15. Skylar

Chapter fifteen

Skylar

A fter the bar closed, we headed up to Hiero's apartment. He gave me one of his t-shirts to borrow and provided me with my own toothbrush. I insisted we share his bed, since there was more than enough room for two, though he was right about me needing the rest. I was tired from being on my feet all night, and my encounter with Cedrych had left me emotionally drained as well. I felt like a big, empty house–the ghosts of my former self had come back to haunt me.

Despite my exhaustion, my body was tense with unspent adrenaline, my mind still reeling. How had Cedrych even found me? And what if he came back? What if he made trouble for Hiero and the Wolfsbane Clan? Not to mention Cedrych had completely dismissed my feelings and made excuses for his behavior. Nothing had changed, no lessons had been learned. He was the same old self-absorbed ass. And I’d put up with his bullshit for two long years .

What a fool I’d been.

On and on my thoughts chased their tails. Meanwhile Hiero lay on his back beside me with both arms stretched behind his head, breathing evenly but not yet asleep, as if waiting for me to break the silence.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue back there,” I said to him in the darkness.

“Of course,” he said roughly. “I’d do the same for any of my people.”

My people. The fact that he considered me one of his own gave me a sense of quiet contentment. He’d offered me a job and invited me to his family barbecue. He’d risked his own safety and that of his kin to defend me against my ex. He was everything a man should be. “Even before that," I said. “The way you've welcomed me into your community.”

“It’s the neighborly thing to do,” he said humbly. “We love having you here, Skylar. You fit right in. You’re not thinking about going back, are you?” He glanced over at me with a worried pinch to his brow.

“No, just feeling a little embarrassed. I really didn’t want you to see all that.”

“I’ve seen worse,” he chuckled. “Hell, I’ve been through worse.”

“Have you?” I asked tentatively.

“Oh yeah, one of my exes got falling-down drunk and picked a fight with me while I was working, chased me around the bar with a wooden broom handle, then shifted into a wolf and tried to bite me. Enid chased him off and I never saw him again.”

“That’s terrible. What was the fight about?”

“He didn’t like that I was serving other people drinks.”

“But that’s your job.”

“Yeah, it’s hard to reason with a highly intoxicated person. He was a friend of a friend from the other side of the mountain. Jealous type. Controlling too. I knew it wouldn’t last, but hey, you have to kiss a few frogs.”

I smiled at his analogy. Too many frogs to count. My most recent one had already been a prince, so I must really be doing something wrong.

“I can’t help feeling that it’s my fault,” I confessed to him. “If not for choosing him, then for staying with him for so long.”

“Love is a powerful drug.”

“I’m not even sure that I loved him,” I admitted. “I think I just enjoyed the lifestyle he provided and the occasional scraps of attention he gave me. Somehow that makes it worse.”

“Whatever it was, you definitely had feelings for him, and that’s okay. Maybe it took you a while to shake the spell, but eventually you did. And here you are now, with us. I’m glad you didn’t decide to go back with him.”

“Never,” I said vehemently. Just that short interaction had put me right back in my downward spiral of doubt and self-loathing. No thank you.

“Glad to hear it. Not to toot my own horn, but I give a pretty good back rub, if you think it might help you relax.”

“Even if it doesn’t, I like having your hands on me.”

“Don’t tempt me, pretty fae. We still need to have that talk.”

“A talk,” I murmured. “Should I be nervous?”

“I promise I’ll go easy on you. Now turn over.”

I rolled onto my stomach and Hiero knelt with his knees on either side of my waist. His strong, capable fingers dug into the tight muscles at the center of my back and just below my wings, gently loosening the knots of tension and turning my body into mush.

“How could anyone leave you?” I marveled at the fools who’d passed up this sexy minotaur in pursuit of greener pastures.

“Trust me, I’m as surprised as you,” he said.

I smiled into my pillow. “Tell me more about your crazy exes. It’ll make me feel better about my own poor choices.”

Hiero told me a few more horror stories, which included a jilted elemental sorcerer who’d conjured a storm cloud to follow him around town and rain only on him, as well as an incubus who was so fixated on the size of his dick, Hiero became worried for his anatomical safety. And as he regaled me with his tales, each one more absurd than the last, I was comforted to know I wasn’t the only one with questionable taste in lovers. Their loss was surely my gain, especially here and now under Hiero’s capable hands as he slowly drained the tension from my body and I drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

By morning, my mind was clearer, my body refreshed, and Hiero’s morning wood was pitched taller than an elvish tower. I couldn’t help but lean over and have a little taste. (Blame it on my poor impulse control.) And by the time I’d really gotten going, my strapping minotaur was in no position to refuse.

“Good morning to you too,” he said after I’d drained him of his seed and left him shuddering and spent on his bedsheets. He raised his head to flash me a sleepy, satisfied smile. “That was a pleasant way to wake up. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Much better,” I replied, licking his remains from my lips. “You?”

“Fantastic. Come here and let’s cuddle.”

I happily climbed into his big arms so he could cradle me to his chest. But my cock was a bit of a distraction, now rather large and insistent between us, so Hiero wrapped his big fist around my shaft and instructed me on how to get myself off. His deep voice telling me exactly how to move was a turn-on like nothing else. Then we both needed to wash up. He gave me a clean t-shirt to wear and we made tea together, hardly able to keep our hands off each other while waiting for the water to boil. Only with the tea kettle screaming in the background did we finally break away from each other. I couldn’t recall ever feeling an attraction this magnetic before, as exhilarating as it was scary.

