Chapter 2

TWO

Sulien

Cassia is in my bed, and I'm trying so damn hard to control myself, to make this good for her. To ignore the other men, and the way the sight of them touching her turns me on. But the ache inside of me is growing. The ache that demands I slide into her, make her scream my name, and fill her with my cum, claiming her as my own once and for all.

I almost come when she puts her hand in my pants and caresses my cock. She strokes me with precision, and the feeling of her small hand wrapped around my sensitive erection is enough to send my head spinning. I close my eyes and groan, fighting for control. I've never felt like this before. No one has ever made me feel this good, this content, before.

When I slip down between her thighs, with the other men taking their positions, my heartbeat triples. I reach out and start to stroke her, feeling her wet, soft pussy. I have to bite my cheek until I taste blood to stop from coming from the incredible sensation of touching her .

She gives me a look that heats my blood. A shudder rolls through me and I lower my head to taste–.

The dream falls away, and I awaken. The reality of my empty bed leaves a hollow ache in my chest. My heart's still pounding, and my sheets are wet with my sweat. I put my hand on my chest, and it's slick. My fucking dick is rock solid.

Hell. Oh, hell. Cassia was just about to…

"Fuck! Again?" I slam my fists down on my bed. I've dreamed about her every night for the past three nights that she's been gone. They've all been vivid dreams. Dreams that felt like they were really happening. Her smooth skin, her tight ass, and her wet pussy were all so real that I feel like I'm losing my mind.

I groan and sit on the edge of the bed, feeling miserable both from reality hitting me so hard and the headache blossoming at the back of my head as I reinforce the boundary around our lands to keep the damn iron demons out. The urge to break something builds inside of me.

These dreams are torture. I don't want her in my mind. I want her in my arms and in my bed. I want to know she's safe. She's doing all kinds of nasty, delicious things to me in my dreams, but they're not real.

The reality is that I have no idea if she even likes me. She agreed to marry me because of our arrangement, nothing more. And not knowing if she'll want to do any of those when she gets back is a horrible torture. It ties my stomach into knots. Not because I'll require her to share my bed as I gave her my word that she wouldn't have to, and I am a man of my word, but more so because my dreams feel… wrong when I don't know how she feels about me. When I don't even know if she's safe .

I should be focused on rescuing her. My dreams should be going over the many ways I could find her. Some loophole I haven't yet thought about. Not walking me through the steps to seduce a woman who doesn't want me.

Why do my dreams always have a way of betraying me? I fucking hate dreaming.

All my life, my dad has popped into my dreams. Like most powerful fae, he has the ability to dream share. And like many fae, he abuses his powers. It's always bothered me that he could enter my most private dreams, and there was nothing I could do about it.

He only stopped recently, when he retired, probably because he found better things to do with his time.

But him invading my dreams made me hate him even more. One minute I'd be dreaming about fighting iron demons, and the next he'd have pulled me into his dream, or jumped into mine. Like an asshole. With no consideration for what I wanted.

Maybe he didn't stop dream sharing with me because I never told him what I thought of him. Maybe because our relationship was that of a prince and king, not that of a father and son. I didn't know. Still, these dreams with Cassia are vivid enough to be real, like the ones I unwillingly shared with my father. Dreams of seducing a woman I should be trying to save. And they put me in just as much of a weird headspace as the ones I shared with my father, which I hate.

I shake my head, trying to clear my mind of the memories of my family. When we find her, if we find her, I just have to hope these dreams stop torturing me. Not that I want to think about the possibility that we might not find her.

Life is hell without her. The only place she's been is in my dreams, a fact that is becoming more frightening by the minute. I spend all day and most of the night searching for her and worrying, and I spend the little bit of time I do sleep having wild dreams about her. It's about as miserable a life as a person can have.

I'm a man with a bride who despises me so much she might have run away. Or , a woman who was taken or hurt because I made this deal with her. Both options are equally terrible.

Prince Cobar and Zane throw open my door and walk into my room, uninvited, not caring the least bit about my nudity, and looking like shit with their hair all disheveled and lines on their faces from their pillows. Zane's long white hair has been tied back from his face, a face with bags under his eyes. Cobar's prized curly locks are loose, tangled, nearly as bad as a stray dog's fur after being found by its owner. Neither is the pretty picture the ladies have spent so long falling over.

