Epilogue
“So about this whole under my command thing.” I stretched out on my couch while Lucus set a brown paper bag of pumpkin muffins on the kitchen counter. We’d left the strange crew at Sweet Touch. Hekla had said she’d lock up and take the rest to her place to wash up and order some less freaky clothing online.
Lucus leaned around the kitchen doorway and raised an eyebrow. “Just remember. You promised it will be my turn to control you tomorrow.”
I turned onto my side, hiding my grin. Warmth rose between my thighs as I imagined what I could do with this newfound power. “Marattin Raja, massage my feet.”
His footsteps were quiet on the carpet, but I heard him breathe in suddenly. He rounded the end of the couch and knelt beside me. “Of course, Yew Queen.”
His fingers rolled under the arch of my foot, and his palm pushed into my heel, making me groan with pleasure.
“You’re good at this.”
“I’m good at quite a few activities.” He stood and removed his belt, blade, and tunic. His body was breathtaking. I would never get sick of enjoying the view. His shoulders were so broad and roped with muscle. His arms and stomach… That devilish grin…
Desire drummed through me, making my skin sensitive and my nipples peak. “Marattin Raja, kiss me here.” I pointed at the bare skin below the t-shirt I’d changed into.
Lucus dipped his head and went to work. He unbuttoned my jeans and brushed his lips along my hipbone. Goosebumps sprang up along the back of my legs, and heat pooled inside me. His nimble fingers edged my clothes out of the way. He looked at me through his leaf-tipped lashes. “What do you wish?”
A fierce longing pulsed between my legs, and I wanted him to touch me, to fill me, to end the aching need. “I want it all, and I want it now.”
One of his pointed ears poked through his hair as he licked my skin, slow and delicate, and my back rose from the couch as I exhaled in a rush.
“Command me,” he said, his voice a growl.
Hmm. He liked this, did he? I wanted to boss him about properly, but my mind was spinning. His lips parted over my thigh, his breath hot, then his teeth nipped me lightly as he worked his way up around my other hip.
I grabbed him by the hair, the jade streaks dark and beautiful around my fingers. His horns shimmered into view as he moved his head, still licking and biting my skin.
“Take me, Marattin Raja.”
He made a sound something like a snarl and climbed on top of me. Kissing my neck, he inhaled as he undressed me piece by piece. He was taking from my aura, but I was good with it. It felt amazing, and with the power I possessed now, I knew it wouldn’t weaken me. He could only make me stronger. He shuddered as he entered me, and pleasure rode through me like wild horses as he rocked his hips, moving faster and faster. I ran my hands down his back, feeling the essence of his hidden wings.
“Coren, my queen,” he said huskily as he moved over me. “Command me.”
Sparks of intense pleasure fired across my body, and I wasn’t sure I could talk. Lucus’s wings burst into view, and I cried out as desire swallowed me whole.
“Slower, Marattin Raja. Slower.” I could hardly believe I had the nerve. We were so close.
But the torture of him thrusting slowly was worth it.
He whispered something fae in my ear. It sounded a lot like please.
“To your back, Marattin Raja.” I cracked a wicked smile and set a lightning tipped hand on his chest.
He gasped, then, groaning at the interruption, rolled over. He eyed me warily, the strain clear in his features. His hair had grown longer—something to do with our bond and his feeding—and it lay tangled on the couch pillow and twisted around his horns. His flat stomach drew in as he pushed into me, sure and full. A moan slipped from my mouth at the sheer delight of the feeling.
Raising himself to his elbows, he glared. “Torturing me with slow love-making was not part of the Yew Queen prophecy.” He gasped as I undulated my hips. “My love,” he said, finishing his sentence.
I leaned close, pressing my breasts to his chest and inhaling the spicy scent of him. “It’s sad when stories leave out all the good parts,” I said, then I gripped his shoulders and moved against him until the world blurred and I had the King of the Woods shouting for his queen.
Lucus slung one arm over my stomach as we watched TV. The morning sun blessed his seelie fingers and made his skin look almost as gold as my aura.
“I’m surprised humans don’t believe in magic, considering how much power they possess. Look at that.” He sat up a bit more and pointed at the close-up of the Great British Baking Show’s final round of cakes. “It doesn’t seem like a painting, I mean, an image at all.”
“It isn’t. It’s real life projected by…uh…okay, I have no idea how TV works.”
Rumbling shook the couch and knocked my water glass off the table. Lucus was standing in less than a second.
My stomach dropping, I went to the window. A flock of birds swirled in the sky like bonfire smoke, doing that weird morphic resonance thing. Aunt Viv would’ve deemed it an omen.
The ground trembled again. My painted wooden spoon collection and all the framed photographs on my walls fell to the floor, glass shattering on impact.
A voice echoed through my mind. “The Mage Duke has slain my foe. He comes for you and your mate.”
My limbs went numb with fear.
“Coren?” Lucus studied my face, gripping my arms.
“Remember the unicorn of darkness? Yeah. He’s talking to me. From freaking England. That’s happening.”
“What does he say?”
I tried to swallow, but my mouth was too dry. “Arleigh is