“This reminds me of our first morning after,” I said when we were sitting across from each other at his cozy dining room table, each with a steaming cup of hibiscus tea in hand. I grinned at how awkward we’d both been.

“You couldn’t wait to get out the door,” he said.

“I thought you were anxious to be rid of me.”

“Never in a million years.” He took my hand. “And I still want to be your Daddy, if you still want that too?” he said with caution.

“I do want that,” I affirmed, hoping my run-in with Cedrych hadn’t ruined our fledgling romance. “Nothing has changed, not from my end at least.”

“I’m happy to hear it.” He sat up straighter and adopted a more serious air. “Now, as your Daddy, I’d like to make some rules for you to help you with your day-to-day routines and hold you accountable, but in order to do that, I have to know what your needs are first.” Even though his voice was stern, his soft brown eyes radiated compassion and concern.

Where to begin?

“I’m not very good with money,” I admitted, avoiding his thoughtful gaze.

“A lot of people struggle with that. No need to be ashamed.”

We discussed my finances (or lack thereof), my impulsive spending habits, and my inability to hold down a steady job ( only partially my fault). Hiero helped me map out a budget and a plan to save some of my earnings every week for when I might need them.

“You never know when there might be an emergency. Financial freedom is the goal for everyone, even a resourceful boy like you.”

We also discussed some rules to keep me safe. No walking around late at night and to alert him the moment I catch sight of Cedrych or his guards.

“And if you break one of my rules, you need to tell Daddy, so I can punish you for it.”

“How would you punish me?” I asked, my wings trembling and not necessarily with fear.

Hiero laid out some potential punishments, chores such as weeding in the garden or repairing the weathered cobblestone around the bar or sitting quietly if I needed time to reflect on my behavior. “I might spank your ass if you’re very willful,” he said, which sounded more like a treat than a consequence. His eyes narrowed as if hearing my thoughts and he said, “But maybe that’d be a reward for you.”

“Maybe it would,” I said with an innocent shrug. The possibility of a spanking by his hand made my cock twitch with interest.

“Have you ever been spanked before? By a lover?” he asked.

“Once.”

His nostrils flared, and I couldn’t tell if he was excited or jealous. “Tell me about it,” he said .

“I was at a nightclub that catered to that sort of thing. A man came up to me and told me I looked like I could use a good spanking, so I decided to give it a try.”

“And did you like it?” he asked, his voice dropping to a deep, sexy timbre.

“Yeah, it was… arousing. He made me cry.” The experience had been both erotic and cathartic, a total purge of emotions and a soothing caress afterward. “Could you make me cry?”

“Is that what you want? To cry for Daddy?”

My parents had never bothered to discipline me, another one of the ways they’d never shown they cared. Monica said it was probably why I had terrible boundaries with men. But it was something I craved, to be corrected, to even be hurt a little and then soothed afterward. I trusted Hiero to do it right.

“Yes, I think I would.”

“We’ll give it a try then. After I’ve used you extensively, when you’re so wrung out you feel you have nothing left to give. I’ll spank you till your ass is red and smarting, and we’ll see if I can make you cry.”

I shivered in anticipation, and then, because this seemed like such a one-sided arrangement, I asked, “What can I offer you?”

“Your loyalty and your trust. I want you to consult me on big decisions and let me guide you when you’re having troubles. You’ve been alone for most of your life, but having a Daddy means you don’t have to do everything by yourself anymore. ”

“I’d like that,” I said. It was a risk to trust someone else with my problems–Monica had been the only person I could ever really rely on–but I wanted so badly to believe him.

“And, if you’re comfortable and willing, I want your body too,” he continued.

“That’s much easier for me to give.”

“Not like it was before. Not because you have to, but because you want to. I want you to want to please me, Skylar, to follow my rules and to make me proud.”

“I do want that,” I said sincerely.

“And I want to take care of you. For nothing more than the satisfaction it gives me to know that you are safe and thriving under my protection. That it’s my honor and pleasure to do it.”

“You make it sound so nice,” I said, my chest growing tight. “Not like a transaction.”

“It shouldn’t feel transactional. It’s a willing exchange of power, one that should benefit us both, but it requires communication and trust on both sides. And if at any point your needs or desires change, you have to let me know.”

“I will, I promise,” I swore to him.

“Now, I have a proposal for you. Would you like to stay here with me for a couple of days and see what it’s like to be my boy full-time? I don’t want to rush you into anything, and I’m happy to wait until you’re ready.”

“What about work?” I asked.

“I’ll get our shifts covered. Perks of being the boss. ”

I wanted to stay with all my heart, but what if Hiero decided he didn’t want me anymore? What if I wasn’t good enough or worthy of his care? But if that were the case, I’d rather know early on, before I got any deeper into my feelings for him. And even though I’d been lied to and manipulated by my parents and Cedrych and countless other lovers, I couldn’t help but be hopeful that this time would be different.

“I do want that, Daddy.”

He smiled, clearly pleased with my answer. “Then let’s rustle up some breakfast. I’m starving.”

