Chapter Four

Iwatch with my heart in my throat as Troy peels himself off me and rises from the bed with a deadly grace. It”s captivating. Or perhaps it”s him that”s captivating. I don”t know. But I don”t take my eyes off him as he takes one step away from the bed and then another, his obsidian eyes tangled with mine.

The air between us crackles with raw intensity as he reaches over his shoulder and grabs his shirt, dragging it up his body. His muscles flex with every movement. He”s so big, so powerful.

I fight the urge to shiver.

”Tell me something about you. Anything.” His pants join his shirt on the floor, and I”m caught between awe at the sheer size of him and the sudden urge to shield my secrets.

I nibble at my lip, buying time. ”I love the night sky,” I murmur, evading his true question. If I tell him who I am, there”s nothing stopping him from contacting my father. I can”t risk that. Not yet. Not until I”m his in every way. ”The stars make me feel less alone.”

It”s been so long since I last saw them, but just knowing they”re up there, that they”re so damn permanent… I love that. No matter how long it”s been, I know when I look up at the sky, it”ll still be the same.

Under it, we”re all insignificant. So are our problems. I find that comforting.

”Is that so?” A smirk plays on his lips, and I realize he”s enjoying this as much as I dread it.

”Your turn,” I say quickly, eager to divert attention.

”I love this cabin.” His smirk grows. ”It”s the only place I feel alone.” A shadow slides through his eyes. ”There are too many fucking people in the castle.”

”The castle…” I blink, pieces flying together at an alarming rate. I didn”t think he was serious when he said this was his domain, but maybe he was. ”You”re a royal?”

”I am.” He gives me a mocking bow, as if he finds the entire tradition trite and ridiculous. ”Prince Troy Ulstead of Stonehaven at your service.”

Prince Troy Ulstead of Stonehaven… Holy crap.

This is the man my father expected me to marry. At least, I think so. My father didn”t tell me his first name, only that he was an Ulstead from the Stonehaven Kingdom. Their kingdom borders Fable Forest on the opposite side from the Rosewood Kingdom.

”Do you have siblings?” I ask, my heart pounding like a drum.

He shakes his head.

It is him! I open my mouth to tell him who I am when he speaks again.

”I wish I did,” he mutters, a hint of rebellion in his eyes. ”One of them could take this God-forsaken kingdom and the responsibility that comes with it.”

”You don”t want to be king?”

”Not if it means being controlled.”

”What do you mean?”

”My father sees me as nothing more than a chess piece, a pawn to move around the board,” he says, his voice hard. Cold rage simmers in his gaze. ”He thinks he can sell me into a fucking marriage without my consent. Hell will freeze over before it happens, Thalia. I won”t be controlled or forced into anything.”

My chest aches at his words. If I tell him the truth now about who I am, he”ll hate me.

But in this moment, I see him—truly see him. Not as a prince or my betrothed, but as a man fighting for his freedom. And despite my fear that the truth will destroy everything, I”ve never felt closer to anyone in my entire life.

He”s every bit as much a prisoner of his lineage as I am. No wonder my father chose him. It sounds like his father and mine are just alike. They probably had a grand time signing away our futures without consulting us.

”Your future and your destiny should be your own,” I whisper softly, understanding the desire all the way to my bones.

”Exactly,” he agrees, a fierce glint in his obsidian eyes. ”No one dictates my path. I know how that ends. I saw it with my mother. She”s from Fable Forest, you know. She and my father were destined to be together.” He laughs bitterly. ”Their perfect fucking fairytale ended in devastation. That won”t be me. I control my own destiny.”

His declaration of autonomy is fierce, a wild thing that can”t be caged. To reveal that his fate was altered by magic—that I”m his destiny and we”re bound by a curse—would send him running just as fast as the truth about who I am. Faster, perhaps.

I know this because just this morning, I was him. When I was backed into a corner, my choice taken from me, I ran. It”s what we do when the things we want so fiercely are stripped from us. We run. We fight. We refuse to give an inch.

He wants nothing to do with magic, fairytales, or fate. If I tell him the truth, he”ll walk out of here and I”ll never see him again. What happens then? If he rejects me, does the curse sink its claws into me again? Am I right back where I started, running for my life? Only worse off than ever because there is no hope this time?

I don”t know. It”s never happened. A Rosewood has never been rejected by her true love. If she is—what happens with the curse?

The possibilities are terrifying, so I don”t say anything. Not yet. Perhaps, someday, but not yet.

”The time for talking is done,” Troy growls, his voice cutting through the silence.

”What time is it now?” I ask, feigning innocence even though I know exactly what he craves. The tent in his boxers leaves no doubts.

His lips curl into a predatory smirk. He steps up beside me, raw power etched into every line of his muscular frame. ”It”s time for you to get on your knees and show me how sweet you look with your lips wrapped around my cock, Thalia.”

Oh, God.

Yes.

I don”t hesitate. I climb from the bed, letting the twisted sheets fall from around me as I sink to my knees, eager to taste him. To please him.

I gaze up at him through my lashes, reaching for the waistband of his boxers.

