her, my face to hers. “Don’t ever refer to yourself as a plaything again. How can you even say that after what we just shared?”
I kiss her, long and slow so she has time to digest those words. When I pull back, I ask one last time. “Tell me who Nyssa McKnight was.”
Nyssa’s eyes lock with mine. “She was abandoned. Abused. Beaten.”
My heart pounds because she’s giving me her life, one word at a time. After her mother died, she went into the foster system and never came out. She got shuffled among group homes at first, having to defend herself from the older kids.
“Molested. Overlooked. Forgotten.”
At age fourteen, one of the older foster kids took it upon himself to teach her about the birds and the bees in a very hands-on way. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
“Raped. Discounted,” she says quietly.
The man she killed—Vince—was her foster father in her last home at age fifteen. He took her virginity in a very painful way. After he left her room, she packed a small bag, stole money and credit cards from his wife’s purse, and ran.