We made smoothies–greens for him and fruit and honey for me–then Hiero played a few songs on his guitar while I sang for him. His praise seemed genuine, and it reminded me of my first passion, music, and how I might be able to pursue it here in the mountains, even if it was just singing and playing for the bar’s patrons. I wasn't interested in chasing fame and fortune like my father, I just wanted to perform for others on occasion.

After our impromptu music session, we got comfortable on the couch. Hiero had a bootleg summoner that could stream human channels, so I was able to catch up on all my shows. We took breaks in between to make out like fledglings, both of us sweaty and panting and just at the edge of release. Over and over he took me almost to the peak. It seemed Daddy was testing my obedience, but I was not a very patient boy.

“Aren’t you ever going to let me finish?” I asked him as sweetly as possible .

“Later, sweet thing,” he said with a wicked grin, which was the theme of the day, until it was much, much later when he had me in his bed again and torturously brought me to the precipice of climax before finally, finally , carrying me over.

As I lay in his big bed in a nest of fluffy pillows with my seed cooling on my belly and his release secured deep inside me, I watched him cross the room for a basin and wash rag and considered chaining myself to the bed so that I’d never have to leave his apartment. But that would make me just another of his crazy exes, wouldn't it?

In the shower on the morning of day two, after washing away the sweat and spend leftover from our lovemaking the night before, Daddy told me to get down on my knees for him. He was no longer hesitant with his commands, as we were both settling into the easy give-and-take between us.

With the warm spray of water at my back, Daddy made use of my mouth. His long, velvety tail wrapped around my throat and his fingers tugged on my wet hair as he rocked into me with a smooth and easy rhythm. I grabbed onto his veiny, rock-hard thighs while his cock worked in and out of my throat, and my big bull of a man made noises that were somewhere between a bellow and a roar.

Thighs trembling, he shuddered his release into my mouth, and I drank him down, his warm cum coating the raw tissues of my throat like a soothing balm. He tasted like lemongrass and rosehips, a surprisingly floral flavor. I laid my head against his softening groin and recovered my breath while he stroked my cheek tenderly.

“That mouth is a marvel. I don’t know how you do it,” he said.

I could tell him that practice makes perfect, but I didn’t really want to highlight all the cocks I’d sucked prior to his, so I merely smiled and shrugged. A little mystery was good, wasn’t it?

After shutting off the water, he helped me to my feet, then dried me off with a fluffy towel and asked to comb out my hair. While it was still damp, I showed him how to braid my hair so it wouldn’t get knotted up from our lovemaking, as I anticipated we’d be spending the next few hours in bed. Both of us were scheduled to work that night, and we couldn’t hold off the real world forever.

With extreme care and patience, Daddy copied the pattern of one of my more complex plaits, his clever fingers massaging my scalp and sending tingles of pleasure to my extremities. It was such a simple task, but no one had ever done that for me before, not since my mother, and her periods of sobriety had been pretty rare. It made my eyes water, made me want to say something important to him, but I didn’t have the words, so I merely sighed and stared at the two of us in the mirror.

“All dolled up for Daddy,” he murmured into my ear, admiration and lust threaded through his husky voice.

Instead of answering I turned and invited his tongue into my mouth, making love to him slowly. I wondered briefly if this was what my parents experienced, chasing their next high the way I was chasing my Daddy’s tender loving care. My cravings were stronger than that of food or rest, and it was only at his insistence that we’d done either. I was an addict, and like an addict, I wanted more.

“Breakfast now, boy,” he said, a little breathless when we finally parted. He tried to sound stern, but I could feel the affection in his voice whenever he spoke to me, like a hug wrapping me in its warm embrace. In the kitchen I sliced peaches while Daddy mixed the batter for homemade honey cakes. We worked easily alongside each other as if we’d been doing it forever.

“Where’d you learn to make these?” I asked because I’d once told them they were my favorite.

“I asked Enid for a recipe.”

“For me?”

He winked. “For you, baby boy. I was hoping to have you over for breakfast sometime to prove I’m competent in the kitchen. I know fae food is sometimes hard to find around here.”

“You are more than competent in so many ways,” I said, not even trying to make it sound sexual, though he was phenomenal in that department as well.

He hummed merrily while flipping the cakes. The smile on my face was ridiculous, and with a slow bloom of awareness, I realized I was truly happy .

“What now, Daddy?” I asked after we’d eaten, licking the sticky-sweet syrup from my fingers.

“I think you know what I want,” he said, his blazing hot gaze turning my flesh into putty.

“Tell me,” I purred, matching his energy with my own.

“Get on the bed on all fours, ass in the air. I want to breed you.”

My bull had a breeding kink, and as I’d recently discovered, I did too, at least when it came to him. I’d never craved a lover’s seed the way I did his. Wanted it in my hole, in my mouth, smeared all over my skin like a primal claim. I wanted to smell like his sweat and musk, proof that I was his boy to breed.

As I positioned myself for his bidding, I considered how I’d never felt so debased and desired as I did with my Daddy’s scorching hot gaze upon me. But unlike so many other times, I didn’t feel used or degraded in my service to him. I wanted it, all of it—the commands and the lessons on patience and the eventual rewards. This was my choice.

