11. Vale

Chapter 11

Vale

H ard rocks dug into my knees as I scrambled up the narrow staircase to the mountaintop. I had to find Nyrah. She had to be around here somewhere. The frigid, biting wind raked against my flesh as I ignored the steep cliff face, racing up the catwalk.

Of course, the bath and food and the rescue had all been a dream. There was no such thing as dragon shifters, and no one was coming to save me.

No one was coming to save us.

The catwalk ended at the artificially flattened mountaintop, a blackened stake embedded into the ground. But instead of me being tied to the wooden prison, it was Nyrah's small frame, her bloody blonde hair blowing in the wind, her battered face twisted with fear. She struggled against her bonds, a ragged wound at her middle right where mine had been. The scent of fuel reached my nostrils as the faint first rays of dawn breached the horizon.

"No, no, no," I whimpered, racing faster toward her but never coming within reach. The rays of light caught the convex glass of the lantern, igniting the fuel. But it was only once the first flames caught that I was able to move.

"Help me," she screamed, fighting against the ropes binding her to the stake.

"No. This is supposed to be me. Not you. Never you. I'm going to get you out of this. I'm going to help you," I promised, but the flames were already licking up my back.

I was already burning, and it didn't matter what I tried, the ropes would not loosen.

I reached for the power inside me, the power I tried so hard to keep hidden while we lived under this mountain. But it wasn't there. I wasn't tethered to anything. I was alone, powerless, weak, and I was failing my sister.

Fire seared my skin, and I screamed at the agony of it.

We would die on the mountain. Because even if I could run—even if I could save myself—I wouldn't leave her to die alone. Accepting my fate, I tried to pull her in my arms, but the closer I got to my baby sister, the more her body faded, turning to smoke and ash as she floated into the distance, the gusts ripping her from me.

"Nyrah," I screamed, but that too was carried away on the bitter wind.

I fell to my knees in the dirt, letting the flames eat at my skin as despair clawed my insides to ribbons.

"Is this what you really see when you close your eyes?" a deep voice asked, and somehow, I spun even though everything was slow and thick, changing in a way I couldn't understand. The fire around me died as did the pain, fading away as if it had never been there in the first place.

The man was sitting in a gilded chair, his posture relaxed as if he didn't have a single care, as if he was in charge of everything and everyone. A crooked crown sat upon his head as golden eyes surveyed me. Dark hair fell over his brow, the wavy tresses windswept as his gaze pinned me to the spot.

"Who are you?" I asked, but I knew.

If there were ever a man who screamed "power," this would be him. Arden often spoke of the king of Credour, claiming he was as ruthless as he was unyielding, ruling his people with an iron fist. How he commanded the dragons to pin us to that mountain to keep us starving and weak.

"You know exactly who I am, Vale."

Of course I did, though, part of me thought he would look much older than the man before me. Dark stubble decorated his sharp jaw, his commanding features so regal in nature that so few men possessed.

"King Idris," I murmured, and he inclined his head. "Am I dreaming? Or are you in my head?"

I looked down at the ragged, filthy clothes billowing around my small frame. My tunic was bloody, the gaping hole where Arden had stabbed me exposing a still-bleeding wound. Bleeding but not painful.

Was I still on that mountain so close to death?

Was I safe in the inn with Xavier and Kian?

I didn't know.

"Here and there, I suppose. But I didn't take us here. You did."

He stood from his throne and part of the sky melted into a darkened bedroom, a faint crackling of fire in a grate next to a four-poster bed, the curtains drawn.

The room was drenched in a blackened scarlet, the fabrics, the tapestries. It was almost as if the walls themselves were drenched in blood. And somehow with the king walking toward me, I would still take that darkened bedroom over this mountaintop.

Then he reached for me, his scalding touch pulling me from the chill of the mountain and into his world, the wind dying as he guided me closer. He was tall, so tall I had to crane my neck to see his face. The shadows of the fire danced over his sharp cheekbones and full lips and strong jaw. His golden eyes glowed in the dim, and a knowing smile tipped the corners of his lips.

"Isn't that better? Don't you prefer my bedroom to that mountain?"

I swallowed thickly, all the tiny hairs standing up on my arms as his voice slid down my spine like honey.

