“I don't think you could have, Arach,” I said calmly. “The Fates said it was meant to be. I was supposed to end up in that mirror and free Narcissus, and Qaus was supposed to come and kill him.”
“Well, if a trinity of gods says it's so, then it must be,” he sneered.
“Arach,” I whispered in shock.
“No!” He pushed his body against mine. “No more keeping me in the dark, wife. You will tell me what's happening from henceforward.”
“Okay.”
I barely had time to get the word out before Arach's mouth covered mine, his sharp teeth cutting my lip so he could suck at my blood. I tried to pull away from him; I didn't want him to see what I'd been through with Narcissus, and my blood would show him everything. But Arach held my head firmly between his hands and savaged my mouth; growling deep in his throat as he experienced my recent memories.
“Fire and fury, Vervain!” Arach roared as he pulled away from me. “Even now, you hold back. You didn't tell me he tried to rape you.”
“I'm sorry,” I whispered.
Arach roared, grabbed the nearest trunk and uprooted a tree; a whole tree. He tossed it aside and roared again. His face shifted into sharper angles and scales spread down his cheeks. Arach's sulfurous eyes brightened to sharp lemon and started to glow. Claws erupted from his fingers and he bent double as his breath sawed out of him.
“Okay, Dragon, you win,” I said gently as I laid a hand on his shoulder. “I'll tell you everything from now on, even if it's hurtful.”
Arach glanced up at me and a low growl left his lips before he spoke, “Swear it.”
“I swear it,” I repeated.
I started stroking Arach's face tenderly, easing him back from the edge of his beast. He closed his eyes and his breathing started to slow. I pulled him upright and spread my hands down his throat and then over his chest. Arach's shoulders dropped with a ragged breath, and he opened his eyes.
But there was still heat in his stare.
I knew what Arach needed; the one thing that would bring him down. I just hoped the orchard survived it.
I undid the lacing at the front of my dress and let it slip down my body to puddle on the grass. Arach's stare shivered a second before he reached for me. Our joining was rough and wild, but that's exactly what I had expected. I even craved it. My other men had been so careful with me after I'd come back from Narcissus' territory. They must have sensed the wounds in my mind that struggled to heal; the images I couldn't yet banish. And they had been so gentle with me that it was ironically driving me mad. I wanted this; this primal reminder of strength and life. I wanted Arach.
Arach bent me over, and I grabbed the tree in front of me for support. He didn't bother to undress, he was too far beyond that. Arach simply pulled his cock free and slid it into me until his hips met my ass. We both cried out with the near-therapeutic pleasure of it, and then Arach started a wild tempo; a thrashing thrusting that jostled my breasts and my bracing tree as well. The slick sound of sex echoed around us, giving proof to my rising desire. That drove Arach even more wild, and he bent over my body to fill his hands with my breasts as he slammed home with a dragon's strength and speed.
“A Thaisce,” he growled into my ear. “I love you more than life.”
“I know, Dragon,” I growled back. “I love you too.”
Arach pushed me forward until I went upright, my arms hugging the tree trunk, and then he lifted one of my legs and hooked it over his arm. It brought him closer to me; his sex going even deeper. I screamed with rapture. So perfect; the brutal barbarism of it full of love and a fair amount of rage. It leeched the fury from my own heart and rattled the darkness in my mind until the broken pieces—the ones that had threatened my sanity—came loose and fell away.
“I should have been the man to tear apart that monster,” Arach snarled. “You will not stop me from seeking vengeance again, wife. Blood and bones are mine to claim as leader of the Wild Hunt.”
“I already said I'd clue you in,” I snapped. “Don't press your luck, Dragon. You're starting to piss me off!”
Arach started laughing as he continued to piston into me, and I smiled against the smooth bark of the orange tree. Perhaps I'd bring him out there again in the Spring when the orange blossoms perfumed the air. That would be magnificent.
My dragon pulled out and turned me around to shove my back against the trunk while he lifted both of my legs around his waist. Then he kissed me sweetly as he slowed his thrusting to a deep grind. When he eased out of our kiss, it was only far enough to lay his forehead against mine.
“You always know just how to soothe me,” Arach whispered. “And just how to make things perfect between us again.”
“Is that what we are? Perfect?” I whispered back.
“Doesn't this feel perfect to you?”
“So perfect that I never want it to stop.”
“Well, you did say you were going to rock my world tonight,” he reminded me.
“Perhaps we should get back to our guests and finish the feast first.”
“I need a few minutes more, A Thaisce.” Arach punctuated his words with a deep thrust that he kept inside me. “I want to feel you clenching around me as you come. And the kitchen staff need to hear you scream for me again.”
“What?” I glanced over my shoulder, through the shadows of the orchard and toward the kitchen door.
A group of fairies stood in the open doorway staring