“What a good boy,” he murmured, standing close enough that I could taste him on my tongue–lemongrass and musk and the lingering scent of leather. Yesterday he’d let me lick his horns, then told me to do the same to his testicles. I’d relished the task. Now, he was stroking his big bull dick while eyeing me with anticipation. “Spread those sweet cheeks nice and wide for me, Skylar,” he rumbled. “Let me get a good look at my pretty little flower. ”

Dropping my shoulders to the bedding, I reached back and pulled apart my cheeks so he could see my shivering, covetous hole. Would he tire of me? Of this? Goddess, it would crush me if he did.

“I’m not sure you’ve got one more in you, sweet thing,” he said as if daring me to prove myself.

“But look how wet I am.” I reached between my legs and scooped up some of what was dripping from me, both mine and his, then had a little taste to further entice him.

Daddy placed his thumb over my entrance, gently massaging, then dipped his thick digit inside. “You’ve got to be sore by now, boy. You look swollen down there.”

“I don’t care. I like it.”

“You sure about that? This dick doesn’t have an expiration date.”

“One more time before we have to go back to work? I need to feel you moving inside me again. Pretty please, Daddy?” I wasn’t too proud to beg.

“I think it’s time for these sweet cheeks to get swatted.” He smoothed a rough hand over my rump. “I want to mark this perfect skin. What do you think? Are you ready for your spanking?”

I’d been anticipating this spanking since learning it was a possibility, wondering when my dominant Daddy might deliver.

“Yes, Daddy. I deserve it. ”

His hand on my ass stilled and I glanced back to find him studying me closely. “Why do you deserve it?” he asked.

“Because I’m bad.”

He frowned. “I don’t think that’s true.”

“Then it’s for all the bad things I’ve done.” Way too many to count.

“What have you done, gorgeous?”

“I’m a thief,” I reminded him.

“Not anymore.”

If he only knew all of the items I’d stolen from him: a couple of his t-shirts, a pair of his briefs, the used tea bag from our first morning after when I thought I’d never get to spend the night with him again, and my latest, a few strands of his hair that I’d plucked from his comb and tidied away. I’d built an altar to Goddess Imogen, to pray for our continued happiness, and if that didn’t work, there were spells and charms that might do the trick. But the truth was, I’d wanted those little keepsakes, and the idea that he might say no to me was too risky, so I took them.

“I’m still a thief. I’ll always fall back on it, if I must. It’s part of who I am.”

I’d decided already that I wasn’t going to do what I’d done with previous lovers and present only the “nicest” parts of me. I was going to show Hiero everything–all my damage and my battle scars too–and then let him decide if he still wanted me. It was terrifying to be so transparent, but I wanted him to know me, warts and all.

“I can accept that,” he said. “We all have our vices. Mine is my temper. No matter how hard I try to control it, it still flares up from time to time.”

“I’m sure you have your reasons,” I said.

“Yes, but that doesn’t excuse it. If you find yourself stealing something, the rule is that you tell Daddy, so I can decide what to do about it. Now, what else?” he asked, massaging my cheeks, warming them up for the sting to come.

“I’m a whore for attention,” I admitted, finding it easier to confess my sins with my ass bared to him than if we were sitting face-to-face. “I like it when men look at me, when they desire me. I flirt with customers for bigger tips, especially if I think you might be watching.”

There was no greater thrill than finding Hiero’s eyes on me, lusting and proprietary, like I was one wrong move away from him hurdling over the bar to break up whatever was going on between me and a customer. His possessiveness cemented something inside me that was lacking, some sort of proof that I was wanted.

“I’m always watching,” he said.

“I like to make you jealous. That’s my toxic trait.”

“You are a bit of a cocktease.”

I nodded. “I’m reckless and impulsive and I can be mean and spiteful when I don’t get my way.” Most of my fights with Cedrych were regarding my bad behavior, as reported by the Daily Scrolls . I was painted exactly as the queen had characterized me, the guildless fae trash that Prince Cedrych had been caught slumming it with. “I need to be reminded who I belong to. Whenever I’m acting up, I need a strong man to keep me in line. When Gunther and Dorth lay their hands on me–”

“Who are they?” Daddy interrupted with a sudden heat in his voice.

“Those two big, green ogres. One has a broken tusk.”

“I didn’t realize you were on a first-name basis with those two,” he said, somewhere between teasing and a growl.

I glanced back and wiggled my ass. “See, Daddy, that's what I mean. I need to be punished for my bad behavior.”

“This is discipline, darling, to remind you that you’re mine, and I’m invested in your success. Punishment is much worse. Safeword?” he said as he squeezed my ass, making my skin tingle with anticipation.

“Succotash.”

“Succotash,” he repeated. “Say it and I’ll stop. Now, what were you saying about Gunther and Dorth?”

“They say the nastiest things to me, Daddy. Things that I know would make you very angry.” A night hadn’t gone by without them whispering all manner of depraved fantasies to me. I’d found it flattering, and how fucked up was that?

“What things?” Daddy asked.

“They want to shove both their cocks in me at once,” I said, for that seemed to be the overarching theme. I’d been with their type before, especially when I was younger and discovered I could make some decent coin by selling my body to rougher types, even more if I acted inexperienced and afraid. If they thought they’d hurt me, I could usually convince them to pay me extra just to soothe their guilt. But the problem with men like Gunther and Dorth, was that they loved to take, but they didn’t care enough to give anything back in return.