I couldn't quite answer him, so I settled on a nod.

"Now tell me, my brave one, what is taking you so long to come to me? Why are you sleeping in that inn and not in my castle with me?"

With him? He couldn't mean it the way it sounded.

"W-we were attacked on the road. Xavier was injured. His wounds weren't closing so we had to stop."

Shame had me trying to pull my hand from his, but the king only pulled me closer, my chest pressing against him, his warmth seeping into my bones. Heat rose in my cheeks, but when I tried averting my gaze, he put a finger under my chin, making me look at him.

"I-it's my fault. The Lumentium on my skin was hurting him—hurting them. I did what I could, but Xavier still got hurt because of me. I'm sorry."

Understanding dawned in his expression and his arm banded around my back, pressing me closer. But I guessed I wasn't close enough because he lifted me off my feet. My legs had a mind of their own and wound around his back, the scalding heat of his body touching me everywhere.

"No one blames you, my brave one," he rumbled, the honeyed cadence easing my worries as his touch set me on fire. "You've done so well. You don't have to apologize."

His head dipped, and he ran his nose up the side of my neck, drawing in my scent. Just like with Kian and Xavier, my skin pebbled, my nipples tightened, and my core clenched.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, fighting the urge to tip my head back and bare my throat to him.

A rumble, almost like a purr, vibrated in his chest. "Scenting you." His lips followed the line his nose made. "Kissing you." Then his tongue followed suit. "Tasting you."

My brain made a feeble attempt at questioning why he held me so close, why he wanted to taste me, but I ignored the misgivings as his teeth gently bit at my pulse point. If this were a dream, I would gladly hang onto it.

Tilting my head back, I let the moan I was holding in free.

Sharp fangs raked my skin, and as much as they sent a thread of fear through me, the desire to have them pierce my flesh filled me more.

"Come to me, Vale," he murmured, his voice so soft it was barely a whisper. "Come to me, and I'll give you anything, everything."

His touch became faint as well, almost as if he wasn't holding me anymore. Instead, other touches caressed my skin, the scarlet bedroom fading away as darkness overtook my vision.

"Come to me, my brave one."

Warmth enveloped me on all sides, my body burning as teeth nipped at my neck, my shoulder, my jaw. An arm banded around my middle, holding me tight, nestling me against a hot, hard body. My leg was thrown over someone's hip as my hands roamed over a bare chest.

I couldn't tell where the dream ended and where this began, and I wasn't sure I cared. Soft lips found mine in the darkness, and I parted for them, hungry for touch, for kisses, for all the pleasure I'd been denied my whole life. It felt so good, I didn't care if it was real or fake, I wanted—no, I needed —this.

"Fuck, you taste good, my little witch," Kian murmured against my lips before diving back in for another kiss, his tongue sweeping inside at my hungry gasp. His words twisted the knot inside me, igniting a ravenous need that pulsed through every part of my body.

"Let me taste," Xavier demanded, his large hand wrapping around my throat as he guided my chin in his direction.

My pulse hammered under that commanding touch, and I knew he could feel it. Then his mouth claimed mine while Kian's lips moved lower, down my neck, over my collarbone. He pulled my robe open and brushed my nightgown aside, pulling the peak of my nipple into his mouth while he cupped the other breast.

I moaned into Xavier's kiss, that ache between my legs only growing worse. I didn't understand how I could be this needy, this hungry. I'd gone without touch nearly my whole life, but this was just like bread: once I had a taste, I needed more. I wanted to glut myself on it.

Xavier's arm loosened around my middle as he reached to pull up the skirt of my gown, while Kian's hands ran over the exposed skin. His fingers hooked in the silky fabric covering my sex, drawing it down my legs, and I let him—I let them . Every errant touch was akin to lightning on my skin.

"Do you taste this good everywhere?" Xavier asked against my mouth, but I didn't understand the question.

It wasn't until Kian's hands parted my knees and his tongue licked at the lips of my sex did I manage to comprehend even a little of it. But by then, I was burning, moaning, scrabbling for something to hold onto as Kian set about giving me the sweetest torture while Xavier whispered dirty things in my ear.

