Domanikk tries to talk to me, and I reply politely to avoid angering him. I drink the endless Fae Wine until I can’t see straight, floating in my own oblivion when I feel Domanikk gently pick me up and carry me back to his tent.
He places me down on the bed, and I snuggle into the warm blankets. When I feel his hand stroke my cheek, I stir and roll over to stare at him.
“You enjoyed that?” I hiss at him.
“Infinitely. Your body is exquisite and finally I have it all to myself” he drawls, continuing to stroke down from my cheek. His gentle fingers trace my throat, over my shoulders and down to my breasts, where his expert fingers tease my nipples until they perk and harden. Heat kindles in my lower belly, and I push his hand away.
“This isn’t right.”
“With punishment comes pleasure, Alaya. Did you know that when a mare matures in the Herd, the stallions are tasked with breaking her? Only then can she find her mate. Reth is an expert in pain and punishment, while I’m a master of pleasure. It’s our duty to teach you, to break you.”
He reaches back and unbuckles his chest leathers, which fall to the floor with a thud. As I lie there holding my breath, he crawls over me, his palms either side of my hips. I can smell Fae Wine and sweat as he brings his face closer to mine. I try to wriggle out from under him, and he lets out a low laugh, his hot breath on my face.
“You know, the more you jiggle those hips, the more you turn me on. So please, keep it up,” he whispers.
He crushes his lips to mine, his desire urgent and painful. I keep my mouth tightly closed as his tongue keeps pushing. A small growl escapes his lips, and he shifts as his hand dips between my thighs, his fingers searching for my heat. I fight desperately against it—the fire threatening to spark to life. Yet as his finger finally swirls gently around my clit, coaxing and tender, the flames spring to life and my desire takes over.
My mouth opens as I moan, and I feel his body relax as his tongue finally enters me. I kiss him back now, my own tongue finding his and joining his lust. My hand snakes over his smooth back; his muscles tense below my palm as I pull him closer into me.
His hand continues its masterful teasing between my legs, then Domanikk breaks away from my mouth and kisses his way slowly down my body—down my throat, over my chest, a quick swirl and nip to my hardened nipples, my stomach fluttering wildly as his lips skim my belly and continue further down.
His hot breath joins his hand, his long black hair tickling the sensitive skin of my inner thighs, and my heat builds surprisingly fast, that white-hot ball of flame threatening to explode. I moan and writhe, seeking that release.
He gently blows on me, his breath sending a new wave of sensations over me, and I’m almost there at my orgasm when he suddenly pulls away, standing up abruptly. He stares down at me, lying below him, panting in shallow breaths, holding his wicked stare.
“Slowly.” He chuckles. “I’ll break you slowly, relish in youralmostuntil you beg me for youreverything. Then you’ll learn of true pleasure.”
He walks over to the wooden chest, rummages through it, and brings out a black shirt. He throws it across to me.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“While I deny you yours, I need my own release. I’m going back to the Gathering to find a willing mare to bury myself in. Sleep well, my love.”
And I’m left there holding his black shirt to wallow in my own frustration. The silence is deafening now that he’s gone. I clutch the shirt tighter, my knuckles turning white, as all the words of protest I should have said but didn’t replay endlessly in my mind.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alaya
The next few days blur together into the same routine: exploring Heartwood with Domanikk by day, resisting Reth’s interrogations, and enduring my punishment at the Gathering by night.
King Malaxor still hasn’t responded to Reth’s returned terms for my release. I’ve stopped wondering if his obsession with our marriage was ever about anything beyond strengthening Kiernan’s Gift. Now that he has what he wanted, I’m disposable—just an irritation to be abandoned and forgotten.
Yet I know with absolute certainty that Kiernan searches for me. I don’t need the Marriage Bond to feel his emotions; they echo clearly in my own heart—that desperate need to be with him, the tingles racing through my body when I imagine looking into his eyes as they shine only for me.
But there’s a part of my heart I’ve begun locking away, the pain too raw to face. The guilt over the pleasures Domanikk coaxes from me consumes me, leaving me drowning in self-loathing. I’ve tucked those feelings away, knowing that someday I’ll have to confront them and acknowledge a truth I’m not yet ready to face.
Reth’s punishments and Domanikk’s pleasures stir something strange and unwelcome in me. I’ve come to craveboth equally, almost eagerly anticipating the evenings for the flames they promise to ignite.
Reth is my darkness—the part of me that tingles at his cruel touch, that yearns for that wicked flash in his ice-blue eyes when he looks at me with unguarded hatred. He continues his promised punishments with relentless vigour, finding increasingly twisted ways to inflict pain and humiliation—the previous evening making me kneel at his feet ‘where Earthbound Fae belong’ and using me as a footstool throughout the Gathering until my back ached, until my knees and palms were numb.
Domanikk is my light—the part that longs to step into the warmth of his pleasure, that glowing desire thrumming beneath his hands and hot mouth as he teaches me his art of passion.
I’m lounging beside the tent entrance, waiting for Rawson. Though Domanikk keeps me close—his promise to Reth to care for me is absolute—today, he’s away with a scouting party in the Barrens. Rawson’s been recruited for ‘Alaya Sitting’ duties. He’s promised to show me more of Heartwood and introduce me to some of his friends—definitely better than sitting in the tent waiting for Domanikk to return.
“Ready to go?” Rawson asks as he approaches the tent door. He looks far more relaxed than before; instead of his usual leather trousers and chest armour, he wears a dark red loose-flowing shirt and well-worn brown trousers. Domanikk brought back the clothes I’d been made to remove at the Gathering, so I’m dressed again.
“Yes. Where are we going?”