“Sounds like it might hurt,” he said as if imagining it.

“It does hurt. I’ve done it before.”

“Is that so?” he asked.

“Yes, Daddy.”

Thwack. Daddy’s palm made contact with my ass cheek, centering my attention. The sting and resulting heat only fanned the flames of my desire. To be hurt, to be used, to have to earn the privilege of an orgasm by satisfying him first. Daddy's pleasure before mine. I needed that purpose. With my cock now standing at attention, I hummed and pushed my ass out for more.

“What else?” he said in his deep disciplinary voice.

“They asked me to come home with them,” I said and was rewarded with another solid thwack to my other cheek. My body sang, my blood flowed like a rushing river, and every hair on my body stood on end.

“And did you?”

“No, but I accidentally brushed up against Gunther’s erection the other night.”

Daddy smacked me twice more, lighting the apples of my ass cheeks on fire.

“Was it really an accident?” he asked .

I shrugged. “It’s hard to avoid it when the dance floor gets crowded. You remember that first night you saw me.”

He groaned, long and loud. “You were the prettiest, filthiest thing I’d ever seen.”

I preened at his praise. “I wanted to suck you off in the alleyway.”

“Yes, you made that pretty clear.”

“Why didn’t you let me?” I asked, feeling an echo of the rejection I’d felt then.

“Because you were drunk, and I knew you were trouble.”

He smacked me again and the hot sting only made me bolder. Every admission served to rid me of the clutter of my past. He was giving me the chance to confess and helping me restore balance to my spirit.

“I’d do it again,” I said. I had no regrets about the first impression I’d made on him because look where we were now. “The reason I’m so good at sucking cock is because I used to do it for a living.” At his sudden hesitation, I said, “Please, don’t stop.”

He spanked me again, lighting up my every nerve, allowing the words to spill out of me, uncensored. “The first man I let fuck me paid me enough coin to feed myself for an entire moon cycle. He told me it wouldn’t hurt, but he lied.” That had been a sobering experience, my first lesson on the promises men will make just to have their piece of flesh.

Daddy spanked me again, and I wailed, not from the pain. “What else?” he asked. His deep voice was soothing, which contrasted sharply to his hard, unforgiving hand. “You don’t need to keep secrets from Daddy.”

“I can’t even remember how many men I’ve let fuck me. And not even for money but for a warm bed or a hot meal or just to have their arms around me. I’m a whore, Daddy. If it weren’t for Monica, I’d probably still be selling myself down in Torfell Alley.”

Instead of a slap, his hand was in my hair, gently petting, enough to unravel me completely as he said, “I’m sorry you had to sell your body when it wasn’t your choice, Skylar, that your parents didn’t provide for you, and your people shunned you. Those men took advantage of your situation and treated you poorly. I wish I could punish everyone who's hurt you. But I don’t judge you for it. You did what you had to, to survive. And I’m going to take care of you from now on, for as long as you’ll let me.”

I nodded, the sting in my eyes echoing the burn in my backside. All I managed to choke out was a quiet, “Okay.”

He smoothed a hand over my flaming ass cheeks and said, “I can see my handprints on your skin. Patterns of pink and red like a field of poppies. Does it hurt?”

“Yes, but I like it. I want more.”

“How much more do you want?”

“Until you think I’ve had enough.”

“Take a few deep breaths for me then, sweetheart.”

I did as he instructed, letting the air flow through me, centering my spirit and preparing myself for the next round .

“Tell me your fantasies, Skylar,” he said. Such an easy command. I trusted him enough to tell him the truth.

“The other night when I was alone in my motel room, I watched a summoning of a giant fisting a dwarf, and I masturbated to fantasies of you doing it to me.”

“Have you ever done that before?” he asked.

“No, you’d be my first.”

Thwack. I groaned and shuddered from the impact, my body hot and tingling all over.

“We’d have to work up to it. My fist is a lot bigger than my cock, probably bigger than two cocks, even.”

“Does it turn you on? Thinking about having your whole hand inside of me?”

“Yes, it does. And we’re going to have a much longer discussion about whether you’re allowed to pleasure yourself without Daddy’s permission.”

A frisson of excitement tripped up my spine. The idea of not being allowed to do something appealed to me, because it meant Daddy would have to pay attention and punish me if I disobeyed. Would I break his rule on purpose just to test him? Probably. My mind swam with the possibilities while Hiero rubbed his hand tenderly over my welts.

“Are all fae boys shameless little sluts like you?” he asked without any recrimination whatsoever.

“No, I’m very bad. A walking scandal. Or so they say down in Emrallt Valley. I have a terrible reputation.”

“What do they say about you? ”

“I’m the tarnish on the royal crown.” That was one of the more damning headlines, when Cedrych and I first got together and he still allowed himself to be seen with me. We’d been photographed out at a club where I’d ended up giving him a lap dance, free of charge.

“You’re not in Emrallt Valley anymore,” Daddy said with compassion. My heart squeezed almost painfully, and then he smacked me again, two sharp stings on either side that made my ass cheeks jiggle. “What else do you like?”