Basically, they look the way they feel, which is the same way I do. Horrible.

We're crumbling like a building on a bad foundation caught in a storm, and it's not just our looks that are suffering. Cobar lost his easy smile the first day of Cassia's disappearance, and Zane's cold demeanor had faded away over the days until now he wears his emotions nearly as poorly as Cobar's himself. Then, there's Forrest. If I thought he was an asshole before, I was wrong. He was a damn prince compared to the miserable wretch he is now.

They shut the door behind them and head to where I sit on the bed. There's no hope in their strides like there was the first day. They look… exhausted.

"You slept?" Cobar asks, his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Yeah, a little," I answer, keeping the dreams I've had about Cassia the last three nights to myself.

The only thing more embarrassing than having hot, erotic dreams of our missing bride would be admitting it to the men. Hell, Cobar might bring some ladies in here to watch me get excited in my sleep. Even in this state, I wouldn't put it past the bastard.

"Same," Frost says.

"Fuck this," I grumble, running my hands through my hair. Trying to keep control.

Cobar sits next to me on the bed and claps me on the back. "Some sleep means we'll be fresh today to continue our search."

I stare at him. "Fresh?"

"As a daisy." He flutters his long eyelashes.

It's hard not to smile. Cobar can find the good in any situation. The fact that we've all managed a few hours of sleep is shit, but I guess it is better than nothing. I just hope it's not the only good thing about today.

Zane's quiet. The dark circles under his eyes are at such odds with his pale skin that it makes the circles look even darker. It draws further attention to the harsh lines of his face, giving the impression of a man made from ice. More than that, he radiates a dangerous air, like one thing could push him over the edge.

I wonder if I seem the same way.

"Did you get any sleep?" I ask them both, even though I already know the answer.

Zane takes a seat at the bench at the foot of my bed. "A little."

Cobar gives him a look, lifting a brow .

Zane rubs his face in the most unexpected display of vulnerability. "I just… couldn't sleep knowing she's out there. And when I finally did, my guards woke me up with an update."

I sit up straighter and face him. "What did they tell you? Do they know where she is?"

My heart hammers so loudly that I'm afraid I won't be able to hear him. I take slow breaths until my heartbeat calms, watching him. Waiting. Hoping.

"No one's seen her," he begins, hanging his head. "No one has heard from her. We've questioned all the staff here, anyone she used to work with especially. The most powerful fae have used their powers to do what they can. Still, nothing. It's like she's just vanished into thin air." Zane's pained face stares back at me.

This is probably why he didn't wake us with the update. The update is basically fuck all of you, there's no word of her, and not even a dash of hope that you'll find her, you love sick idiots .

If I thought my heart hurt before when the iron demons knocked on the defenses, I had no idea what pain could mean, but I swallow the feeling down. This is exactly that: no update. At least from the Winter Fae. But it doesn't mean no hope.

I turn to Cobar and raise my eyebrows, hoping the Spring Fae has come up with something more.

"I heard the same report over here." He shrugs his shoulders and looks back at me.

"My people have found the same… fucking nothing." She's been gone for three days. With all the power we possess, it's infuriating that we can't find her. "Damn it."

"How likely is it that Cassia just ran off?" Zane asks.

I look at him in surprise.

"Why do you ask?"

He cocks his head, his expression cold once more. "Why don't you answer?"

I wonder how much he knows. One thing about every palace is that the walls have ears and eyes. Nothing is truly private. I did my best to conceal my plan with Cassia, but what if someone knew? What if someone heard?

My gut clenches. "What do you want me to say?"

"Answering a question with a question. Are you sure you're not a Winter Fae?" he asks, but there's no amusement in his voice.

Fuck. He knows something.

I'm not sure what to say. I don't have an answer for him, and that's the truth. Does he want a percentage? My best guess? An estimate of the probability? If I'm being honest, it's a fifty-fifty chance that she ran off instead of being taken. None of that matters though. The only thing that does matter is finding her and bringing her back.

"It's possible she left of her own will," I tell him, then push on, ignoring the shock on both of the men's faces. "But does it really matter if she did?"

"She could've run off?"