I tug them down, moaning as his erection springs free, bouncing against his stomach. I”ve never seen a cock before, but his is a beast, standing tall and proud.

”You”re so beautiful,” I whisper, stretching eagerly toward him. My fingers brush along his shaft, reverent, exploring. He”s so hard, like velvet steel.

”Jesus,” he groans, a bead of moisture spilling from the tip.

I run my thumb over it, collecting it.

”Fucking hell,” he curses, breathing hard when I touch my tongue to my thumb, tasting his salty flavor.

”You taste good.” I smile up at him.

”Fuck, Thalia.” His hand finds the back of my head, guiding me closer. ”Stop torturing me and open that sweet fucking mouth.”

I obediently part my lips for him. He feeds me his cock slowly, the thick head gliding against my tongue. The salty tang of his skin floods my senses as I take him deeper, relishing the way he fills my mouth. My lips stretch around him.

He bucks his hips ever so slightly, forcing me to take a little more. Unable to stop myself, I hollow my cheeks, trying to suck on him. He”s so damn big, though.

”Look at you,” he growls, his hand fisting in my hair. ”So fucking eager, aren”t you? Christ, I should have woken you up this way.”

A shiver rips through me at his words, making me moan around him.

”Jesus. You would have fucking loved that, wouldn”t you?”

I can”t deny it, so I don”t.

”Yes,” I sob around him.

He growls wordlessly, bucking his hips again. His cock hits the back of my throat, making me gag. My eyes water and I choke.

”Use that pretty mouth, Thalia,” he demands. ”Take all of me.”

I try to obey, try to take all of hm. There”s no hope though. I sob, frustrated as I sink down as far as I can, only managing to fit half of him into my mouth. His grip tightens in my hair, pulling, moving me where and how he wants as he guides my movements. I surrender to the sensation, to the slick slide of him in my mouth, to the muffled sounds of his curses, to the way my eyes water and my scalp burns.

He watches me with those piercing obsidian eyes as if he”s unable to look away. The heat in his eyes…God. I barely know him, and I”m already addicted to the intense way he watches me.

”Fuck, yes,” he hisses, plunging deeper. ”Just like that, Thalia. You were made for this… for me.”

Heat coils low in my belly, a need so fierce it hurts. I shove my free hand between my legs, desperate to ease the ache.

My fingers dance across my slick folds, making me moan around him.

”Goddamn,” he growls when he sees my hand hard at work between my legs. ”Look at you. So fucking hot for it, you can”t help yourself.”

I sob my agreement, lost to the pleasure.

I”m so consumed by the sensation, by the taste of him on my lips, I barely register the strength of his arms as he lifts me effortlessly. I don”t notice until we fall onto the bed in a heap.

And then he”s dragging me up his body, moving me where he wants me—my legs on either side of his head.

”Sit on my face, Thalia,” he growls from beneath me, dragging my hips down toward his mouth. ”And wrap those pretty lips around my cock again while you do it.”

I scramble to obey, balancing myself with my hands on his chest. The sight of his cock is a siren”s call I can”t resist. I stretch forward, plunging down on him. My tongue swirls around his length, trying to drive him wild.

He yanks me down onto his mouth at the same time, licking and sucking like a man possessed. The sensation is overwhelming, a maelstrom of pleasure that threatens to drag me under.

I shout around his length, sobbing in ecstasy.

”Thalia, fuck,” he groans against my folds, his voice vibrating through me. His hands grip my hips, guiding me down further, urging me to take what I want.

”More, Troy… please…” I gasp, the words tumbling out between labored breaths.

He eats me with an intensity that borders on reverence. Every lap, every suck sends jolts of electricity coursing through me, igniting fires in places I never knew could burn so fiercely.

”Fuck, your mouth is heaven,” he groans, the vibrations from his voice sending another wave of desire crashing over me.

There”s nothing gentle in the way he feasts on me—this is raw need, dark and all-consuming. I match him, stroke for stroke, my own hunger just as untamed, as I draw him deeper into my mouth, trying to fit as much of him as I can.

Tremors ripple through me, a fierce crescendo of pleasure building from the depths of my soul. His tongue, relentless and precise, pushes me closer to the brink, my body arching, seeking more.

”Come for me, angel.” His fingers dig into my thighs with possessive command.

I shudder around him, my release tearing through me like a tempest. My cries fill the cabin, echoing in the corners.

”Thalia… yes…” His own climax crashes over him, his hips bucking as he spills across my lips and tongue, hot and unrestrained.

I collapse on top of him, moaning, shaking.

We”re a tangle of limbs and labored breaths, our sweaty bodies sticking together. He flips me around so I”m facing him, his chest heaving against mine. The heat of his skin brands me.

His lips find my forehead in a tender kiss that makes my heart flutter.

”Been waiting for you forever,” he murmurs, wrapping his arms around me almost protectively.His breathing evens out as sleep claims him, but I lie awake for a long time, worried that this man who values control above everything else—who says he”s been waiting for me forever—might change his mind about me when he knows the truth.Can he learn to love me with destiny guiding him? I don”t know.But as his strong heartbeat lulls me to the edge of sleep, for the first time in years, my curse doesn”t reign. Hope does.