“I like being watched… by strangers too.” I recalled the wet t-shirt contest where I’d all but stripped naked for the crowd. My exhibitionist streak was a perversion, according to Cedrych, probably because so much of what he did had to be kept out of the public eye. I was far too much of a degenerate to ever be considered a royal suitor, a truth I should have known all along. I’d had to be two people with him, a buttoned-up respectable type in public and his dirty whore in private.

Well, not anymore.

“You want me to fuck you in front of my friends?” Daddy asked, then punctuated his question with a sharp slap to my balls. A fresh wave of arousal flowed through me, a pleasurable elixir, a wonderful high. A glob of my serum mixed with his seed from our last go-round dripped down my crack. I pushed my ass out and tried to suck it back in. Daddy let out a low groan, sliding his fingers through the mess, following the line of my crack and pushing two digits roughly inside me .

“I’d let them watch if you wanted,” I said, worried this might be a trick. Cedrych would sometimes pose scenarios only to throw them in my face later as proof of my infidelity, though I was true to him until the bitter end. I still couldn’t shake his voice in my head, telling me my desires weren’t appropriate , but I wasn’t with him anymore. I was with my Daddy, who liked this side of me, who wanted to explore all facets of my sexuality.

“My question was whether you’d like it,” he said, pushing his fingers so deep that it stole my breath away.

“I’d like it,” I said quietly.

He removed his fingers and smacked my upper thighs, grazing my tightened sac. Goddess, it hurt like hell and I loved it. “Because you’re a dirty little slut who likes attention,” he said, and his lack of judgment gave me the surge of confidence I needed to admit it.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Say it,” he commanded, squeezing my balls in his bruising grip.

“I’m a dirty little slut and a terribly needful thing and I like the attention.” It was something I’d never dared to say out loud before. Too real, too raw.

“Yes, you are,” he rumbled with his body stretched over me and his mouth at my ear. “And, baby boy, here’s my confession, I like it.”

It took me a moment to register how casually he’d accepted my past, my kinks, and my desire to be fisted and fucked in front of his friends, to be bred by his big, bull dick. Of course, it was the heat of the moment, and things might change once we came to our senses, but for now, his encouragement was like a lungful of fresh, mountain air.

“Thank you,” I said, voice shaky, ass on fire, and my entire body thrumming with adrenaline.

“You’re welcome. You’re very sloppy down here, aren’t you, sweetheart?” He smeared my syrupy slick all over my tender ass cheeks.

“Yes, Daddy. Ced—” I stopped myself from saying his name. “My ex thought it was gross.”

“He’s an idiot. And he probably loved it, but hated himself for loving it because, no offense to you, gorgeous, but your ex was a condescending prick.”

“He was,” I said, not wanting to think about the Royal Ass while offering my sloppy hole to Daddy, but dammit, he was.

“Take another deep breath now,” Daddy said, then spanked me with a series of thuds that rattled my bones and lit my ass on fire. I arched back and hissed through my teeth. Something about his praise and the impact was crossing my wires in all the right ways. His brand of discipline felt a lot like love, a dangerous idea to entertain.

“Daddy,” I whimpered.

“You do this to me, baby boy. You make me want to do terribly naughty things to you. You’re like a drug, the perfect cocktail of sweet and slutty. You’re going to make Daddy come in his pants. ”

“I’m good for that,” I said.

“You’re good for more than that. You’re also kind and clever.”

I shook my head, dropping it between my shoulders. This tenderness was too much. How could he not know that?

“I want you to say it, Skylar,” he said.

“I can’t,” I protested weakly.

He yanked my balls roughly and I whimpered.

“Say it, sweetheart,” he urged, more gently this time.

“I’m kind and clever.”

“And you’re worthy of being cherished.”

I wanted it to be true. So badly. My eyes stung and a sob broke free from somewhere deep within me. I tried to muffle my cries with a pillow, but that only made it worse. The insecurities and doubts that I carried around bubbled up and poured out. The smell of my sweat and pheromones filled the air, and I imagined the toxins floating away on a cloud. I wanted to be new again for my Daddy, to experience sex and pleasure like a flower in full bloom.

As I sobbed, his calloused hands grabbed hold of my hips and hauled me backwards to meet with his hot, sweaty groin. His hard cock slotted between my flaming cheeks as he dragged my ass up and down to smear my fluid around his shaft, but belying his rough actions were sweet words of comfort.

“I will worship you, Skylar.” He smoothed his rough hands over my raw welts. I turned back to see him spit onto my hole. Briefly, I hoped he might spit on me elsewhere too. “I know I can’t erase those other men who took you for granted, but you’re mine now, and I know just how special you are.”

“But I’m not,” I argued, for the queen’s words and Cedrych’s casual disregard had done more to damage me than the men who’d paid me outright for sex.

“Yes, you are. You’re my pretty little fae darling with a filthy mouth and a sloppy hole and all I want is to take care of you and give you what you need.”

“That’s all I want too,” I said, feeling even more shattered for having voiced that secret desire.

“Can you be faithful, Skylar?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Can you be a cocktease with other men and still be loyal to me?”

“I may steal, but I don’t cheat,” I swore to him.

“That’s good because I want to be the only one to pleasure this gorgeous body,” he said with a look of tenderness radiating from his softened expression.

“I’m yours,” I promised with a slight hiccup.

“Brace yourself now. You’re going to feel all of me against your tender backside.”