"Fuck, you smell sweet," he growled, sharp fangs nipping at my neck. When did he get fangs? "When it's my turn, you're going to sit on my face, aren't you? You're going to give me all of you. Fucking drown me."

My hips bucked as Kian lapped at my sex, and when his mouth closed around my clit, I nearly screamed. Xavier cupped my breasts, his fingers gently pinching my peaked nipples as he growled against the skin of my neck. "Come on his tongue, my beautiful witch, let him make you feel good."

I didn't know what coming was, but if it was this growing pressure that threatened to yank me under, I would gladly do whatever he said. My moans grew louder, my hips moving on their own as I reached for that blissful feeling building in my core, like a bubble about to pop. I didn't exactly know what I was reaching for , but I needed it in a way I couldn't describe.

When it broke, I screamed against Xavier's lips until he swallowed it down with his kiss, his tongue claiming me much in the way Kian's mouth had.

"So sensitive," Kian growled, his voice deeper, rougher, drawing my attention, his glowing amber eyes all I could see in the darkness.

His fingers lightly ran over the lips of my sex, pressing but not entering, but I wanted him to. I still ached, even though tiny pulses of pleasure washed over me, and I knew those fingers would cure it. They had to.

Xavier's fingers joined Kian's as they played with me. "So wet."

Kian's fingers gently pushed inside me, pausing for a moment before he pulled them out. Then he rested his cheek on my belly, his stubble delicious as it raked against my oversensitive skin.

"It's my turn to have a taste," Xavier rumbled, his voice making my empty core clench with need, even though I'd just had so much pleasure. "But I want to see you first."

Kian's touch left me for a moment before the dim glow of the bedside lantern flared to life. Light caressed the flat planes of his muscles, making him seem bigger, broader. He slipped two fingers into his mouth, and I knew those were the same ones he'd fit inside me. He licked them clean, and something about the way he'd done it made me want to lick him that way.

My breath hitched as he knelt on the bed, and I moaned when he bent to kiss me, the taste of my desire on his lips. It was salty and sweet and mixed with the heady flavor of Kian's tongue—it was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. Xavier pulled at the sleeves of my robe and slipped my nightgown down my hips while Kian took my mouth in a punishing kiss, peeling my layers away as he ran his lips down my spine.

Then he laid flat on his back, and a moment later, they'd positioned me so my sex was over Xavier's mouth. When he'd said he wanted me to sit on his face, he'd actually meant it. I tried not to rest my weight on him fully, but Xavier pulled me down, lapping at my slit like a man starved.

It was almost too much, I couldn't handle the pleasure of it, I bucked, trying to get away, but both of their grips were like iron, holding me in place.

I needed both of them to feel like I did, needed them to be desperate and needy, too. Instinctively, I reached for Kian, running my hands over his pecs, his abs, reaching into the soft breeches encasing his thighs. My hand closed around his length, and he let out the best groan. He was hot and impossibly hard, and I loved the way his whole body vibrated as I ran my fingers over the velvety soft skin.

"Show me what you want," I gasped and then moaned when Xavier sucked on my clit.

Kian's hand closed over mine, guiding my hold as he thrust into my fist. "I want you, little witch. Whatever way I can have you."

Looking down, I saw a bead of his seed glistened at the head of his cock, and I had the strongest urge to lick it, to take him into my mouth like he'd done to me, to explore both of them the way they were exploring me.

I needed it.

Never loosening my grip, I kissed my way down his neck, over the planes of his hardened muscles, down his abdomen. He shuddered but held himself still until I swiped my tongue over his thick, pink head. He jerked as if I'd branded him, the salty flavor of his desire driving my need higher as he let out the best groan.

Xavier's hold got tighter, pinpricks of his claws digging into my skin, making me moan as I pulled the head of Kian's cock into my mouth. My hips bucked and that same instinct had me reaching for Xavier's breeches, needing him to feel the same pleasure Kian and I were. My hand wrapped around him, and he nearly roared into my sex.

His hold constricted, his mouth turned punishing, and he devoured me as he put his hand over mine, tightening my hold on him as he thrust into my fist, taking his pleasure as he gave me mine.

Kian gathered my hair in his fist, the pull of it making a flash fire of need hotter, damn near smoldering as I took him deeper into my mouth. I wanted it all, I wanted more.

