“I don’t want to wait, but I haven’t done this before.” I admit. His eyes darken and he closes the space between us in a heartbeat. I gasp as he steals my lips and walks us back to the bed, tugging at my top and pulling it up. We break apart long enough for him to tug my top over my head, and his eyes drift to my bare chest. I’m not big-chested, but his groan at the sight of my breasts tells me he doesn’t care. Hunter cups my breasts, rolling his thumb over my nipples, and I moan, clutching his arms. He pushes me back on the bed, and I laugh as he smiles down at me. I watch as he strips for me, his shirt and cloak going first, then he kicks his boots off before pushing down his trousers. I’ve seen drawings in educational books of men’s cocks, but his is strong, proud and thick as it juts up against his stomach. “Can I touch you, Hunter?”
He nods once. “Touch me any way you wish, my queen.” So I do. Hunter groans as I run a hand up the silky length of him, his hips thrusting into my grip. I run the tip of my thumb over his tip and he snaps. Hunter leans over me, pulling off my boots and leggings in one go, leaving me bare for him. I don’t know what he is doing as he kneels at the end of my bed and pushes my thighs apart. “My turn.”
He kisses me between my legs. Oh, my deities. My back arches off the bed as his hot tongue sweeps over my pussy, teasing and licking. I moan and wiggle on the bed, feeling an orgasm building fast. Hunter knows, and he purposefully flicks his tongue faster, just as he slides two fingers inside me. I cry out in pure bliss, pleasure spreading across every part of my body until I can’t think straight. Hunter climbs up me, pushing the head of his thick cock against my soaking wet entrance. His lips devour mine as he pushes into me, inch by inch, until he finallybottoms out inside me and I cry out as I feel a sharp sting of pain. Hunter goes still, kissing me softly, waiting for me to be ready. “Fuck, you’re tight. You make me want to come in this sweet pussy when I’ve barely fucked you.”
“Move. Please. I need—” I moan, needing to feel more. When he moves... oh... I never want him not to be inside me. I dig my nails into his enormous arms as he pounds into me, the room filling with the sounds of my moaning and his groans. He feels so, so good. Hunter reaches between us to play with my clit, and soon I’m right on the edge, unable to handle it. Hunter’s teeth sink into my neck as I come, and the pleasure triples. I scream his name as I clench around him and his hips jerk as he comes inside me with a groan of pleasure.
Softly he removes his teeth, rolling us over and pulling me to his chest. “You’re so fucking incredible, Wren. You’re made for me.”
I kiss his cheek. “You’re made for me too, Hunter. When can we do that again?”
Hunter laughs, rolling us back and kissing me before thrusting his already hard cock back into me. Turns out — we can do this all night.
CHAPTER 7
We both stand before the doors that lead out to the courtyard, and my hand is shaking in his tight grip. Hunter looks down at me, his expression nothing short of grim. I don’t blame him for that feeling, not when another game lies before us. Hunter hasn’t told me what happened in his last game, only that he barely survived it and he used his powers. The difference is, Hunter knows how to use his powers, and I do not have control of them. My power is wild and untamed, and I don’t have a hundred years to learn control. We were allowed three days since the last game to rest. Three days that we spent mostly in my room, wrapped in bed together while my cuts healed. Yet it’s not enough. I don’t want just three days with Hunter. I want a hundred days, a million days. I want endless days with my mate. I want to learn everything there is about my mate and I want a future with him. He’s the one that the deities, fates, the gods, whatever anyone wishes to call them — what everyone prays to — has chosen for me. They were right. But our future is not set; it is not controlled and perfect, despite what I want. I could die today and Hunter would be alone again. He has spent so many years alone, and I do not want him tospend any more. We finally found each other and for the first time in my life, I want a future.
Everything depends on today.
Neither of us wanted to speak about the games, or what comes after this, because we don’t know. Hunter will not leave here without his people, and I do not want to go home without him because it is no longer home. I’ve realised that very quickly. He is what I want to call home now. If I leave to get help, I might not be able to come back, and I do not want to risk never seeing Hunter again. After what the dragons did when Hunter won the games, I can’t risk the dragons killing Hunter to make me pay if I win. Basically, we are screwed no matter what happens here, and I can’t accept it.
“You’ll be okay,” he tells me softly, his words but a whisper in the darkness. His thumb rubs circles on my hand.
“When this is all over?—”
“Don’t.” He stops me. “I know what you want to ask me to do, and I know what you need. These are all things that have gone through my head a million times since the moment I met you. Just know that you’re worth it, all of it. Every moment that we’ve had together in these short weeks has been better than anything I’ve had in my long life.”