“I want it,” I said.

With one one hand between my shoulder blades, he pushed me down to the bedding to tilt my ass higher, then fed his cock into my throbbing, empty hole. My ring of muscle was well-trained by now and opened easily, but I still ached and throbbed when he stretched me so wide. His cock was a monster, but just like my cocksucking skills, I prided myself on my ability to take it.

Daddy grabbed a pillow and brought it to my face. “Bite this instead of those pretty lips,” he said, and I hadn’t even realized I’d made myself bleed. “I’m going to dress you in tight leather pants and get you a crop top that says ‘Property of Hierophant Wolfsbane’ so that everyone in town knows you’re mine. And when you’re out there shaking your ass for tips, they’ll know I’m the only man spreading these sweet cheeks.”

“Only you,” I said. My wings shivered, then unfurled with a slick rasp as Daddy sank all the way inside me, seating himself like a king to his mount and tugging on my braid like a rein. It reminded me of how he rode a motorcycle, with complete mastery over his machine.

“Fuck, you feel like Heaven every time,” he murmured.

Then he started to move, driving into me with deep, sure strokes. I spread my legs wider and dropped my chest lower to make room for him. My hole was numb, but my gland throbbed with every penetration. His balls slapped against mine as he bred me, forcing me deeper into the bedding with every thrust.

“You were made for this,” Daddy murmured in between lusty grunts. “Such a good little hole for breeding. I’ll put ten pups in you, keep you barefoot and pregnant for as long as I can. ”

“Would you still want to fuck me if I was pregnant?” I asked, deliriously agreeable about the number of times he wanted to knock me up.

“Every single day. Gotta keep you nice and limber so the pups just tumble out. Keep this hole hungry for Daddy’s dick. You gonna let me cream these sweet cheeks whenever I feel like it?”

“Yes, Daddy. You don’t even have to ask.”

My muscles had liquified, my brain had similarly melted, and I relished that sweet oblivion as I rode the high of his body colliding with mine, a wondrous friction. My balls ached with the need to come, and my swollen cock hung heavy between my spread legs, untouched except for the soft rasp of the bedsheets, which I tried to avoid because I wanted to be good, so good for him. I was an animal on my knees, a receptacle for my Daddy’s seed, and his boy to breed.

“Have you earned this one, boy?”

“Goddess, I hope so.”

“I think you have. I’m getting close now. Come with me, Skylar.” He smacked my thigh and rode me hard and fast until my mind blitzed out and my channel seized around his thick cock. Shudders wracked my body, and a sudden flash of heat razed my skin.

“There you go,” he encouraged, then grabbed my dick and tugged. It was the perfect catalyst as I dumped thick ropes of cum onto his bed sheets. Fireworks went off inside my mind as my wings buzzed with a sweet euphoria. Daddy’s grip in my hair tightened as he focused on his own spectacular finish.

I floated in those few blissful moments, grateful to the Goddess above for this pleasure and my bodily vessel, which allowed me to serve another. Behind me, Daddy shuddered magnificently and groaned, bathing the walls of my channel with his release.

“Feel that?” Daddy said as the opening of my womb fluttered around his cock like a hummingbird to a flower, the delicate folds tugging him deeper inside.

“Yes.”

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” he said with warm satisfaction.

“Feels amazing.”

“That’s your body yielding to mine. That’s what I’m after, baby boy. Your submission is so sweet and so lovely.”

I had a vision of us making love face-to-face while I was swollen with our child, Hiero rocking into my body when I was so big I could barely move, staring into my eyes while pinching my sore nipples until sweet nectar seeped out. Riding me while lapping up the tiny beads of fluid as if starved for another taste. My nipples tightened and my body shuddered with the aftershocks of pleasure.

“I’m going to keep you forever,” Hiero said, echoing my own secret desires as he collapsed on the bed beside me and dragged me into his arms, his cock still throbbing inside me like a second heartbeat .

I wanted to tell him that he could keep me—if he kept his promise to cherish me, I’d happily be his—but I held my tongue. His infatuation with me would fade, just as it had with every other lover I’d had before him. What started out as exciting eventually turned into “too much.”

But for now, at least, I could indulge in the fantasy.

“Where would we put all those pups?” I said loftily while glancing around his one-room apartment. It would soon be overrun.

“I have land. I’ll build you a house with a big bedroom and a balcony overlooking the mountains where you can sip your morning tea. A big yard where our pups can run wild and a garden to grow all your favorite foods.”

“And fields of clover,” I said because that was my sweet minotaur's favorite food.

“Green pastures as far as you can see and a cold-water creek for skipping stones and cooling off in the summertime and trees for climbing and the stars above to gaze at while we make love.” He pushed my braid aside and kissed the back of my neck. “How does that sound to you, my darling?”

“Sounds like a dream.” My eyes burned with a fresh round of tears, afraid to admit just how much I wanted it. A home filled with the sounds of laughter, the chance to give to our children the love and affection my parents were unable to give to me, and my strong, capable minotaur taking care of me. “Would you still be my Daddy? ”

“Absolutely, and if your needs change, I’ll do my best to adapt.”

It sounded like the promises of a clear-headed man, but we were still in post-coital bliss, and hadn’t past lovers promised me things as well? Commitment and fidelity, a house we could call our own?