I needed more.

My hips bucked as Kian took over, setting the pace for us all as he used my mouth for his pleasure. The hand I'd used to hold him steady fell away, and he thrust deeper into my mouth, touching the back of my throat as I moaned over and over again.

"Fuck, baby. Look at you taking me deep. Swallow me down."

I hollowed my cheeks, swallowing just a little and he groaned like I'd ripped the very marrow from his bones.

"Yeah, baby. Just like that. Such a good little witch. You're going to make me come, aren't you?"

I wanted to. I wanted him to feel just a little of what he'd done to me, what Xavier was doing to me. I sucked harder, running my tongue on the underside of his cock as I swallowed again.

Kian roared as he roughly pulled me off of him. His fingers wrapped around my throat as he captured my lips in a punishing kiss. His free hand seized mine and we fisted his length, the spit slick as he thrust into our hold. What felt like seconds later, hot spurts of his seed splashed my hip, and I bucked, my need driving higher with each lash of it. I'd been marked by him, and I craved every ribbon of his desire that painted my skin.

Xavier groaned as I ground into his lips, my pleasure climbing as Kian's hold loosened just a little. Then I broke the kiss, gasping as he fisted my hair once more.

"You want to suck on Xavier the way you sucked on me, don't you?"

Moaning, I could barely nod, but Kian didn't need me to. He guided my mouth to Xavier's thick cock, the head almost purple as the giant man practically vibrated under me. Xavier's hold on his length fell away as his grip on me tightened. I ran my tongue across the glistening head, catching his seed on my tongue. He tasted just as good as Kian, and I sucked him deep.

Kian's grip on my hair was nearly punishing, but the tiny bite of pain only had me moaning as I hollowed my cheeks, allowing him to set the pace as I laved his friend's cock.

Xavier's moans vibrated through my sex, driving my desire higher and higher as he licked and sucked and twisted me into knots. Then I felt pressure at my opening and Xavier thrust two fingers into my sex. My walls fluttered around the intrusion as I got used to the sensation, the slight bite of pain only making me suck him harder as my desire nearly reached its peak.

I ground my hips against his mouth, taking his fingers deeper, needing something, I just didn't know what. Then he curled those fingers, hitting something inside me that no one had touched before—over and over until I was a mindless sexual creature, squirming in his hold as the pleasure became too much, too overwhelming. Every part of my body was aware of his tongue between my legs, of his breaths on my sex, on his fingers filling me, stretching me, thrusting into me.

Then it crested, and I screamed around Xavier's cock, my whole body strung tight as wave after wave of the most intense pleasure crashed over me. Xavier roared against my sex, and then thick ribbons of his seed exploded in my mouth. Moaning, I swallowed the salty, sweet liquid as my pleasure continued to pummel me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, all I could do was let it pull me under.

Kian's hold tightened on my hair, and Xavier slipped from my mouth. I sucked in a breath, my heart hammering in my chest as my sex clenched over and over again, the tremors of pleasure washing over me again and again.

I shivered when Xavier gave my sex one last lick, and he gently pulled his fingers from my core. My walls clenched, and I moaned at the loss, even if I couldn't take another ounce of pleasure. Boneless, Kian helped me sit up, pulling me off of Xavier as if I were a pile of rags.

He handed me a cup of water and I greedily drank it down, draining it in two gulps. Then he ran a cloth over my hip where he'd branded me with his seed. Shivering, I bit my lip, my greedy body almost begging for something it couldn't handle.

Then Kian dropped the most tender of kisses to my lips before pressing his forehead to mine, much like Xavier had done. It felt important and more than just people finding pleasure together. But before I could ask, Kian tucked me back under the covers, sandwiching me between his big body and Xavier's.

Xavier ran gentle kisses up the column of my neck before he wrapped his arm around my middle. Then Kian curled my leg over his hip, resembling the position I'd woken up in, only this time I was very, very naked.

Still, it was beyond comfortable, so I curled into my pillow, nestled in the warmth of their bodies as exhaustion and contentment filtered through my limbs.

But as sleep overtook me, the king's final plea echoed through my brain.

Come to me, my brave one.

Tomorrow. I would go to the king tomorrow.

Tonight, I would enjoy this.