He leans down and kisses me softly. Soft, gentle, a kiss that feels like a goodbye even though I don’t want it to. I dig my hands into his hair and pull him harder against me, refusing to let him say goodbye with a kiss, refusing to let this kiss be anything other than what it should be between us. He groans before deepening the kiss, pulling my body tight against his, holding onto me.
We eventually part breathless, staring into each other’s eyes, and the floor lightly shakes as the dragons land. I force a smile. A smile I do not feel like wearing at all. “Are you going to wish me good luck?”
He only kisses my forehead and opens the doors, walking out ahead of me. His dark cloak moves in the breeze, and the sunlight pours down on him. I watch for a second, looking at my gorgeous mate and wondering if I should grab his hand and make him run away with me. It’s not logical, knowing the dragons would get us, but I don’t want to lose him. Before nerves get the best of me, I quickly walk to his side before we both stop. In the courtyard is one dragon. The biggest, the nastiest dragon and the one that I’m sure wants me dead. There is nothing else in the courtyard, except for the people looking through every open window, archway and door. Hunter slips his hand into mine, gripping it tightly, and I look up at him. He is staring at the dragon, and I wonder if they are having a conversation only they can hear. The dragon snarls after a long pause.
“To win this, you must defeat a dragon.” The kind dragon’s voice echoes in my mind. “Only the strongest survive our games.”
My head shoots to Hunter. “Did you kill a dragon? Is that how you?—”
“Yes.” He cuts me off, finally looking at me. That’s why they killed his family. It was more than control — it was revenge. Family for family. They just never thought he’d be able to win, and they must have been shocked when Hunter killed one of them. It wasn’t fair. Hunter didn’t have a choice, and he lost everything anyway. I have never hated the dragons more than right now as I stare at my mate and feel all of his grief, sadness and pain. These dragons have taken so much from him, and now they want me to fight a dragon. Hunter leans down, kissing me softly. “Trust me?”
I nod, my nose brushing his. “From now to the end of time.”
“Good. Time won’t end us, my queen. We will float as dust across the worlds and dance in shadows for eternity.” He leans back and only then do I hear the whispers, the weight of somany people staring. The dragons will have heard him call me his mate.
“Hunter.” I whisper as he pulls away from me, his face determined.
Hunter steps in front of me, and his voice echoes. “Once, these lands were ruled by both vampyre and fae. We lived as equals, as creatures who knew peace was more important than anything else. My family ruled this world, crowned generations of kings and queens... but now only I stand before you. I have never claimed my title, never stood in front of you as a king, but everything changed when I met a queen who showed me how to be a king. This is my queen,” he waves a hand at me, “and therefore yours. We will protect you, as did every generation of my family, long before dragons came to our world, burnt our lands to dust and ruins, and claimed the survivors as their slaves.” The dragons snarl and roar, but Hunter does not stop. “By the laws of our land, a mate can take up a place in any game or trial. I will take the place of my mate in this final game and win for our people, for freedom and life. We are far more than their slaves, and I am done bending to dragons who are not my royalty. I bow to my queen, and no one else.”
My mate. Hunter is going to fight a dragon in my place. The thought echoes around my mind and shock nearly pushes me to my knees. “Hunter, no.”
He looks back at me once. “You’ll be okay. Once this one’s gone, run, okay? I’ll use his blood for a portal. I’ll make sure he bleeds and we can all go home.” His eyes are soft and full of unshed tears. “You can go home.”
I reach for him as he steps closer, his scent surrounding me, and I breathe him in. He kisses my forehead once more before walking away to face the dragon. Trust me. He asked me to trust him, and I’m going to face my fears and do just that.
My legs feel frozen as I take my place by the doors, forced to stand there and watch as my mate fights a dragon ten times his size. The dragon looks over at me, a wicked gleam in her eyes that sends a chill down my spine. I’m not surprised when her voice echoes in my mind. “You are from the land of our ancestors, and we fled them long ago when they chose to take riders and side with the fae. We travelled to this world, where they had never seen a dragon and they were so easy to destroy. I led my family to war, watched this world burn, and its kings die. Tell me, do they still take riders and allow fae freedom in your world?”
“Yes... fae and dragons are family. Friends... they are loyal. Something I believe you have never learnt to be, dragon.” Hunter is nearing the dragon now. “Stop this and we will leave you to it. Stop before my parents ride again, this time to avenge me and my mate. There are far more dragons with riders than what is left of you here. One way or another, the end has come for you.”
“Then scream as your mate dies... I will enjoy your pain before I kill you next.” Her venomous words echo in my mind, and I refuse to answer her. I focus on Hunter, watching as his purple shadows build like a storm around his legs and arms, flying high like tornadoes at his side. The dragon roars, sending burning hot flames spreading across the ground in a direct strike, but Hunter’s shadows eat up the flames, twisting into the air as the dragon lunges for him, snapping its teeth.