What would it look like to be truly committed to Hierophant Wolfsbane? I’d never have to return to Emrallt Valley, for one, or pretend to be someone I wasn’t. I could stay here as an honorary member of the Wolfsbane clan, help Hiero run his business. We could start a family together…

“Think about it,” Daddy said at my prolonged silence. “Now roll over and let me see the damage.”

I turned onto my stomach and stuck out my rear-end. My nerves were still humming, though my ass cheeks ached as my hole expelled his cum in fits and spurts. My lip was torn and bleeding, thanks to my own doing, and there were bruises and hickeys all over my body. The hair he’d so carefully plaited was now completely undone.

“Gorgeous,” he said at last.

A small smile formed on my lips because this was exactly what I’d always wanted but could never have, and I wasn’t going to worry about how long it might take for him to tire of me but enjoy it for as long as it lasted. The greedy part of me would gladly take it. Just when I was in danger of saying something heartfelt, we were interrupted by a loud banging on his apartment door .

“That’d be Frito,” Daddy said. “Do you want to cover up or would you like him to see you like this?”

The bed was the centerpiece of the large room with no screens to shield it from the apartment’s entrance. The bed sheets were wet with cum and sticking to me in places with more of it smeared across my body. Did I want Frito to see me freshly fucked and fully wrecked?

“Would he mind?” I asked.

“He’s one of the friends who’d like to watch,” Daddy said.

I nodded, waiting to see if he might actually follow through. My minotaur strutted naked to his front door, and I admired the muscles in his buttocks and thighs, flexing with every step. Meaty calves, wide, solid feet, hairy legs that made him more manly in my eyes. His whip-like tail swished with what I now knew to be satisfaction, and his broad, muscular back and rounded shoulders flowed into two strong arms with thick, bulging biceps. His belly was muscled but round, and his cock, mostly flaccid, made my mouth water and my hole ache.

And this man had offered to build me a house?

Hiero opened the door and allowed Frito to step inside before closing it behind him. The shifter’s eyes slid past his cousin's nakedness and landed on me, eyes flickering over me like a serpent’s tongue.

“Thought I heard wailing,” Frito said, not so slyly adjusting his dick, his dark eyes never leaving my body. “Enid wants you both to come down. It’s human night and the bar is packed with customers talking about tax write-offs and chiropractors.”

“We’ll be down after I get Skylar cleaned up.” Daddy turned to watch me as well, a satisfied smirk tugging at his lips, a look of pride on his face. He didn’t make any excuses for the state I was in, but seemed to revel in his conquest, which was as freeing as it was arousing. “Ass up,” Hiero said, so I got on my hands and knees and spread my wings so Frito could see Daddy’s handprints on my pale skin and his seed streaked across my thighs.

“Good boy,” Daddy said, and I shivered from the praise.

“Fuck, Hiero, that’s obscene,” Frito said. “You need to bring him to our next VIP Night and lock that shit down.”

Hiero chuckled. “Don’t I know it.”

Warmth fluttered in my stomach and my cock tingled with arousal. Licking his lips, Frito nodded once more at me before heading back downstairs. After closing the door and locking it, Daddy rejoined me in the bed.

“Did you like that?” he asked, stroking his hand along the base of my wings, a highly sensitive place that required a lot of trust on my part to allow.

That little scene would have been a scandal where I was from, maybe even a crime. “Yeah, I liked that. He didn’t seem phased at all, nor did you.”

“Shifters are known for their group mating rituals, aka VIP Nights. Pack mentality and all that. ”

“You participate in those?” I asked while imagining a pack of shifters lining up to present themselves for my Daddy's attention. Not on my watch . I wanted to snarl and spit at my imaginary competition.

“We host them here at the bar, invite only, during breeding season. I’m not into sharing, but I don’t mind if others watch.” He touched my chin, probably because I was still reeling from my recent exhibition.

“I don’t think I could share you either. I have too many abandonment issues already.”

“Hard limit for us both, then,” he said, seeming satisfied by it.

“And all that stuff about Gunther and Dorth, I wouldn’t act on it. And my past…”

“Is your past. I don’t care how many men you’ve fucked, just as long as I’m the only one fucking you now.”

“You are,” I assured him.

“And if something changes, just tell me. I’m a big boy, and I can handle it. I don’t want to be lied to or made a fool of.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you. I know how it feels.”

He nodded, and I was glad we were setting these boundaries and expectations. I’d never been this open with past lovers. It was never a negotiation, and the rules were never clear until I did something to anger them, and by then, it was too late.

“Let’s get some ointment on your backside. How are you feeling back here?” Daddy asked as he grabbed some lotion from the bedside table .

“Sore but good overall.”

“Want to take the night off? Soak in the tub?”

“No, I want to go downstairs and work the floor with your cum still inside me. And after we close for the night, I want to blow you in the alleyway.”

“That can be arranged,” he said throatily. “Listen, Skylar…”

He grew so quiet that I turned to him and said, “Yes, Hiero?”

He brushed his fingers against my jaw, then traced the shape of my lips with solemn reverence. He gave me a rueful smile, then shook his head and said with a heavy sigh, “I may be part bull, but remember, pretty fae, my heart is only human.”

I took his tender words and cradled them gently in the palms of my hands.

“I’ll remember.”