I swing my head to the door and spot Forrest standing in the doorway, shirtless and angry. The massive Fall Fae fills the entire doorway, his long, auburn hair streaming down his back. The scar going through his forehead, eye, and cheek seeming somehow redder against his pale skin. His chest rises and falls rapidly, and he radiates the energy of a man who's about to explode.

Normally, this is the time I ignore the bastard, not wanting to start a war between the Fall and Summer Fae just to appease my ego, but with the mood I'm in, I'm not sure he's going to find me so easy to tame.

When I don't respond, his face contorts in a way I've never seen before. "Cassia might have simply left on her own ?" He takes a step into my room, his eyes locked onto me. His scar pulses, and he narrows his eyes.

Well, this should be fun.

"It's possible," I tell him in the most dismissive tone I can muster.

"What else haven't you told us about Cassia? About you and Cassia? She obviously feels most comfortable with you. Why is that? And why would she have run off? You need to start talking. Now." Forrest moves with every word he says until he's hovering over me.

I stand, and he makes no effort to move back, so I bump him with my chest to get him out of my space. He pushes me, and I fall back onto my bed.

This man did not just push me.

I process what Forrest just did for about a millisecond, then leap off the bed and lunge for him, pushing him so hard that he hits the wall. I take a step back and set my feet. We can do this if he wants to. No one makes demands of me. And they definitely don't do it in my palace, in my own damn bedroom.

"You don't have anything to say?" Forrest goads me, his back still against the wall.

I maintain my stance and wait. I've seen Forrest fight. His people are all fighters. He's going to come back at me, and I'm going to be ready.

Cobar groans, and I know he's rolling his eyes even though I'm not taking my eyes off of Forrest. "Guys, come on. We have better things to focus on. Our mate's missing." He doesn't stand between us though because he's no fool. He's been around us long enough to know how we feel about each other without Cassia involved.

This has been a long time coming.

"Still nothing, you bastard?" he growls.

I only see red. The red of Forrest's hair, and the rage he's bringing out of me. Every feeling I have right now is balled up with my anger, and I just want to explode on Forrest. I want to punch him until I don't feel anything at all.

Until I don't miss Cassia.

Until I'm not terrified she's dead.

"You want to get your ass kicked in your own palace?" Forrest taunts before lunging and landing a punch to my jaw.

I don't react even though it hurts like a bitch. Instead, I hit him in the stomach. Hard. Fast. Before he can even get the smirk off his face.

He opens his mouth, probably to curse me, but I tackle him. "Don't come into my house and order me around. Don't come into my court and act like you know anything about how we do things here," I say, through gritted teeth as I straddle him and land two blows to his face.

He sneers and bucks me off of him, kicking at me but missing. He grabs me around my shoulders, and we tussle, rolling around the floor in a tangle of punches and kicks. It's not mature, it's not the behavior of two princes, but I don't give a shit; it feels good. Even if I'm naked, which would make things awkward if I was in any other headspace.

We roll towards the door where I'm pretty sure staff and guests alike will see us. But, again, I can't seem to care. Luckily, someone does. Cobar and Zane finally step in to separate us, which is no easy task, but they eventually get us back on our feet. I lunge for Forrest again, but Cobar holds me back and whispers in my ear that we really need to focus on finding Cassia.

With the mention of her name, I stop trying to get out of his hold, but I'm no less angry. "He started this shit!" I yell, adrenaline still coursing through my veins.

He didn't have to come in here like he had a giant cock to toss around. He was the one who walked in and demanded answers. Answers that I don't have. Answers that I desperately wish I had.

"You started it by lying," Forrest says in a scary calm voice, his green eyes practically glowing with anger. "We're supposed to all be in this together, but how is that supposed to happen if you're hiding things from us? If you're lying to our faces?"

Damn it. Some of my anger fades away, and I see it. Behind the anger, he's desperate to find our mate. Just like me.

And I don't want to admit it, but he's right. I started all of this with the deal and the spell with Cassia. I got her into this mess, and now she's missing. This is all my fault, and they all deserve an explanation. The thing is, I can't give them the whole truth, so I won't give him anything.

Not yet. But if I don't find her soon, I don't know what I'll do.

Cassia, where are you? Are you okay?